We left fairly early the next morning. The drive to Ranomafana would take about six hours and we planned to stop in Ambositra to see two sets of markets along the way. Great, more wood carvings….. Well, we figured we at least ought to see some of them. The LP had said that Antsirabe was the place to find Malagasy art, but we hadn’t seen anything that appealed to us.
The first set of markets outside of Ambositra was more of the same. I kept feeling like we *ought* to want stuff—it was all extremely inexpensive. But as my dad always told me as a teenager, “Don’t buy it just to be buyin’ it!” Then we stopped in the middle of Ambositra and poked into a few more. There were some really beautiful pieces—amazingly huge standing bowls with lids, tables, and chairs. Too bad everything we wanted wouldn’t even fit into the car!
Ranomafana is the village outside of Ranomafana National Park. Our plan initially had been to do a night hike the day that we arrived and then a day hike the next day. Around 4:00 we pulled up to a really beautiful waterfall on the outskirts of the park. At this point, Mamy told us we wouldn’t be able to do the night hike since it was too late to find a (required) guide. However, we could do it the next night, so no problem.
We arrived at our hotel and spent the evening relaxing and eating what was supposed to be the best food in Ranomafana. I’m sure our ordering skills were to blame for our slight disappointment. : )
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