We recently relocated to Madagascar, and now live in the highlands of the capital city of Antananarivo. Occasionally I have these moments where I realize that we are currently living on the world's 4th largest island, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, located approximately 250 miles from the coast of mainland Africa. And while we are on an island, we are still about a seven hour drive from the nearest beach. It's still a bit surreal, though life here is as normal as ever.
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The flight from Uganda was relatively easy and we arrived in Antananarivo (Tana for short) on a lovely afternoon at the end of June. We had our 10 pieces of luggage and dog Koana in tow. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, winter was just beginning and we were definitely not prepared for the cold weather. I quickly realized that I no longer own many pairs of close toed shoes. However, we did enjoy the coziness of the fireplaces in our new house (view from the deck of our house pictured to the right). The kids started at the American School of Antananarivo at the beginning of August and have made some good friends already, joined sports teams, and gotten in the swing of a new school. That is one of the blessings of an international school, everyone is so used to the transition of students so it's easy to fit right in as a newcomer. Another great thing is that it's only a few minute walk from my house to the office, and our neighborhood is very walkable in general. There are twelve royal/sacred hills that surround Tana and we have enjoyed the access to hiking and running paths.
We took our first adventure out of town as a family over Labor Day weekend and drove to Andasibe National Park with some friends. The park is home to eleven different species of lemur and various other critters. It was a beautiful drive, but also precarious with winding roads and many potholes to avoid. The kids enjoyed the lodge we stayed at as they were able to run around the grounds, play pool and foosball and even had a dance party at a nearby restaurant. On the way to the park we stopped at the Peyrieras Reserve, which houses chameleons, geckos, crocodiles, and other reptiles. We especially enjoyed the chameleons (more than 50% of the world's chameleon population is found in Madagascar)!
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, but has a rich history, culture and ecosystem. Though it is close to Africa in proximity, Malagasy people have closer roots to Southeast Asians. A few of the endearing things I have appreciated so far about living here are the old Renault cars (it was a French Colony) that are used as taxis, brightly painted shutters and doors on houses, the straw hats that many people wear, the fact that there are no traffic lights to be found on the island, and the brilliant green rice paddies that surround the city. I also learned that Madagascar is the world's leading producer of vanilla, but it is not native to Madagascar. This means that the vanilla orchids must be pollinated by hand!
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