Prologue: If you would like to see the genesis of our 2014 Mission to Madagascar, please click here.
Our Mission to Madagascar began at O'Hare on July 26, as Sarah, Jean, Meredith, and I waited to board our Air France Airbus-330 for the 8 hour flight to Paris.
We left a bit behind our scheduled departure of 5:25 pm on Saturday, July 26, and managed to make up the time to arrive near our scheduled arrival at 8:35 am on Sunday, July 27 at Charles de Gaulle Airport (having lost 7 hours flying east).
After a walk and train ride to another terminal, and going through security, we boarded our Air France Boeing-777 for the flight to Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo (An-tah-nah-nah-ree-voe).
We left at about 11:20 am for the 10 hour, 40 minute flight, and we arrived at about 11 pm (having lost an additional hour flying south-southeast).
As I remembered from my arrival in Antananarivo (An-tah-nah-nah-ree-voe) five years before in 2009, we descended the stairs which had been pushed to the airplane by an airport ground crew. Apart from floodlights on the half-dozen aircraft parked on the tarmac, and the subdued light filtering from the airport's interior lounges, all was darkness.
Because Jean had been seated in Business Class, and Meredith, Sarah, and I in Premium Economy, we were among the first to walk the five or so minutes from our plane to the airport building and get in line to show our passports and be admitted to Madagascar.
We were better prepared than Ingrid and I had been five years earlier, and much earlier in line, so our time in line and our admittance went far more smoothly.
Waiting for our baggage was no worse than I'd remembered. After all, the baggage was loaded onto fairly small trucks, and maneuvered into place and unloaded manually. So it was almost as long a wait as mechanized unloading at O'Hare!
What I should have been prepared for, based on my last experience, was the determination of the unofficial baggage handlers, wearing quasi-official vests, to overwhelm weary wayfarers by grabbing their suitcases, loading them onto baggage carts, and wheeling them away at speed toward the exits and waiting taxis, cars, or vans— for a tip, of course!
Fortunately, we basically held our own, and safely conveyed ourselves and our luggage to the driver of the van from Manga Guest House.
But first we visited either the ATM machine or the Bank of Africa teller to withdraw our first stacks of Ariary, the currency of Madagascar— stacks of ariary, indeed, because each of us made the maximum withdrawal of 400,000 ariary: forty AR10,000 bills, or about $165! 10,000 MGA = a little over 4 USD!
So in the wee hours of Monday, July 28 we made our way in the Manga Guest House van along a dark road, with only the occasional light from a storefront or far away house until we arrived at our destination. We managed to communicate adequately with the Guest House's Malagasy- and French-speaking staff, and settled into our rooms for what remained of the night.
We also purchased our first bottles of Eau Vive water, our sole source of water for the next 16 days.
At breakfast we met Simon, Sue, and Matthew Babbs, parishioners from St. James the Less in Northfield, who were finishing up their mission to Toliara.
Toliara is also the name of the new Diocese which Bishop Todd McGregor leads, and where he and his wife, the Rev. Patsy McGregor, live.
We spend the day recuperating from our flight, sorting from our several suitcases the liturgical and other gifts destined for Todd and Patsy in Toliara, and consolidating them into one of Jean's suitcases for safekeeping at Manga Guest House during our excursion to the Andasibe region of Madagascar.
Here we are on the Manga Guest House balcony that morning:
We then met Jocelyn, who had driven the Babbs' from Toliara, and who would drive the seven of us to the Vakôna Lodge, where we would be staying during our time in Andasibe.
Jocelyn drove us through Antananarivo (also known simply as "Tana"), with several stops along the way— at an ATM so we could get more stacks of ariary, at the Lisy Art Gallery so the Babbs' could get last-minute souvenirs; and lunch across the street from Lisy at La Toque Enchantée.
From there we left for the Vakôna Lodge.
Later, as we gathered for dinner in the Vakôna Lodge dining room, we admired the matching Menu and Room Key:
To Be Continued!
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