Day 027: We had told Freddy that we'd be ready to check out of the Royal Palace Hotel and get on the road at 8:00 but finished breakfast a little late. We knew that it'd be between four and five hours to travel back to Antananarivo. We spent a bit of the travel talking about the highway itself. The RN7 is the only major route south from the capital. Today's section was only around 170 km but full of potholes and a route through cities and villages along the way. It took us just a little bit over 4 hours. Still, it was packed with things to see. I love seeing things up close and personal on a trip.
We had agreed to pay 350 Euro for the van and driver but we gave US 400 hoping that Freddy's boss will give him the bit extra. We also rushed to the bank machine beside our hotel to grab some more Malagasy Ariary and gave Freddie 200,000 as a tip. He really did a lot of driving as our trip was over 2000 kilometers packed into just four and a half days. He was happy to hear that we were so happy with his planning, driving, and the overall experience.
It really was an exciting trip! We can still travel like in day's of old just now we carry more luggage and tip porters to carry it up flights of hotel stairs. I really felt like we had a chance to see a side of Madagascar that some tourists miss. We did it via four wheels which only occasionally left the ground.
It was nice checking back into the Colbert Hotel. It felt like being home as we spent our initial two nights in Madagascar here. There's something about returning and having phones automatically log on that is reassuring.
We went for lunch at around 1:20 pm. It was hotter today than during our first few days. Of course the elevation keeps it cooler than the beaches.
