Night time in Talatamaty

I took these photos (after driving my friend Anri-Louise home) just down the road from where I used to live - where the night scene is a vibrant one, and where the urine smell is a strong one ...

What a story - the scavenging dog, the old lady filling a bottle and the customers waiting for their road-side stall food...

Now that's a bar! Drive through, park, sit ... You choose

But, to be honest, I prefer Anri-Louise's night-time homeward-bound photos.

Out of words this Wednesday

This post is originally from my active blog over at Rambling with a cantankerous old mule.

I'm out of words this Wednesday and oh so irritated with the lethargic Internet, which leaves me defaulting to a semi "Wordless Wednesday" post. (As usual, they are probably better bigger... Just click on the individual photos.)

Stormy skies over Tana at night

A scene across the marsh-land from where I'm staying

A Grade 2 in a warm Malagasy winter

The second lyn singing the school song with all the other junior school children

Second-eldest Midgley: Boy in a box

There should be a law against this

Click on the picture to see the fine print

This post was originally published over at my other blog, but I thought it was appropriate to leave a copy here too...

I was chuckling at this sign at the airport here in Tana (Antananarivo, Madagascar) yesterday afternoon while waiting what seemed an interminably long time for the harried check-in staff to open the counters.

Firstly, the introductory sentence: “Any infringement of these formalities is liable to prosecution and sanction in accordance with legal provisions into force.” I’ve lived abroad for so long I’m not even sure if that’s correct English! Is it? I don’t think so…

I also loved this line: “Transportation of species of fauna and flora threatened of extinction without authorisation.” Sounds like a good Google translation to me. So, plants are not authorised to become extinct? Or does it mean that one cannot export plants where authority has not been given to make them extinct. Oh, it’s all so confusing.

Clearly drug trafficking isn’t too serious an offence on this island of lemurs, incurring a mere fine of between $1 and $500 dollars and, lest one missed it, “work forces for a time”. And that’s only for “high risk drugs”… Any other drugs would be fine to traffic, it seems. And what is a high risk drug? Would cough syrup qualify? I’ve heard of people developing severe addictions to cough syrup. I’m just pleased they didn’t nab me with all the medication I have for my chest problems.

We were also wondering whether marijuana would fit into the fauna and flora category – that carries a $50,000 to $100,000 fine and/or imprisonment from 2 to 10 years. That would be one expensive joint, if caught!

I’d love to know how they came up with the monetary values on the sign. I mean, when it comes to trading in animals and animal products how do they get fines of between $72 and $1620 … Why not just round up or down? Oh, and what is “animals food”? Should that read animal’s food, animals’ food, or food made from animals? Whichever way I look at this one, I have a problem with it. "Animals food" ... I just can't wrap my brain around it.

I definitely wouldn’t want to be caught transporting “armaments of 2nd or 3rd categories without authorization” which carries a $20 fine (or 6 months in prison)… Six months or $20? Man, I’d pay the $20, especially after what I’ve heard about the conditions in Malagasy prisons…

Day trip to Ankorondrano

This is across at my other blog, but thought it appropriate to post here too...

Tana - unchanging, beautiful, full of life. Yesterday I took a short trip downtown - but a trip that one thinks very carefully about before embarking on. One has but a small window of opportunity for such a considerable journey - the roads are congested from early morning until about 9.30am, then from 12 - 2pm (when the majority of businesses close for lunch), and again from around 4pm as people start heading home. But how good it is to experience the vibrancy of the city for one last time. I knew that I was home when a wooden cupboard overtook us on a side road (sure, it was on a cart, being pushed by three skinny Malagasies, but where else in the world would that happen?) Enjoy some of the photos - mostly taken from the car while zipping along at walking speed.

Waiting, waiting, waiting for the bus ...

One of the typical carts on Tana's roads - absolutely back-breaking work ...

Fruit, fruit, plenty of fruit (stalls)...

A typical Tana vista close to the Digue market

Avocado? Oh, advocate (and family laundry, it seems)

A family outing? From the back we could see only four people on the scooter. But no, that just wouldn't be Tana ...