Tree Xxx
Tomb with Totems
We left Bexa-Mahafaly at 08:53 and headed due west to the small village of Ambola, just north of Tsianampetsoa National Park.
We stopped just outside of Betioka to visit a lady who dealt in decorations for tombs. Lova was looking for something and thought she might have it. Apparently she buys old ones when they are being replaced during an exhumation; her husband carves new ones which she also sells. However, the things she had were in pretty bad shape so we continued on, heading south on national route 10.
In the middle of nowhere we came upon a truck blocking the road. It had some kind of drive train / gear trouble, and wasn't going to be moved anytime soon. So Caesar got out his tools and started cutting back the cactus, sisal, and other stuff so we could get around it.
While Caesar worked to widen the road, we checked out the local flora.
At 10:00 we turned right at a sign that said "Tsianampetsoa 102km".
We went through an area where there were large expanses of termite mounds. There was the small of fire burning everywhere, and not a baobab in sight.
By 12:00 we were at the beach, and by 12:20 at our lodging at the Ambola Beach Hotel. Not bad for having to cut out a detour; the road was mostly good sand, and Caesar could do about 60 km/hr.
There were some dirt bikers having lunch at the hotel when we arrived; apparently there is a tour company that specializes in dirt bike tours. The riders were suited up in what looked like some pretty uncomfortable outfits given how hot it was.
We had a nice airy bungalow, although no power to charge anything.
Ambola is a Vezo fishing village, and there were a lot of dugout canoes pulled up on the beach. They had one ama and rigging to hike out on the upwind side. The mast was stepped in a block with a notch that fits in the bottom of the boat so it (the block, and therefore the mast) doesn't move. They had a long pole for a lateen rig.
We spent the rest of the day resting up; the next day we were going to explore Tsianampetsoa National Park.