Katja ordered two Dutch books. The were shipped to Madagascar. To collect the parcel she had to travel to Analakely, Tana (17km). Because all Buses were full she had to take a taxi for the first stretch. There she took a bus for the second part. With a second bus she arrived at Analakely. Ones there she had to walk up a hill to a post-office to get a stamp and a signature. With that she walked down to another post-office. There they wanted to see her passport and she had to give two signatures and after receiving another stamp and paying 2000 Ariary she received her parcel. She was able to take a bus that drove back home in one stretch. The trip to collect her parcel took her 4 hours.

Today Vanya and I (Jurgen) had to go to the pharmacy in Akorondrano, Tana (14km) to get Simeon vaccination. We left at 10am with the first taxi-bé (bus), Thirty minutes later we took the second bus and arrived at 12 o’clock. We bought some whole wheat flour at Jumbo (supermarket) and then walked to the pharmacy just to discover that they were closed until 13:30. So we bought some bread to eat and waited. After getting the vaccination we had to get back to Mandriambero. Not one bus stopped as they were all loaded with people. After an hour of waiting it started to rain and we decided to take a taxi. Just in time as it started to pour. The window of the taxi was not there any more and the roof did not cooperate with us (leaking). The taxi had to drive very slowly. The engine stopped several times due to water… All in all we arrived home at 15:40 AND best of all… we have the vaccination! It ‘only’ took us almost six hours total 🙂