My time in
Tana was short and sweet, and even though I didn’t see that much of the city,
it was enough to get a glimpse. Arriving in Toliara, or Tuléar by its French
name, I enter a different world: It’s not only the heat, as compared to the
highlands, or the proximity of the sea. Toliara, with its few main roads, the
omni-present “pousse-pousse” (rickshaws) and its very modest traffic
immediately presents itself from a much more laid-back side than the capital.
This also means that I am, as a white person, a veritable attraction, as marked
by the many people hollering and staring at me.
We do
courtesy calls to the local authorities; after the 4th or 5th
hand I have shaken, I lose track of who we are seeing at a given moment, and
opt for simply nodding and smiling.
In the
evening in my lovely studio apartment, I get acquainted with all my new pets.
So far, I have met: the 2 geckos, the giant spider that lives under the toilet,
and the cockroach, which I gently complement out of the door. Sorry, darling.
And: moscitos are not considered pets.
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