Looking at the train in the distance

We are driving back to the capital today making it our last stop on the trip – it is only a short drive there so we have the time to do a stop along the way and not just drive all day. On the way out we had stopped for lunch at a little place called Mandraka Park. The place was quite nice and the owner had a special relation to Denmark since the late prince of Denmark had visited the place a few years back before he died.

House along the road

View along the way

The owner had a picture of herself with the prince standing in the small restaurant at the hotel – but she hadn’t really kept up with the latest news of the Danish royal family so she didn’t know the prince had passed away earlier in the year. Our reason to go back here wasn’t so much the Danish connection – it was more the fact this was a good place to break the journey and one of the few places where they serve decent food along the road from Andasibe to Tana. And in addition to the restaurant they do small hikes in a nearby park. We had enough time so we would do a little hike of the park after lunch.

We have our lunch which is decent but not really much more than that. And after the lunch it is time to go on a little hike in the hills.

We go into the park with our guide who speaks no English – so our driver who at least speak limited English join us on the small hike in the park. We walk into the hill and down to a little stream with a waterfall. It is a nice little hike with a bit of a view from the top of the hill. From up here we see a freight train in the distance travelling very slowly along the track in the hills. I guess they do have a freight train making the journey to the capital in a couple of days – it is even slower than the trucks which can do it the same trip in a day or so if everything goes well.

We enjoy the view for a little while and then we walk back down to the car and get ready for the last bit of the drive back to the capital. It is a slow drive along the different local houses next to the road.