Sunshine, moon shadows, cruise ships and Easter

The sunshine is back - hurray!  For the last two weeks or so we have been enjoying the sort of perfect weather that I adore.  No idea about the temperature but it is HOT, must be 30+ degrees, perfect blue skies and our little wooden house is finally drying out after all the rain.

Last week we celebrated the full moon with a barbecue on the beach.  The moon was so bright that we didn't need any other torches or lights.  Moon shadows always fill me with a wonder - you so rarely appreciate the strength of moonshine in the UK with all the street lights.  The boys went in to have a moonlit surf and came out raving about silver waves; oh and the rabbit in the moon was clear to see (yes there is a rabbit, rather than a man, in the Malagasy moon!)

The last Sunday of March was a red letter day for Fort Dauphin.  It saw the arrival of the first cruise ship to visit for literally decades.  The new port (which has been built to service the Rio Tinto mine) can also facilitate deep water cruise ships, the visits of which could potentially really help the economy of this remote corner of Madagascar... Everyone in town was very excited by the prospect of some 2,000+ tourists - even if they were only going to be with us for 6 hours.  Plans for the day were discussed for months; the town cleaned for weeks beforehand and many locals arranged special tours, restaurants put on special menus and craft stalls were set up at both of the towns beaches especially for the day.    Samson was there offering surf lessons and I was selling traditional Lambas (or sarongs) made into the perfect beach dress.  Unfortunately what occurred was basically frustrating.  Various issues appear to have 'scuppered' the day for a lot of people:

• The Malagasy tour operator decided to only promote two tour options actually onboard the ship.  These were the offerings of the two largest companies in town - apparently because they were the only two that accepted invoiced payment rather than requiring cash on the day... so all the smaller specially arranged tours had to be cancelled at the last minute - a shame for the locals, but also for the visitors who could have had a much greater choice of trips around this beautiful region for the day.
• The information given out on board was extremely limited and did not detail either of the events arranged at the two town beaches (despite full info having been submitted in good time) - so visitors did not know that the beaches were the places to head for entertainment and shopping.  Most visitors just stayed at the port if they didn't go out on one of the tours.
• Buses were put on to run from the port but bizarrely they did not drop to the beaches, but only to the town hall in the commercial district - which was all shut - it being Sunday!
• The final straw was that the local taxi drivers took it upon themselves to charge a ridiculous $5 per person per trip rate (normally 50 cents) despite being asked by the council not to over charge - so many visitors understandably did not want to pay to get them from the centre of town to either of the beaches.  The result - many visitors never made it to the beaches, seeing only sleepy, slightly scruffy Fort Dauphin all closed up on a Sunday and headed back to the boat disappointed. 

Those visitors that were a bit more adventurous that did make it to the beach were very complimentary about entertainments, stalls, food that had been arranged - but most had only brought a little money with them as they had been told that all the shops would be closed and not to eat anything onshore!  Not the big success that everyone had been aiming for.   We can only hope that these teething problems will be sorted out for the next ship which is due in at the end of April.  Keep your fingers crossed that Fort Dauphin will get it right next time.

Last weekend was Easter.  This is a happy time of the year.  Traditionally, all the Malagasy get out and go on a picnic on Easter Monday.  Samson and I took ourselves off to enjoy the day on Monseigner beach - one of the great local surf spots.  

Tuna was cooked, Three Horses Beer drunk, Samson caught a few waves and Alison hunted for shells.... heaven on earth in my book!  

I hope that Easter is finally bringing the UK some better weather and that chocolate eggs were received by all that desired them - that may have to be a tradition that I introduce to here for next year!