I was just so unlucky that I never got to see those places. From the day one, everything went wrong. I arrived in Madagascar in the middle of the night at 2 am. There were a lot of taxi drivers offering me a ride, but they looked so dodgy that if I had gone with one of them, you would have read about it from the news the next day.
I had two options: to stay at the airport until 5 am when they would have a bus going to the city center or take a taxi. Luckily, even though everything was closed, the information desk was open. I asked about the taxi, and they arranged a reliable driver for me. I made it to my hostel, and everything was fine. Except that I was getting sick. I could feel my throat getting soarer and soarer, and it was hard to sleep. Walking on the streets was uncomfortable because of the attention I got.
I was dressed conservatively long pants and a T-shirt, no cleavage showing but I was still getting catcalled. Sadly, this is everyday life for a solo female traveler, and it happens everywhere — not just in Madagascar. After walking around in the city center for a while, I was done.
I made plans with a South African girl staying in the same dorm that we would travel together to Andasibe as soon as I was feeling better. The hostel was also quite far from the center. One afternoon, I decided to walk to the center, find a restaurant where they would have vegan options, and have a warm meal for the first time in Madagascar.
Before I left, I thought that maybe I should only take a small purse with me, and not my day bag. Perhaps I should just take a water bottle, tissues, a little bit of cash and my phone with me. This was the first time I had an instinct that maybe I could get robbed.
