Live update from Antananarivo

So finally I am updating you live from the lobby of the beautiful Le Louvre hotel in Antananarivo – Madagascar. It is a small boutique hotel, very reasonable pricing, the best we had, hotels in Africa are very expensive and the best hotel we were at, till now. It was built on the ruins of the “Gallery Lafayette type store” which was here some years ago.

Madagascar is very much influenced by France and it is very evident from the architecture.

Antananarivo, is not what we expected, first of all it winter here, so it is quite cool, around 15 degrees at night and 19 in the morning, although, the poverty which is seen, it is more like a European city than an African one. The landscape is very hilly and the soil looks very good, Antananarivo is in the center, so it is quite green and gets quite a lot of water.

We already had three meetings, which were a great start for the days ahead. We have been in contact with our local partner Naivo, for already two years, it is very strange to imagine, how people get to know each other over the net, start working together and haven’t even met face to face, but this is our story and we can only say that we are lucky to know him, we both persevered and at long last we are here.

We also met with Theodore the director in charge of the southern area in the water ministry Theodore has been very instrumental and together we have already revised our project so that it would be more appropriate, our stage one project will be a training program together with a full study of the south region whilst bringing several  solutions such as brackish water small desalination installations and wells.

Later we have met with the secretary general of the ministry of water who has given her blessing for our project and stressed the priority that has been put by the government on the potable water issue in the south.

Beautiful Antananarivo

Naivo, Avi and theadore, in front of the late queens palace - apparently she was a wicked queen in the mid 1900's which beheaded cristens and threw their heads from the mountaintop. 

the prime ministers office.