Pousse-pousse

We woke early, washed some clothes in the sink, and left to explore the town of Toliara. It was really hot by 10 am.  The most common form of transport here is pousse-pousse.  It's a covered, wooden bench with large wheels that is pulled by a man.  Sometimes he is running even barefoot. Locals use the pousse-pousse a lot; the "drivers" can be seen washing the wheels, sanding the sides, and decorating their carts.  We are eagerly asked every 5 feet if we want a lift.  They're everywhere!  And they don't necessarily go faster than walking, so the use is kind of puzzling.   We want to give them business,  but it feels wrong to us to lounge in the bench while a man runs barefoot on a hot day carrying us through the street.  Maybe we'll try it later tonight when it's cooler.

We met a French guy, Thèofan, and spent some time talking with him. An engineer from Bordeaux, he has lived all over the world. A very interesting fellow. 

Now we are resting and reading in the shade and cooling off with some delicious cafe and tiramisu gelato.

Tomorrow we will visit an arboretum with strange plants!  And afterwards head north along the coast to Ifaty, where we hope to find a way to make it further north. Updates could slow as we could be out of network in the coming days.