En Tana, avec le jacaranda

It should be said that I really, really dislike Tana (short for Antananarivo), the capital of Madagascar. It's inexplicably in the middle of the country (on an island-- really?), dirty, expensive, crowded, and full of sneaky pickpockets, crazy traffic, and terrible pollution. There are literally no working stoplights in this massive city, and it's impossible to navigate on foot because every inch of the sidewalks are covered in street vendors. When I think of Madagascar, I think of the beautiful coastal region where I live, and so whenever I come to Tana it always screws with my head a little bit as I try to reconcile being here with the idyllic, tropical reality of life at my site.

However, the more time I spend in Tana, the more layers of the city have been peeled back for me, and I've begun to find some interesting things. It's also made me realize that despite its flaws, Tana does have some qualities that should be appreciated. I've recently had to make several unexpected trips to the city to handle some business and medical issues, and so I've tried to make the most of it by exploring, walking around, and actually taking some pictures. The best part of being here when I have been lately (September/October/November) is that it's when the gorgeous purple jacaranda trees are in bloom all over the city.

Jacaranda trees ringing Lac Anosy, in the middle of Tana. Unfortunately it wasn't a great day for photos so you can't really see just how vibrantly purple the blooms are.

The blossoms litter the ground almost everywhere you walk (or stand, in my case here.)

I'm also really enamored by the beautiful old train station at the end of L'Avenue de l'Independence. I've always been drawn to beautiful old train stations, and while I wish this was still a working station, I'm glad that it's at least been restored and has a new life. Right now it's home to a few expensive shops and boutiques, plus one of my favorite restaurants in town, Cafe de la Gare.

A relic of the colonial era, the station is emblazoned with the French name for the city, "Tananarive".

My other favorite piece of architecture is this Telma building which I randomly stumbled across while walking around one day. Telma is the name of the main cell phone/land line provider in the country, and before it was privatized it was the national phone provider, Telecom Malagasy, so I'm assuming this building dates back to when it was still government-run.

The Telma colors are yellow and green, hence the paint job on this building.

An old sign for a Telecom Malagasy payphone.

Here are some other miscellaneous photos of things I found interesting in Tana:

The fancy Hotel du Louvre and its beautiful jacaranda tree.

I'm kind of obsessed with all the post offices in this country because all the lettering is done in this fantastic mid-century modern font. I hope they never modernize! This post office in Tana is my favorite.

Here's a sign for the office of a dental surgeon with some fairly impressive credentials.

"Buvez Coca-Cola!"

Street corner scene.

What the Malagasy call "le propagande"-- election posters for one of the presidential candidates. NB: "fidio" means "choose", and "filoham-pirenena" literally translates to "leader of the country". Hajo is the first name of this candidate.

Tana is a very hilly city. Here's a view looking towards Lac Anosy.