One hit wonder dirty dancing.

We’ve hired the local band for 30000 Ariary (about £10) and got the drinks in (rum 1700, 60p a bottle and coke 2400, 80p a bottle – mixers are such a rip off!) In the dim light of a wind-blown candle and a couple of head torches I can make out the home-made instruments behind the swiftly coordinated dancers. The second and third song sound very similar to the first, which is because they are the same. And the forth, identical in fact. The band proceeds to play the same song over and over again with sustained enthusiasm for the next couple of hours. Then they play 2 others which they have obviously been saving before continuing with their obvious favourite. We are all pulled up to dance barefoot in the dusty sand (there’s just a few stones to keep you awake) A huge hissing cockroach circles the flame, round and round, oblivious to the music and dancing, mesmerised. A couple of the local guys circle Erica and Emma in a similar way. I dance with the children who flash white toothed smiles under the stars and giggling ask me my name in Malagasy.