For most travellers their first experience of Madagascar will be arrival by plane at the capital Antananarivo (pronounced Ant-an-an-ar-iv-u and variously shortened to Antananariv, Tananariv, and Tana). If you haven't been to an underdeveloped country before, or haven't travelled for a while, you're in for a bit of a culture shock, especially if you arrive at night and wake up in the middle of the city in the morning.
Congested, confusing and at first confronting Tana is a maze of often cobbled streets winding up, down and around the hills and ridges that dominate the city centre. Life is very much out on the street. Masses of pedestrians spill from the footpaths onto the roads, joining the cars, buses and carts all jostling for position in what appears to be a chaotic swarm. There are no traffic lights in Tana and very few traffic police. But under the chaos there is some order. The traffic moves. Accidents appear to be rare.