There has been much discussion around the relevance to “officially” clear out of Madagascar. Some say you don’t need outward clearance paperwork from Madagascar when you are arriving in South Africa…later we can confirm this was true from friends and of course ourselves, however…at the time it was just hear say. This was something we had NEVER done before…EVER…so we felt pretty uncomfortable not officially checking out…the cost and hassle to clear out just seemed like something we had to endure..no matter the cost (to a point) and the time it took to accomplish clearance just didn’t seem all that bad. Additionally, though we never “planned” to stop in Mozambique, there was a small chance we would need to stop there and having clearance out of Madagascar and we assumed they would want outward clearance… just seemed the right thing to do….and so we go…We lifted anchor early in the morning and headed the 5 miles to Hell-ville to catch Jimmy at the wharf by 8-8:30 am.
The port captain was not in his office so we were instructed to come back at 2 pm to complete the process…this meant we had time to go to the market for last minute food items and lunch : )
Jimmy was not at the wharf when we arrived as he was helping other cruisers with fuel…however his associate, Kool was there to assist. Kool took us to the Police/Immigration shack…no problem and thank you…
However, we…all 6 of us… needed a van to shop and eat for the half day and there started a small “conflict” between the local van drivers and Kool…all bidding for our business. The 6 of us also had different ideas on who we should “hire” but…when you get that many people together it hard to make snap decisions…at least it is for me. This photo was taken as soon as we got into A van…smiles on everyone…just glad to moving ahead : )
Van ride…I love the colors here… 
First stop we went to the market to purchase rice for our weather router Des. He does his service for free but would accpt donations of local Madagascar rice and honey from Honey River. 
We stopped off at Shampion as it is a few blocks away from the market…every store has something a little different than the others… 
Shampion store front… 
Around the coroner from Shampions is where you can fill your gas bottles for cooking…we don’t use it but others needed to pick up their gas bottles. 
Lunch was at a cute place…I didn’t eat…just drank my calories : ) I was to distracted by the cats (LOL)!
Bellies full…bags full…we headed back to the port captain. We surprisingly received a celarance out paperwork, which we had been told nothing is usually issued, and our passports stamped…with a receipt…we had to press to get the receipt but it was done.
Notice the dates….Immigration placed October 18th on both our passports and receipt…. 
…while the port captain hand wrote October 19th….not that it matters : )
Big thanks to Jimmy and Kool for all their patience with us demanding cruisers each year… it is a thankless job sometimes and I suspect as time goes by, expectations increase. They have been doing this for a decade, every day they are on the wharf, their prices are reasonable and trust me… they know people and are a wonderful resource. We prepared a small gift bag for each of them as a small gesture of appreciation….sometimes a “thank you” just isn’t enough! : )
On cruising publications, the description to find Jimmy was his “red baseball cap”. We acquired a red cap from our Indonesia rally last year and thought it would be appropriate to gift it to Jimmy. When he was walking home at the end of the his day, we passed him and sure enough he was wearing it..?! We were honored! 
Kool is to the right of me in this photo…we had a fun time with our similar hats…he has great taste!!! ; )
It’s official…we are free to leave the country…except we won’t be ….
Up next: Our passage (day hops) down the West coast of Madagascar: From Russian Bay to Baly Bay