After over two months in Tana, I finally made the trip up to the old Queen’s Palace that sits on top of the highest hill around the town. One friend pointed-out that the palace works as a good orienteering point since it is visible from almost anyway. When the guys came to set-up my wireless internet at my house, they explained that they had to point the antennae at the palace. Yes, it is the center of town.

The palace looks pretty impressive from a distance even when illiuminated at night. It also makes a great backdrop for the annual fireworks on Independence Day. The problem is that in 1995, the stone facade was robbed of all contents by a huge fire that also destroyed other buildings on the compound. Since the monarchy was deposed about (almost exactly?) a hundred years before), nobody was living in the palace at the time. It was a museum of royal artifacts on the verge of being declared a World Heritage site. There are plenty of rumors about what caused the five. One person told me that people had stolen many of the artifacts and didn’t want to be caught, so they burned the whole thing to hide their tracks…?

Anyway, the site is still totally worth a visit. Some of the artifacts are now on display in the nearby Prime Minister’s palace which is also good for a quick visit. Even if you have no interest in history, riches, and monarchies, the views from up there are just great. This is one little cafe nearby that serves a good grog (technically, “Super Grog”) and an interesting take on raclette. Tana is the kind of capital that most guide books pan, but there is definitely a bit to see here.