Madagascar: Antananarivo

Marché du Zoma

Antananarivo is the capital city of Republika Madagasikara. I visited and drove (never alone) a few times in this maze of a city. It's a terrible city with a lots of labyrinthine roads. Masy never wanted me alone in the city, he feared i would get mugged or worse. This was not very much reassuring, so his cousin Dodo would drive me around while Masy went to work. This way, i spent a lot of money when in the city: i paid Dodo his wage, took a small amount of fuel (which is the same price as in Europe, which makes it considerably more expensive to the standards there), and bought stuff too.

But walking in the Zoma (the market which initially only was fridays) is really something special: there you could buy all you would be buying in supermarkets in Europe and more. Just look at my pictures :)

We visited the Rova (the queen's palast), and the Haute Ville, we drove through the university campus and generally drove through a lots of roads.

There is not really much to visit in Tana.

Madagascar: part 4

Sur la route du nord de Nosy Be

After having slept in my bungalow on the beach in Ankify, i departed with a good breakfast in my belly for the port. There i took a motor boat for Nosy Be. The boat was chartered for me alone, but the "driver" asked me if there was any problem if he took two other persons, a girl and a child. I told him: tsis problem (no problem). The transfer to the island took us past Nosy Komba, and took approximatively 45 minutes to complete.

Madagascar: part 3

Gecko à ventre plat

Back in Antananarivo i could only sleep and go back the to the airport the next morning. This time i left for the north. After having visited parts of the west and the south of Madagascar, i went to Antsiranana Diego Suarez at the northernmost tip. There i stayed at a new hotel in town center (away from the vazaha hotel district), the Terrasse des Voyageurs. It's next to the covered market which sells tissues, shoes, clothes and such (where i found a new pair of shorts for Ar. 10'000). The hotel owner, a french man, wants to integrate his hotel to the district life. He welcomes the local people to come and share some time there. He organizes story telling and other activities for local children and cinema evenings for all and so on. This afternoon i made a tour in the city market. This town seems full of life and colors. I would have loved staying there a few more days.

Madagascar: part 2

crafted in Ambositra

The second part of my Madagascar tour started the next day with the same driver/guide which drove me to Miandrivazo the previous week. We went southward again to Antsirabe on RN7. As i was ill and had diarrhea for 3 days i did not visit anything this day. We arrived early in Ambositra where i took my hotel room and watched some TV shows and slept early.

The next day i was feeling slightly better and ate a bowl of rice as breakfast. We went to look at a craftsman working with wood. They make wood artifacts with different wood colors patching them together making intricate designs.

Madagascar: part 1

My first part in Madagascar was to go by car, with a driver/guide, southward to Antsirabe on RN7. From there on we went westward to Miandrivazo where i slept in a hotel nearby the Mahajilo river. The next day i went with another group of 4 tourists to the boarding place on the Tsiribihina river. From there on, it was 2 and a half days pure quiet pleasure to descend the river.

Marie-Andrée et Josie de la Réunion

The 4 tourists consist of 2 girls from l'île de la Réunion and a couple from Luxembourg. I immediately took to liking the 2 girls from Reunion and we exchanged addresses. The other couple is not worth speaking of.

One month in Madagascar

My 3 month trip to Africa is one third over. I just ended the tour with 5 days diving and drinking beer on Nosy Be touristic island.

My travel plans are the following:

• A travel agency prepared tour in Madagascar in September.
• An 18 days camping safari in Namibia and Botswana in October.
• Improvised travelling from Livingstone to Cape Town in November.

My friend Masy contacted the travel agency for me and offered me shelter at his and his parent's home in Antananarivo.

My plane arrived friday evening around 10pm (on 3 sept.). The next day we were already off to a forest camp a 100km away from Tana. There we visited the forest, the rice plantations, a nearby typical village and ate well.