In the heart of Toamasina city we let 7 bungalows for 2 to 4 persons each.
Our centre is the ideal spot to start your round trip in East Madagascar.
The treks are by all considered the highlight of their journey in Madagascar. It ís a unique offer: only Centre Lambahoany works with the local population to organise treks in the rural community Fetraomby and adjoining communes.
From Toamasina to Mananjary, lakes, lagoons, streams connected by canals dug out at the end of the 19th Century, totalling up to 600 kilometres of waterway, known as the Pangalanes Canal.
The Canal runs parallel to the Indian Ocean. The strip of land between the salt and the sweet water measures just a few dozen metres.
The purpose of the canal was transport between Toamasina and the many villages and towns along the canal. Until this day the canal serves as such.
It is easy to navigate a boat on these waters, and it is very worthwhile. The canal and its banks are a rare combination of an ecological system dominated by the Indian Ocean and that of the tropical forests more inland.
On the inland-shores there are areas where the plants are abundant, especially in the remaining pockets of tropical forest. There are little villages to visit and several tourist destinations, like a lemur park, a nature reserve, an agro touristic site, a distillery of essential oils, an orchid garden, …. too much to mention.
Andasibe is the centre of an extensive area with well-preserved Mountain Tropical Rainforest. Tourists can choose from no less than four parks to visit.
The National Park Andasibe, formerly known as Perinet is the oldest National Park in Madagascar.
Across the road the village association maintains the Mitsinjo Park with dedication and enthusiasm.
And between these two parks and the cute traditional village Andasibe the VOI MMA Park is run by the village committee that is responsible for the maintenance of their patch of primary forest.
In all three parks the Indri-Indri, Madagascar’s largest living lemur, can easily be spotted.
A little further away in the fourth park, the National Park Mantadia, the diademed sifaka and the black-and-white ruffed lemur can be found. And also at some distance, the Mitsinjo Park runs a swamp forest with for fanciers a mouth-watering variety of frogs and birds.
When strolling along the white sandy beaches of Toamasina you cannot but spot the intriguing island a little offshore from Toamasina with its lighthouse like an admonishing finger.
The island is uninhabited. A boat trip of about 45 minutes takes you there. And then it is time to relax, to swim, to snorkel, to climb the lighthouse and enjoy the panoramic view, or wander through the forest to take the bats unaware.
It is the Pteropus Rufusi, or flying fox, a fruit bat and an endemic species.
Only on Mondays the train leaves Moramanga for Toamasina. Centre Lambahoany’s clients use it for their journey from Andasibe to Andranokoditra. In Andasibe they visit the Mitsinjo Park to spot the Indri-indri, the black and white lemur locally knowns as Babakoto.
Andranokoditra is situated on the strip of land between the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal. Apart from the train once a week, this fishing-village-cum-seaside-resort can only be reached by boat. It is also the operating base for several outings.
Taking the train is an experience in itself, not reaching the destination is the goal but the journey itself. Relax and enjoy the company of the other rail passengers, the changing landscape, the bustle at the railway station where local women have all kind of mouth-watering snacks on offer.
It takes some planning, but it is an experience not to be missed.
The tourist season is only half way through and Centre Lambahoany has nothing but satisfied customers.
The treks are by all considered the highlight of their journey in Madagascar. It ís a unique offer: only Centre Lambahoany works with the local population to organise treks in the rural community Fetraomby and adjoining communes.
Homestay with the hospitable villagers, enjoying their dance and music after hiking in the jungle to spot the indri-indri or one of the twelve other species of lemur whose habitat is the rainforest, nothing but fresh air, submerged in rural Madagascar.
A month of diversity spent in just a small part of a majestic country leaves me thinking how many wondrous things are left to see in this part of the world. An impression of our holiday can be read in the following excerpts.
Primary rainforests with lemurs, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, frogs, gekko’s and chameleons in all sorts and sizes. Not to mention medicinal plants, pandanuce, palmtrees, rose wood and palissander.
The Canal des Pangalanes with its awe-inspiring lakes, white sandy beaches and fishing villages and all this is just a stone’s throw away from the relentless crashing and beating of the Indian ocean. Watching the fishermen braving the waves in small pirogues at first dawn is something I’ll never forget.
The humpback whales, just of the Isle Sainte Marie, did justice to their reputation by jumping from the water, splashing their fins and tales and performing an occasional spy hop.
Exceptional ‘off the beaten track’ days with the people from Fetraomby and the surrounding villages of Andranaotra, Lanonana and Razanaka. Trekking through primary rainforest whilst seeing various kinds of truly wild lemurs, wading through rivers and rice paddies whilst eating bananas and anon fruit straight from the tree. Meeting people living a simple but happy life surrounded by nature and the ones they love.
Many thanks to George and Marcia, from Centre Lambahoany in Tamatave, for putting us in to contact with the lovely and kind people of Madagascar. I hope they will continue this important work for many years to come so the Malagasy people can profit from tourism without losing their culture and biodiversity.
Photo: Canal des Pangalanes, Wikipedia
A new touristic site, a historic cave and the summit of the hill where once a king resided are now open to the public. It takes some stamina to arrive, but the stayers are rewarded! The cave is high upon the hill near the hamlet Marovato in the Eastern Rainforest of Madagascar. Marovato is only accessible on foot, an eight kilometre walk from Gismay, where the boat from Brickaville moors. The cave is a little more uphill. Here, in times of unrest people would hide. The last time was during the 1947 insurrection against the colonial rule. Since then, the cave was filled up with dirt. But the villagers did a good job to improve the path that leads to the cave and cleaned out the cave itself, which is much deeper than they ever expected. A small puddle has formed in the middle, much to the delight of the Indri-indri that live in the surrounding forest. They use it as a watering place. The indri-indri, a black and white lemur, is a sacred animal for the local people and therefore it is not very shy. Thus there is a reasonable chance to spot them.
The path to the cave continues to the summit where one has a splendid view of the surroundings. Once, a king lived upon this summit where he was protected against his enemies. The grandson of the last king is now the tangalamena (warden of traditions) of Marovato.
More information about Marovato, the cave and the king can be found in a brochure that shortly will be available as a download from this site. Also, a new trek including a visit of this new touristic site will be put together by the local organisation, Rianala, and Centre Lambahoany and published on this site.
Featured image (top): Brickaville
We have visited Fetraomby last spring and we must say it is very impressive.
First we were taken by our guide to Brickaville to take some meat from the market for the next day and then into the boat with the locals. After some hours we arrived in Anivorano where a lady provided us with lunch in her house. After another boat trip we got off in Gisimay, from where we walked to Sahamamy. Unfortunately the host family had just lost their son, so their was no music, but the family was very open minded to share about their customs. We had a great meal and the next day they showed us the old graphite mine and factory. You would have wondered how they ever got these machines here, since there are only trails to this village.
After that we were going to find the Indri indri, which we did on a mountain top which gave a great view over the area. A steep climb over the mountain followed to get to Marovato for our next stay.
The children here gave us a good performance and the whole village came out to greet us. Like the locals do, we decided to take a bath in the small river just outside the village.
The following days we visited Fetraomby and had a little party here, with some music and dancing. We visited some pierre bizarres and learned about their importance for the villagers. We went to the waterfall and had a pick nick here. Also we were told how people make charcoal and protect their food from pest.
It was a lot of walking, but worth it. In one village we were the second white people ever visited, so that was very special. Also seeing that people really like to welcome you and secondary school children wanting to practise their English with a real ‘outsider’ is very special.
We can only say, that if you visit Madagascar, you definitely get a more special experience here than at other, more frequently visited, tourist areas
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