The Highlands | The North | The East | The South | The West
Tulear to Fort Dauphin
© University of Texas
To Anakao | To St. Augustin | Saint Augustin | Anakao | Coastal trail to Fort Dauphin | Itampolo | Lavanono | Betanty | Inland route to Fort Dauphin | Betioky | Ejeda | Ampanihy | Ambovombe | Tolagnaro (Fort Dauphin)
By boat
to the
Anakao region
For further information about boat and taxi-brousse prices, companies
and timetables visit our section Transportation in Tulear
 © Madagascar Travel Guide |
With a
car to St.
Augustin
To get there from Tulear,
follow the RN7 back to Tana and then turn
onto a
track to the right, just after passing the airport.
La Mangrove Hotel
Phone: +261 20 94 936 26
Web: http://www.hotelsud-tulear.com
Of the same owners than Chez Alain in
Tulear
(transfers can be organised from there).
The hotel is located on the
runway just before
reaching Sarondrano, 15 km south of Toliara. The nice maintained
bungalows
overlook the bay. There restaurant prepares excellent dishes. The hotel
has no
beach, but there is wooden pier overlooking a pool of natural
freshwater.
Five bungalows with
shower for
Ar 30,000, four doubles with private facilities for Ar 50,000 and two
triples for 60,000. A meal
costs Ar
19.000.
The hotel has a diving school
too and is a good
base for exploring the nearby islands (like Nosy Ve). Unfortunately,
the diving
equipment is not very well maintained. You can also rent mountain bikes
to
explore the nearby villages of Sarondrano and
- Miary sacred banyan
tree
The sacred banyan tree of Miary
is located in
the royal village of the Masikoro clan on the way to St. Augustin. The
tree,
which is protected by a wooden fence, is so large that resembles a
forest
itself! Malagasy usually come there to worship their ancestors and
deposit
offerings. It makes it very easy to taxi. The sacred character of the
place,
which is also depositary the clan’s laws and legends, is
easily perceived in
the quiet environment that invites visitors to meditation.
- Sarondrano
Chez Andrea
Ten simple but adequate rooms in the
middle of a wonderful landscape spattered with dunes.
Saint
Augustin
(Anatsoano)
A small wooden building is the
home of local tromba (spirit), and also the
place where all worship objects are kept. Visits are possible under
request to
the local chief (descendant of King Revino). If he agrees to receive
you, you
should observe the local fady, go barefoot, wear a lambaoany, make an
offering
and bring two bottles of rum.
Auberge des Corsairs
(At Glover)
Mobile: + 261 (0) 32 04 645 12
10 rooms at Ar 10000 with cold water and common facilities.
Anakao
The
 |
Snorkelling is considerably better than in Ifaty with some diving sites with a deep from 8 m to 23 m where myriads of fish can be seen. Unfortunately, once superb snorkelling is already gone due to the strong bleaching that has reduced the shallow reef to a vista of dead coral. |
But marine fauna is not the
only thing affected
by tourism. Anakao’s
rapid tourism development has already impacted on the
people’s attitudes
towards the visitors and the traditional authentic hospitality of the
Malagasy
has been spoilt by groups of children following tourists asking for
money.
According to some experts, Anakao’s prosperous tourist
industry could develop
into a second Varadero, but still the daydreaming indolent character of
the
town does not show, that this might occur soon. If you are fond of
nightlife,
better stay in Tulear or in Ifaty.
A short walk south of Anakao
will lead you to
some tombs, and to a peninsula on fossil seekers which fragments of
eggshells
of the world's largest bird, the Aepyornis, can
still be found (it is
illegal to take them out of Madagascar).
During the austral winter, Anakao is an ideal spot to observe the dance
of
whales when they along the coast, near Nosy Ve.
-
Nosy Ve
A 3 km of Anakao, this long island plate lined
with sandy beaches is now
deserted. Nosy Ve is a sacred
spot for the Vezo people, who annually sacrifice zebu. The place has a
dark
past too. It was long time used as slaves’ exit port and as
refuge for pirates.
An anchor of impressive size and some tombs of French settlers still
give
testimony of these turbulent times. Now, the main attraction of this
inhabited
islet, 4.5 km offshore, are its 75 pairs of nesting red-tailed
tropicbirds that
attract ornithologists from all parts of the world.
The birds allow a close approach, as they are
left unmolested by local people due to a taboo. Apart of the
birds’ colony,
there is very good snorkeling on the pristine coral reef encircling the
island,
which makes the small islet a lovely day-trip. The superb white strand
invites
to idleness. To access the natural sanctuary of Nosy Be an entrance fee
of Ar
2000 per person is require
- Nosy Satrana
Nosy
Satrana is a
small, almost deserted island half-hour from the mainland, whose main
inhabitants are herons, and, according to the local believes, also the
spirits
of ancestors than live under the shading branches of a large tamarind
tree on
the north of the island. At low tide, a great walk allows the approach
of the
island on foot, following cattlemen that drive their herds of zebu. If
you are
lucky, you might even find some pieces of fossilized eggshells of the
giant
aepyornis bird, the largest bird that has ever existed, that are
littered on
the seabed.
- Diving sites
Many of the best sites are off
Nosy Satrana, a
good half-hour boat-ride away. Mangoro,
is superb, a labyrinth of arches, tunnels and caves which shelters
large shoals
of squirrelfish and the ubiquitous crayfish. Butterfly fish and damsels
abound
and anemone fish aggressively guard their territory. Similar topography
is to
be found at Les Grottes where
a
vast porcupine fish is the star attraction.
Where to sleep (Hotels in alphabetical order, prices from 2011)
Budget | Middle-class | High-end
Budget accommodations
Chez Emile
6 basic and clean bungalows next to the village by the beach. Very
friendly atmosphere, popular with the locals (Malagasy owner). There is
also a small restaurant.
Chez Stoick
Phone: 032 02 041 06
6 simple bungalows near the village in a peaceful and nice setting.
Shared toilets and cold water only. Good food and friendly staff.
Middle class hotels
Chez Solange
Phone: + 261 20 94 920 63
Mail: soalazy@yahoo.fr
3 charming and nice furnished bungalows and 3 comfortable rooms right
on the beach. Peaceful
and beautiful location and very friendly staff. Some excursions are
offered.
Price for two people between 30,000 and 40,000 Ar
Hôtel La
Reserve
Phone: 032 02 141 55
8 simple, welcoming and clean bungalows with hot water and some with
private toilet located 5 km south from Anakao, on a quiet and beautiful
beach. Very good food. They offer some activities and trips.
Lalandaka
Phone: 20 94 914 35
Web: http://www.lalandaka.com
Mail: lalandaka@moov.mg
Charming bungalows on a magnificent location by the beach. Wide range
of sea activities offered (try Kit-Surf!). Peaceful and friendly. Very
good food.
Price for two people from 18 € to 24 €, depending on
the season
Longo Vezo
Phone: 20 94 437 64
Web: www.longovezo.org
Mail: longo.vezo@yahoo.fr
8 basic, large and comfortable bungalows with hot water and private
facilities on a beautiful beach surrounded by a huge garden. Very
friendly staff and atmosphere. There is a good dive centre that
organises all kind of sea activities and excursions. Nice bar and
excellent restaurant with sea views. Good price-quality relationship.
Recommended.
Price for two people from 18 € to 26 €
Safari Vezo
Phone: 94 413 81 / 032 02 638 87
Mail: safarivezo@moov.mg
Web: http://www.safarivezo.com
23 comfortable and pleasant bungalows by the beach not far from the
village. Agreeable and green setting, nice restaurant serves good food.
There is a very good dive centre (Club Nautique) next to the hotel, and
several activities are arranged.
Price for two people from 14 € up to 48 €
High end accommodations
Anakao Ocean
Lodge & Spa
Phone: + 261 20 94 919 57
Web: www.anakaooceanlodge.com
E-mail: anakaooceanlodge@gmail.com
23 luxurious, large, well furnished and decorated bungalows with all
comforts perfectly integrated into the beautiful environment. The beach
is huge, the garden marvellous, the food excellent, the service
professional and friendly. A lot of activities organised: sailing,
fishing, diving, whale watching, excursions…It is maybe one
the
best accommodations in the south of Madagascar!
Price for two people from 95 €. Menu 20 €
L´altra faccia
della luna (Chez Diego)
Phone: +261 (0) 20 94 903 70
Mail: laltraluna@hotmail.it
Web: http://www.laltraluna.it
Small brand new ecolodge situated just opposite Nosy Satrona on an
idylic place. The two rooms, two lodges and one bungalow are just
superb: the decoration is magnificent and everything is impeccable. The
minumun stay is 3 nights and full board is included.
The bungalow costs 50 €, a room 40 € and a lodge 65
€ (all prices per night and person)
Prince Anakao
Phone: + 261 20 94 902 00
Web: http://www.hotelprinceanakao.com
Mail: prince.anakao@gmail.com
28 high standard, very well furnished and decorated bungalows and 6
rooms on a wild and stunning setting. Satellite TV, safe, live music.
Excellent service and meals. All possible sea activities are offered.
Price for a room for two people 20 €, a bungalow for two
people between 30 € and 55
€
The trail along the south western coast from Anakao to Beheloka, Itampolo and Lavanono is simply magnificent and mostly in an apparent better shape than the inland track. It is therefore no wonder that the number of adventure tourists longing for a really off the beaten track experience that venture in a multi-day 4x4 drive into the deep South is slowly increasing. |
 Spiny forest by the sea © Madagascar
Travel Guide
|
But the possibilities of
exploring this remote region are still
limited, since there is no public transportation service, so that most
travellers opt to chose one 4x4 package offered by some agencies of
Tulear. An
alternative would be hiring a Vezo pirogue and slide over the waves
along the
coast until Beheloka. The idyll can be however deceptive: the ocean is
treacherous and many Vezo fishermen lose their lives in the sea every
year.
Expect to pay about Ar 20.000 per person and ask for further
information at Chez
Emile.
- Andrangy
Nomadic fishermen usually camp here
- Maromena
This is the first Vezo village you will pass on your way to the far
South. There
is a small grocery facing the blue lagoon.
- Befasy
Befasy is even a bigger village. Here daring visitors can go with the
fishermen
on their daily outings for capturing turtles and sharks.
- Beheloka
Further south, the
Chez Bernard / La Canne
a Sucre
Phone: 94 437 21
4 comfortable bungalows with private toilet and 16 modest and cheaper
rooms. Camping possible. Very good food.
Hôtel
Fianitra
6 basic rooms on the beach with common toilet, no electricity and basic
meals. Really cheap.
- Tsimanampetsotsa national park
See under Tsimanampetsotsa National Park
Itampolo is truly a unique site. Visitors can overnight at the hotel owned by the same people than Chez Alain in Tulear. The place is called Sud-Sud and it offers double rooms for Ar 22000 and more comfortable bungalows for Ar 35000 including warm water heated by solar panels. If you are bringing your tent with you, camping is also allowed at a fee of Ar 5000. The restaurant prepares some delicious food (of course, the speciality is fish) at Ar 15000 for a three-course meal. For more information enquire at Chez Alain in Tulear.
Gite d’Etape
Sud Sud
Phone: 94 415 27
Mail: c.alain@moov.mg
Chez Nany
1 simple bungalow and a camping 2 km from the village, in a quiet and
wild setting right by the beach. Basic meals served. Ideal for relaxing
and swimming, and very cheap.
The goal of this journey seems really reachable from this point.
Sainte-Marie
cape, the southern tip of
The sand track to Betanty skirts some baobab groups and passes through
corn
fields with big Antandroy tombs. Visitors are likely to be approached
by
villagers trying to sell them Aepyornis fossilized eggs, but remember,
exporting
these fossils is strictly forbidden! Betanty is a small village of
palm-thatched huts facing the crystal-clear
 |
An
increasing number of Aepyornis eggshells is found in the nearby
beaches. Some
of the shells are rebuilt by the villagers and reach a respectable size
of 3
meters!
|
You can sleep at the Hotel
le Cactus, at Ar 15000 for a double bungalow.
Showers and toilets are shared. There is no electricity but the whole
place is
rather pleasant.
A second option is the Libertalia
hotel (e-mail: madalibertalia@yahoo.fr, Web: www.madalibertalia.com/).
The seven
bungalows on the seashore cost around € 30 for two people.
Kajaks and bikes are
offered for rent to the guests and enable a deeper exploration of the
wonderful
surroundings. Whale-watching tours are offered during the season. A
three-course
meal costs € 10 p. person.
- Cap Sainte Marie (Tanjona Vohimena)
See under Cap Sainte Marie Special Reserve
The
inland route to Fort Dauphin
| The inland route from
Toliara to Though the track is not the best of |
 © Madagascar
Travel Guide |
After
a 5-hour drive from Toliara, Betioky is the first village on the road
to the
South and it is also a stop for taxi-brousses. It takes an entire day
to drive
from Tulear, less than 100 miles, passing through rock-escarpment
valleys,
cactus-and-baobab savanna, spiny chaparral and, finally, the low pine
and scrub
of this sandy dune beach.
 |
 |
| Mahafaly tomb with Alolay © Andre Magnin |
Mahafaly artist © Andre Magnin |
The town is also an excellent basecamp to explore the nearby Mahafaly tombs. The Mahafaly bury their dead inside square enclosures of wood or stone. Giant stone structures either sculpted or painted can reach the unbelievable height of 12 meters! The number of zébu horns deposited as offering on foot of the funerary steels is a sign of the prestige of the deceased. The tombs are decorated with sculptures (aloaly) featuring all kinds of objects, from houses, to airplanes and zebus. Originally available only to the nobility, aloalo could later be purchased by wealthy Mahafaly. Aloalo traditionally displayed a combination of nude human figures and birds or zebu, representing prosperity. The memorials now function more as commemorative sculptures, depicting scenes from the deceased's life, or desirable material possessions. The method and location of manufacture and the ritual slaughter of animals ensures the sculpture is imbued with the sacred spirit. The mpisoro (spiritual leader of a clan or dynasty) gathers the village men to select the wood for the sculpture and also acts as mediator between the carver and the person commissioning the piece. The workshop is located outside the village, maintaining separation between the worlds of the living and the dead.To honour the memory of the ancestor, the visitor has to spilt some drops of rum in front of the grave. It is advisable to be accompanied by a local guide from Toliara who will instruct you about the local fady. Some operators in Toliara offer a day excursion to visit three tombs. Due to the large distances, this daytrip is however a little hasty, so better take more time to enjoy the charms of the region. |
|
"Life on Earth is only one route" is this adage that one can say that
Madagascar, moral almost always refer to death.
Mamirano Hotel
Simple and clean rooms with shared facilities. A band plays on
some
Saturday nights gathering the young people of the vilage together for a
frantic
dancing.
Hôtel Mahasoa
4 rooms and 4 bungalows with shared facilities, very cheap
Hôtel-Restaurant
Chez Fafa
Simple accommodation and local meals at good price
- Reserve
de Beza-Mahafaly
See under Beza-Mahafaly Reserve
Ampanihy is just another nowhere place on the long road to Fort Dauphin. It has its market every Saturday, lots of bars, restaurants and pretty much animation. The market is a good place to discover the local artisan products, which are offered to the rare visitors that wander through these arid places.
There are everal hotelys in Ampanihy, the Hotel Angora is the best one: clean, comfortable and cheap. Camping possible.
Near Ampanihy the trees that
grow on the
banks of the Menarandra river a home to many lemurs. 7 Km before
Ampanihy coming from Tulear, there
is a path leading to a pleasant surprise: a fantastic baobab of
gigantic size,
one of the biggest specimens in the world.
At some point of this impossible track we pass through the red cliffs of the Menarandra river, which marks the border of the Mahafaly and the Antandroy regions, whose main difference in regard with the funerary art is not appreciable for the common eye. On the top of a hill over the river there the two huge tombs of a couple.
Le
Tapis Malgache
Web: www.letapismalgache.com
The weaving of mohair carpets is time consuming and
tedious and
are therefore very rare worldwide. If you are interested in these, the
workshop
of Eric Mallet is probably the best address.
- Traonoroa
The development of this big
town is the
graphite mine built by a Southafrican firm at the entrance of the town.
There
is a grocery shop. The track evolves plain short after Traonoroa.
- Beloha
The main attraction of this
town is a group of
impressive Antandroy tombs decorated by statuettes featuring all kinds
of means
of transportation. From here the track resembles a cathedral stairway
during 24
kilometres.
- Tsiombe
Tsiombe lays between Cap Sainte-Marie and Ft. Dauphin. A dusty town of absolute nothingness, but a restaurant on the main square where you can order a meal.
Paradis du Sud
Phone: 92 727 28
8 basic rooms and bungalows with shared facilities. Good food and good
price.
In 1900 the Combes and his
Senegalese battalion
of infantrymen set up a military post on the site called
"Ampahandronantaky." In 1891, the young town of Ambovombe received a
civil administration and became since then the main administrative
centre of
the region. It lies at the crossroad of RN 13 coming from Ihosy
(probably one
of the worst tracks of the country) and the road from Tulear
Monday is the market day and the city core awakens to life. You can stay overnight at the hotel Voyageurs or at the Oasis hotel, both two establishments of basic standards. Ar 12,000 a double.
L’Oasis
Phone: 92 700 16
8 clean and basic rooms with shared toilet, basic meals and friendly
atmosphere.
Ezaka Magnevarova
13 simple rooms, centrally located, with no running water. Shared
facilities and Malagasy food.
Jo’s
Hôtel
2 bungalows with private bathroom and 4 cheaper rooms with shared
toilet. The restaurant is popular among locals.
Tolagnaro (Fort Dauphin)
Click here: Fort Dauphin
