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Supposing you got lost one day, while hiking, deep in the countryside of the central highlands - quite nonmaritime regions - of this nearly a Continent and ask the way. You would inevitably get an answer of this kind: «Continue northwards and when you get to such or such a place, go west…» The Malagasy’s aptitude to naturally find their directions, could only come from remote seamen ancestors who had a compass in their heads. Their crafts? Some variants of these dugouts the profile of which is both elegant and frail and which today bring Morondava or Nosy Be’s fishers back to the shore. Other versions can still be met in the Srilanka as well as in the Tuamotu archipelago. The pendulum dugout would even have served to the Maoris’ancestors to join the New Zealand! Its routes spread until the faraway East-African coasts with a stopover for some navigators and a terminus for others, in Madagascar. After the Gondwana to which she belonged broke down into different continents, Madagascar became the fourth biggest island of the world with its 592,000 km2 of surface and its 5,000 km of coastline. In the East that smells good of spices and tropical fruits, the beaches that are set in a lush tropical vegetation like playing with the bursting of the surfs. In the West, the relief slipsdown in successive slopes toward the more serene waters of the Mozambique Channel. It is the country of big rivers, large extents of savannas and baobabs. The North is by itself a summary of the island with its mountains, its fertile basins, its roadsteads and its islets belonging to the remotest part of the earth. The South crossed by the Tropic of the Capricorn within 12 km from Tuléar exposes its semi-desert immensities and its almost surrealistic Bush vegetation with an all-the-year-round reigning sun. The Central Highlands marked by the work of man and of nature, also a land with a rich history, alternate their landscapes and their reliefs that are sometimes bruised by erosion. But sometimes this same erosion can wear its artist’s dresses and sculpt some universally known marvels! It is the case of the Tsingy, real chalky forests with sharp crests, or of the rocky blocks of the Isalo where one’s imagination will recognize a boot, a window, a lion watching over its territory, or even an authentic Queen with both the coat and the crown… Its long geological progress and its insularity enabled Madagascar to develop, like in a laboratory protected from nuisances, an exceptional biodiversity marked by records of endemicity valued to 80% for the fauna and 90% for the flora. Today Madagascar has decided to multiply by 3 the surface of her Protected Areas. Apart from being genetic reservoirs of fauna and flora, they play other roles that are perhaps less well known but vital such as the role of water reservoirs, climate regulators and shields against silting. Another role of Protected Areas, through Ecotourism and such concepts as Community-Based Tourism, is to stand as local or even regional development poles. Commander Cousteau had two quite personal expressions to define the Great Island. The first name he gave, that of the Country of the Rock-Bird, made reference to the mythical bird of the One Thousand and One Nights that he assimilated to the Aepyornis of which one continues to find gigantic, intact eggs, in the sand areas of the Malagasy South. The second, that of The Island of Spirits, related more to a sometimes enigmatic culture where the ancestors’authority is omnipresent. Read from right to left in the sense of an ascent to the sources, Madagasikara means almost litterally «following Adam’s footsteps»… OFFICE NATIONAL DU TOURISME DE MADAGASCAR 3, rue Elysée Ravelontsalama Ambatomena BP 1780 Antananarivo 101 Tél: 22 661 15 - Fax: 22 660 98 E-mail: ontm@moov.mg Site web: www.madagascar-tourisme.com
Madagascar naturally!
In the sea country In Madagascar there are different kinds of «seas» and coastlines suiting all tastes. Let’s start our tour with one of the most beautiful bays of the world, that of Diego Suarez whose changing waters go from opal green to turquoise blue. The North West is the realm of creeks, beaches of white sand and islets with singing names: Komba, Mitsio, Tanikely, and of course Nosy Be. Cruises, skin-diving, sporty fishing and idleness reign there! From Majunga and its Port aux Boutres that would quite fit in somewhere in the Red Sea, to Tuléar and its coral barrier, the coast with its soft slopes has more than often remained wild. Anakao, the «capital» of the Vezo, less than 2 hours of motor-boat from Tuléar. Many jobs and activities were created there around tourism, from hotel staff to farm and fishing products deliverers, and not forgetting the specialists of plaiting. The bow that the southern coastline describes before joining the Indian Ocean is an end-of-the-earth paradisiac world with its lost villages of fishermen and its immaculate beaches. From Fort Dauphin and its surrounding sites appreciated by tour operators like for example Lokaro or Sainte Luce, the East Coast takes an amazingly straight line until the neckline of Antongil Bay while passing by stations buried in the tropical vegetation with names such
as Akanin’ny Nofy, Foulpointe, or Mahambo, the «in» meeting place for surfers. Off the shores of Soanierana Ivongo, there idles Sainte-Marie, the Garden Island, one of the main rallying points of the hump-back whales of the Antarctica from July to September. And our tour brings us back to Diego Suarez and its Emerald Sea by bordering the coasts of the Sava and smelling their nice vanilla scent…
The Great Island is universally known for its exceptional biodiversity. It is now a recognized fact today that tourism can contribute to conservation by offering the local populations some alternative activities, and by permitting the financing of community micro-projects. Responsible, community-based, equitable or lasting tourism, all these concepts can find their application in Madagascar.
A word - which is also a «must» - on the Malagasy coralian reefs that is part of the most beautiful sites of deep diving in the world: they are especially localized in the satellite islands of Nosy Be, in the Barren islands in front of Maintirano, in Nosy Antafana in Antongil Bay and of course to the South West between Andavadoaka and Itampolo. Take care! Corals are permanently threatened by the climatic warming up, pollution, the acidification of waters. They are stressed as soon as sea temperature goes above a certain threshold level and lose their photosynthetic pigment. According to scientists, half of the corals of the planet could disappear after some decades, which would be the equivalent of an ecological disaster. This is why in Australia which possesses the longest coralian barrier in the world, even to touch them during a diving session is forbidden. Madagascar and her visitors must also have these concerns.
Scientists have counted about 100,000 species of invertebrates in Madagascar among which the biggest butterfly in the world, the Comet endowed with two tails that may exceed 20 cm, or the Giraffe Beetle, dubbed for the long neck of the male of the species. With two thirds of the known species, from the smallest (10 cm) to the biggest (70 cm), chameleons could symbolize Madagascar as well as lemurs!
A taste of adventure Madagascar, another tourism? A destination that surfs non-stop between earth and ocean, the living and the ancestors, the blood-red of laterite and the luxuriance of primary forests, the diversity of ethnic groups and the ties of their Malagasy nature, this destination surely has more to offer. To the matter it adds the manner: a large variety of approaches, with a taste of adventure and authenticity, that breaks off from clichés and enables you to discover the world, the others, and yourself with new eyes. The air of the summits On the «Holy Mountain» of Marojejy in the Northeast, the itineraries for trekking start from the village of Manantenina which is 50 m from sea level and then get lost in the clouds. In the Middle-South, the Andringitra alternates waterfalls, high mountain prairies and moonscapes on a background of abrupt climate changes. The neighbouring Ambondrombe is the abode of defunct souls. Going down the river On the Tsiribihina, a lot of barges have been refitted for the transportation of tourists: bench-cases around a vast table, a solarium on the roof, a kitchen at the back. And go for a standard «soft» adventure with at the end of it a track that leads to the Tsingy of Bemaraha! The descent of the Manambolo is sportier when one chooses to make it by canoe. Quite impressive, these Gorges that cut you from the world with their cliffs and some openings of mysterious caves …
Counting only about 285 species, the avifauna can seem a little restricted. But when one knows that out of this total, more than 110 are endemic, that is a number that in itself is not far from being a record! In the line of mammals one may mention the fosa that looks like a small puma, the tenrecs, remote cousins of the hedgehog whose broods can reach 32 units, the 28 species of bats, and the emblematic lemurs. More than nine-tenth of the known spe-
cies of lemurs can only be met in Madagascar. The smallest, the Microcebe, is less than one inch, while the biggest, the monogamous Indri of the Eastern forests can reach the size of a young boy. The vegetable kingdom knew an exploding diversity of species which is linked to the extreme diversity of ecological zones. One can quote the 1,000 varieties of orchids, 7 species of baobabs against 2 for Australia and only one for the whole of Africa, and especially the vegetation of the Southern Bush where no plant and no tree has a familiar aspect. The Organism that manages the Parks bears the quite matter-of-course name of Madagascar National Parks. We are all invited to meditate upon these few excerpts from the Visitor’s Code of Conduct: - Make sure that you have an entry ticket. - Don’t get out of drawn tracks, camp in authorized places only. - Don’t take anything, let the forest keep its plants, its flowers, its animals, its insects. - Don’t feed the animals, don’t do anything that might disturb them. - Don’t buy your souvenirs anywhere, because you don’t know where they come from.
Practical information
A people, a culture A legendary train Let’s immediately say it: on going down for 20 km till the Tolongoina station, one passes from 1,000 to 366 m with sometimes a declivity of 3,3%. It makes the Slow Speed Fianarantsoa-Manakara Train the stiffest train of the world. It is a permanent spectacle, like for example the Mandriampotsy cascade that the train steps over before engulfing itself into a tunnel. One last jest, the line runs accross an airfield before arriving to destination… A tour underground Guides are necessary! The underground water network of the Ankarana in the North, estimated as 110 km long, is the longest in Africa. A speleologist listed here 11 main underground caves among which those of the Crocodiles and the Bats, Milaintety and Antsinanandoho. Once a shelter for the warriors, also a royal necropolis, the underground caves of the Ankarana are halfway between our world and the land of shadows… The Quad otherwise Let it be known to quad fans, in «Mada»the point is not to run as many kilometers as possible in the monotony of the sand dunes! The quad-raid here means getting novel experiences and merging into the deep country. Some like to freely draw their itinerary themselves. Others ask professionals for unforgettable «assisted adventures.» Let us quote Quad Passion Magazine: «Much more than a simple raid under the tropics, a real initiatic journey in one the most extraordinary countries of the planet.»
In the era of computers and the internet, the traditional Malagasy continues to read numbers from right to left, in the sense of a perpetual return. Constant references to the times gone by, seniority, antecedence, these are the reference marks of the Malagasy’s philosophy and social plot. Durable Tourism aims to keep the environment and the cultural heritage of a destination, and is therefore less a commercial channel than a state of mind. One notes that tourists increasingly no longer wish to «spend» their holidays, but want both to learn from the visited populations and to make them benefit from their stay… A mutually advantageous exchange, under the sign of respect… In Madagascar, one cannot imagine an important departure or a capital decision without the «tsodrano» or the elders’ blessing. And if royal feasts continue to cohabit without any problem with republican ideals, it is because customary kings are the depositories of a wisdom and an authority that had been handed down by the ancestors. It is besides quite current to give some treats to the latter, from the few drops on the ground before starting a good bottle to the very official sacrifices of a zebu or «joro». The Malagasy is a «community-minded» person who only exists in relation to his social environment. That is why proverbs overflow with quotations commending the «fihavanana», a mixture of good understanding and solidarity: A lonely tree
M ad a gas car
Welcome to Madagascar
Time differences Madagascar is GMT + 3.
can’t make a forest; one doesn’t catch a louse with only one finger; cross a river together with friends, and crocodiles won’t dare to attack you… Possessing a long oral culture, the Malagasy is also clever with his fingers. The discovery of the one thousand and one facets of handicraft could be the object of specific circuits with as major poles of interest wild silk, sculpture and marquetry, Antemoro paper, fine stone cutting, basketwork, weaving or embroidery. This is a field where Community-Based Tourism can play an active part. In the Deep South, some tombs can be real mausoleums painted with vivid colors from which all sadness seems banished. Funeral posts are the objects of curiosity on which the deceased’s personality or hobby are sculpted, whether he was a cyclist, a policeman, or a domino fan… Let’s borrow from P. Rajoelina and A. Ramelet (Madagascar, La Grande Ile) some receipes for a successful stay: - Never despise the Fady (taboos) nor try to prevent people from following them using reasonings belonging to a foreign logics. - Never do any harm to aged people, to children, mothers and rice fields. - Always keep in mind that Madagascar is a Holy Land, because it had been sanctified by the ancestors who remain its owners.
The Malagasy currency: Ariary (MGA) The Malagasy currency unit is the Ariary. It is not convertible and foreign visitors are advised to change their money according to their needs at banks, exchange agencies and a few authorized hotels. Health No vaccination is required of the travelers except if they have transited in infected areas. Nevertheless anti-malaria prophylaxis and an injection of gamma globulin against hepatitis are advisable, as well as preventive measures against cholera and yellow fever. Seasons and weather The dry season or southern winter goes from April to October and summer from November to March. On the coasts, temperatures vary according to the year between 32 and 20°C. On the Central Highlands however, they may go down to 4°C or even less in winter nights. Tourists should therefore keep some woolen garments in reserve. Specific purchases The traveller is free to take outside the country 2 kg of vanilla and 250 g of hallmarked jewels. On the other hand, the commercialization of endangered animal and plant species listed in Annex I of CITES (Convention on the International Trade of Fauna and Flora Species) is prohibited. Telecommunications The fixed telephony network is managed by TELMA (Télécom Malagasy), and mobile services by ZAIN and ORANGE. Thanks to their networks, one can phone and be joined over 90% of Madagascar. There are telephone booths in all big towns. In Antananarivo in particular, nearly each street has its cybercafé where you can go and send your e-mails.
OFFICE NATIONAL DU TOURISME DE MADAGASCAR