Pangalana - Ambohitsara
The waterway along the East Coast of Madagascar
You will drive 200 km on a good road from FIANARANTSOA to MANANJARY. The landscape is wonderfull.
You may
stop at the well known RANOMAFANA
National Park in the rainforest.
Eventually you arrive in MANANJARY and get ready for the trip
on the Pangalana Canal.
The "Canal des Pangalanes" stretches along the East Coast from Toamasina (Tamatave) in the North to Farafangana 600 kilometres in the South. The "Canal" was built during French colonisation by connecting the numerous lagunas and rivers. It has become the most important means to transport merchandise on the East Coast.
On a wooden motor boat you smoothly follow the canal.
You cross canoes heavily loaded with bananas, sugar cane, pineapples and
other local products.
The inhabitants of the villages along the Canal wave their hands as you pass by. Children jump into the water and play with the waves of your boat.
After two and an half hours, half-way through the boat trip, we enjoy
a picknick on the beach under the coconut trees.
Then you arrive in Ambohitsara.
Pretty bungalows,
built on a hill between the Pangalana canal and the Indian Ocean, are
waiting for you.
You will enjoy relaxing a few days, meeting the friendly people of the village, visiting the school, going through plantations of pepper, cloves, cinnamon, etc.
Because of increasing number of visitors, we are constructing new bungalows.
Click
here for more pictures of the bungalows and their surrounding.
On the following days, you discover AMBOHITSARA. You can visit the school,
the church, the dispensary and, of course, VATOMASINA, the holy stone
elefant,
a statue of mysterious origin and mentioned in all tourist guides. The
Antambahoaka say it was brought by their ancestors from Mecca in the 12th
century.
You
can walk on the lonesome, white beaches, sunbathe, swim
in the laguna, take a ride on a canoe, and above all, experience the genuine
malagasy rural life.
When you
leave, Ambohitsara will keep forever a special place in your memory.
Click
here for more pictures of Ambohitsara.
We
offer two standard tours featuring the Canal des Pangalanes and Ambohitsara.
For a tour including the South, click here.
Continuation on the Canal des Pangalanes to NOSY VARIKA. We can enjoy the rain forest on the way.
Overnight in a very simple hotel or tent near Masomeloka.
We
visit the villages along the canal.
For
the tour including the national parc Andasibe and camp catta, click
here.