From Ambohipotsy, a small square close to the rova, one can admire the magnificent sight that looks out onto the plains that surround the capital. To get an idea of Madagascar’s magnificent nature, you must visit the Zoological Park of Tsimbazaza. Actually, your chances of seeing the specimens of animals and plants gathered in this park would be quite slim in the course of an usual tour since they live in age old forests or in very remote places one can sometimes hardly reach. The very immensity of the Malagasy continent makes it quite impossible to visit, in a single journey, the high Plateaux forests, the Pangalanes Canal, the alluvial plains of the south and the tropical forests of the North. You can visit the Park from 8 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 5 pm on Thursdays, Sundays and on public holidays. On other days, you can visit the Park at the same hours after getting an authorization from a guide who will accompany the group. The Malagasy Academy is also in Tsi mbazaza: you can admire an important palaeontology that proves very useful in getting to know Malagasy people and nature’s history. 

Getting around Antananarivo

If you are planning to stay a few days in Antananarivo, you may organise some tours in the capital’s surroundings on your own. However, you’ d better go to a travel agency for assistance in order to avoid unpleasant surprises that might be due to a poorly maintained rented car, lack of reservations, or maybe running out of gas, which is sometimes difficult to find. A 20km long trip leads to Ambohimanga, called “the blue hill”. King Andriantsimitoviaminandriandirazaka built this small village in 1700. It is from this very place that King Andrianampoinimerina launched his campaign to conquer Antananarivo in 1794, laying the basis of Madagascar’s unification under Merina rule. Access to the city remained forbidden to foreigners up until 1895, a date which corresponds to the beginning of the French Governorship over Madagascar. To enter the village, you have to come through a very ancient gate, which, once upon a time, used to be blocked by a gigantic round stone. This stone rolled in a furrow dug in the ground until the entrance was totally blocked. This gate is called Ambavahaditsiomby which in Malagasy translates “where even a zebu can’t come through”. The citadel’s fortifications consisted of two series of deep ditches completed with a series of seven gates. A long series of steps lead to an esplanade, just opposite the royal palace, from which the Merina Kings spoke to their people . It is nowadays used to perform folk dance shows.

Heading to Antananarivo, at about 10kms from the capital, the Ilafy royal hill looms up, commanding a beautiful view over Ambohimanga, the sacred hills of Imerina and Antananarivo. This village was well known for its vineyards. It would also be King Radama’s favourite residence. He was buried here in 1863. In a day, you can also go to Lake Mantasoa (70kms from Antananarivo). Get out of Antananarivo by the Tamatave road (R.N. 2), drive for about 50kms and change roads in Manjakandriana, a village about 15 kms from Mantasoa that you can also reach by train.

Antsahadita is one of the 12 sacred hills of the Imerina. Houses were built on a wooded hill. The people responsible for Malagasy public services have managed to keep it in very good condition, several wood constructions gives you a right sight of what a Merina village was in the 1800s. The area next to the Itasy Massif may reveal itself interestingly thanks to the presence of former volcanic manifestations such as lava flows and basaltic fields. Close to Analavory village, you may see active geysers and a series of 40 lakes with volcanic craters.

Antananarivo/Antsirabe (170 kms)

Get out of the capital early in the morning by taking Route Nationale n° 7. You will drive across small villages with red earthen houses typical of the High Plateaux area. They scarcely have windows and lack chimneys in order to protect their inhabitants from the cold. The landscape is softened by very vast paddy fields that are sometimes cultivated in terraces, which is another clue of Indonesian influence in Madagascar, and conifer or eucalyptus forests. The road continues and you can see on the horizon the Ankaratra Range, one of the highest massifs in Madagascar, until you reach Ambatolampy (1500 m above sea level) where you can stop for a tasty lunch in one of the good restaurants in the area: Le Marseillais or Au Rendez vous des Chasseurs which serve several Malagasy dishes and are renowned for their game, trout and crayfish dishes. Close to that place, the Manja Ranch gives you the opportunity of spending a quiet weekend or stop for a ride (horse) in the surroundings. Then, you will drive across a beautiful forest of conifers for about 100 kms and reach a plain surrounded with mountains which reaches up to 2500m and then you arrive to: Antsirabe (180,000 inhabitants from the Betsileo tribe, area telephone code: 44) it is a renowned water cure town that boasts several springs known, for their curative properties (which are the same as the springs of Vichy, France, the town was sometimes called Ranovisy). Actually, those waters, thanks to their sodium, calcium and bicarbonate are famed for treating liver insufficiency and gall bladder problems. Their quality and the pleasant climate makes Antsirabe a renowned place for cures and holidays. The whole area is important for the Malagasy economy. The economy is based upon farming (vegetables and vintages) and industries (Star Brewery, cotton mills of the Cotona Campany, a concentrated milk factory and Melia cigarette factory). The main characteristics of this city are wide boulevards lined up by flowers (especially mimo sas), well-designed parks and typical rickshaws that represent the most used means of transport in Antsirabe and its semi-precious stone laboratories (semi-precious stones are produced in the area).

We advise you to visit Lake Tritriva, near Antsirabe (20 kms), located just under the mount it is named after. This 180 meter deep lake is interesting because its shape recalls the shape of Madagascar. One very ancient Malagasy legend deals with this lake: two lovers, whose marriage was forbidden by their parents, made the decision of drowning themselves in this lake. After drowning themselves, they were reincarnated into a living shape: in the form of two very close growing trees next to the lake. Their branches were so intertwined that they eventually formed a single tree.

Shopping

• Traditional market on Saturday “Tsena Asabotsy”
• Joseph Lapidaire: this shop specializes in semi precious stones; samples are displayed in his large workshop beside the benches on which his employees work.

• Hotel des Thermes, B.P. 72. Three star category, built in rather old world style, but equipped with all services, which makes it rather comfortable. Good restaurant.