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In fact the Vezo are renowned in Madagascar as the best fishermen on the Great Island. The city of Toliara has very geometric features, the street are all perpendicular excluding the large Tsiranana Boulevard that runs across the other streets. This boulevard is one of the most important boulevard's in Madagascar because all administrative buildings and office buildings in Toliara are located along it. Toliara is very close to the sea and allows the vistor a great array of sea activities. Actually, the accommodation and structures available today in Toliara Province are not up to par with the demand; it is important to attract investment into this region. For instance, the town of Ifaty with its considerable coastline, numerous sites, and with both sea and mountains, offers rich possibilities in terms of activities such as sailing, big game fishing and hiking excursions. Near the sea you will see the shell market. Most Vezo women come from the coast's small towns in order to collect shells of every shape, size and colour in order to sell to visitors or tourists. It's a great place to collect shells. Also, if you visit Toliara you should visit the local museum: there are many interesting things to see there as well. There are other
interesting places you should visit in the province of Toliara such as
the sacred banyan and King Rebibi’s tomb. The former is located in a little
village, close to the port; it is an enormous ficus bengalensis whose twigs
spread over dozens of meters. Its mid-air ancestry drop and cling to the
ground. Another interesting place you should take a look at is King Rebidi’s
tomb. In fact this place is very important to the locals. In this place,
you can see objects that once belonged to him. According to the legend
stranded pirates offered those objects to King Rebidi because they wanted
to thank him for rescuing them.
The road that leads to the Tuléar Reef, one of the most beautiful and longest reef barriers in the world, stretches from the south of Toliara up to Morombe. After 26km, you arrive in the village of Ifaty. Numerous bungalow resorts, equipped for big game fishing or diving have been built in the surroundings. There is a hotel called le Paradisier, a very good hotel for tourist which is attractively constructed and placed in a beautiful spot: the hotel's bungalows are located on the dunes opposite Ifaty reef. There are some interesting activities there but I will tell you the most important one: Scuba diving is one of the most fascinating activities in this area of the Mozambique Canal. It offers the vistor the opportunity to explore the coral reef in the company of experienced divers. You can also discover spiky bush in which you will come across didieracees, euphorbias, cactacea and enormous baobabs, you can also travel in swamps where several species of birds live in front of Ifaty’s reef. Nearby is the Ranobe Lake region where you will discover lemurs and water birds surrounded by lagoons that open up to the sea. Remember, Ifaty’s reef is called “the coral garden” as it mixes together with channels that link the open sea to an exceptionally attractive lagoon. You could come across wonderful landscapes created by corals, sea anemones and dabs trying to exceed each other in their vivid colours that forever take diverse shades with low and high surges.. We can move on with our memorable journey and catch a 13 m catamaran to Morombe. In fact this catamaran can carry up to six travellers. One of the best spots to visit on the catamaran is St Augustine’s Bay, to the south of Tuléar, and near Anakao and Nosy Ve Island. According to legend after circling the Cape of Good Hope at about around 1590 pirates stopped in these waters in order to get a few days rest and carry out repair work on their ships. If you would like to organise this trip, I suggest you go to the Safari Vezo Village’s office in Toliara. Normally, this office will book you on a quick launch for Anakao. The fishermen in Anakao offer a great show at sunset: their pirogues return from fishing with their colourful sails blowing in the hot winds. To sum up it all up, I would like to say that you can have a great adventure in Madagascar; we look forward to seeing you here. The following is a list of articles that Nia has written for the magazine:
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