| The Fascinating
Coral Reef In Toliara, Madagascar |
| Traveling
Madagascar's Southwest Countryside |
| December
2005
One of the
most frequently visited provinces in Madagascar is Toliara. From Antananarivo
the RN7 will lead you to Toliara. Taking the road, you will reach the province
of Fianarantsoa (408 km from Antananarivo) before arriving in Isalo (206
km from Fianarantsoa.) Situated in the southwestern corner of Madagascar,
the lsalo range raises its rocky heads. Isalo National Park, which is a
spectacular site, noiseless and full of mysteries, was created in 1962
and covers 81,540 hectares; it rocks. After Isalo you can take a look at
Ifaty, another interesting place in the province of Toliara where you can
stay in a small hotel from which you can arrange fishing and diving trips. |
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Behind the
beach, you can walk among didieracees, euphorbias, cactaea and a enormous
variety of baobabs… Then before arriving to Toliara town, you will see
the beautiful Mahafaly tombs painted in many colours and decorated with
"Aloalo": wood-carved funeral monuments.
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Close to the
Mozambique Canal, Toliara, the city, is built on the Tropic of Capricorn.
The town is painted in light colours. That is the reason why the people
from the highlands call it the white city. |
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| The approach
to the city is exceptional: you can see large sand dunes which run along
the coast. According to the ancestors of Toliara, the first inhabitants
of this area were called Antandavaka which means the men who live in caves
Vezo tribe
following on from Antandavaka are famous for their sailing and fishing
skills, and live on the coast, in the south and north of Tuléar
up to Morombe.
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. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| 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. |
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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. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| 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:
To contact Nia
Click
Here
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