Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Some 20km south of Katsepy is the
Celestine Mines
(admission Ar5000). You can visit
the mine and buy gemstones (pale-blue) or beautiful geodes. It takes 1½ hours to drive
from Katsepy; a half-day trip from Katsepy including the lighthouse and the mines should
cost around Ar160,000.
If you do come to Katsepy, having to sleep and/or eat at the wonderful
Chez Mme
Chabaud
( 62 233 27; mains Ar10,000-14,500, bungalows Ar30,000) is no hardship.
Run by the same family as the eponymous restaurant in Majunga, it serves the same deli-
cious blend of Malagasy and French cuisine with fresh, local ingredients. The seven pretty
bungalows have been built and decorated with local materials and are right by the beach,
in a lovely garden. To preserve the site's peacefulness, the hotel has eschewed generators
in favour of wind and solar energy.
The Majunga-Katsepy ferry (passenger/car Ar2500/30,000, one hour) leaves Majunga
at 7.30am daily. It then leaves Katsepy around 9am. If there are many cars and/or trucks
waiting in Katsepy, it sometimes does a second trip in the afternoon. If the ferry doesn't
come back, private motorboats (Ar3000, 30 minutes) ply the crossing between Majunga
and Katsepy in both directions several times a day until about 3pm. They work like a taxi-
brousse and only leave when full (14 to 18 passengers). You're pretty much guaranteed to
get wet; life jackets are available.
MAHAVY-KINKONY WETLAND COMPLEX
The Mahavy-Kinkony Wetland Complex gained temporary protection status in 2007; it in-
corporates a diverse and fragile ecosystem consisting of marine bays, river and river delta,
and 22 lakes, including Madagascar's second-largest, Lac Kinkony. The reserve is also
home to dry deciduous and gallery forest, savannah, marshland, mangrove, caves and lots
of wildlife.
What most people come to Lac Kinkony for however, are the birds. There are 143 spe-
cies, and it is the only place where all of western Madagascar's species of waterfowl can
be seen in the same location.
Getting to Lac Kinkony is virtually impossible under your own steam since there is no
tourisminfrastructure.TravelagenciesinMajungaorganiseall-inclusivecampingtrips,but
you'll need at least three days (the roads are
very
rough) and a minimum of Ar1 million for
the 4WD, fuel and guide (for two to four people).
GROTTES D'ANJOHIBE
These
caves
, about 73km east of Majunga, are some of the most impressive in
Madagascar. A series of subterranean rooms and galleries, some of them the
