Eastern Madagascar - Madagascar - page 351

Chez Tity BUNGALOW €
( 034 04 065 80; [e-mail]; d without bathroom Ar25,000) This is a friendly
Malagasy-owned place, popular with backpackers, with a bit of wisdom thrown in: all the
bungalows are named after philosophers.
North of Ambodifotatra
Sometimes it's easy to forget, but north of Ambodifotatra lies three quarters of the island.
In terms of accommodation, almost all is on the west coast, which is more sheltered from
cyclones. There is a good paved road to Loukintsy, after which the road gets rough, and the
real adventure begins.
It will take several enjoyable hours, but you can drive all the way to the Piscine
Naturelle d'Ambodiatafana (admission Ar2000) a natural swimming pool at the north-
eastern tip ofthe island, where there are some basic bungalows. The Fanilo Albrand light-
house lies to the southwest. From the ridge Maroantsetra and Baie d'Antongil are some-
times visible.
AMPANIHY BAY
If you look at the map of Saint Marie, you'll see a long narrow bay on the east
side of the island, and a peninsula to match. Baie d'Ampanihy is a wild and un-
touristed place, where village life goes on as it has for centuries. It makes for a
great day trip, or even an overnight, assuming you have hired a vehicle. The
typical route is to drive north from Ambodifotatra to Loukintsy, where you can
cross the island to Agnafiafy. Here you'll see a sign for Mangrove Le Gour-
mand ( 57 901 98), a bungalow restaurant in a clearing overlooking the bay.
The food here is fresh from the sea, and fabulous. By fresh, we mean they have
wicker baskets of live fish and mangrove crabs in the nearby creek, while the
morning's catch of shrimp is still kicking. Ask for coconut milk, and the cook
will climb the adjacent palm tree to get you one. Call ahead to book fresh food.
After lunch, you can hire a pirogue to take you across the bay to the peninsula
(Ar5000). You'll probably see local women wading up to their necks as they
fish for shrimp.
Now consider this: the locals report that every year from mid-November
through December enormous sharks, larger than your pirogue (dugout canoe),
enter the mostly shallow bay through a very deep channel in order to give birth.
They never attack anyone, although their young are sometimes netted by acci-
dent, while the sight of a huge dorsal fin can prompt an early bathroom break.