Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is that wait outside posh hotels like the Colbert are more expensive but also more reliable
than those cruising the streets. Check the fare with the hotel receptionist if you think you
are being ripped off. The cheaper option is to take one of the battered, old vehicles which
wouldn't dare go near a hotel and you have the extra bonus of watching the street go by
through the hole in the floor, or being pushed by helpful locals when it breaks down.
The advantage of having no meters is that if the driver gets lost (not unusual) you won't
pay any more for the extra journey. Tana's taxi drivers are usually honest and helpful, and
can be trusted to get you to your destination - eventually. They will also pick you up at an
agreed time.
Local buses
are much cheaper, but sorting out the destinations and districts can be a
challenge. With some 70 lines operating, and no map of the routes available, your best bet
is to ask helpful locals which bus number you need.
ANTANANARIVO (TANA) TODAY
From the right place, in the right light, Antananarivo is one of the most attractive capitals
inthedevelopingworld.Intheeveningsunshineithasthequalityofachild'spicturebook:
brightly coloured houses stacked up the hillsides with mauve jacarandas and purple bou-
gainvillea against the dark blue of the winter sky. Red crown-of-thorns euphorbias stand in
rows against red clay walls, rice paddies are tended right up to the edge of the city, clothes
are laid out on canal banks to dry, and zebu carts rumble along the roads on the outskirts of
town.It'salldeliciouslyforeignandcanhardlyfailtoimpressthefirst-timevisitorasheor
she drives in from the airport. Indeed, this drive is one of the most varied and interesting in
the highlands. The good impression is helped by the climate: during the dry season the sun
is hot but the air pleasantly cool (the altitude is between 1,245m and 1,469m).
Sadly, for many people this wonderful first impression does not survive a closer ac-
quaintance. Tana can seem squalid and dangerous, with conspicuous poverty, persistent
beggars and a worrying crime rate.
The geography of the city is both simple and confusing. It is built on two ridges which
meet in a 'V'. On the highest hill, dominating all the viewpoints, is the queen's palace or
rova
. Down the central valley runs a broad boulevard, Avenue de l'Indépendance, which
terminates at the railway station, now beautifully restored as a small shopping precinct.
It narrows at the other end to become Rue du 26 Juin. To escape from this valley means
climbing steps if you are on foot, or driving through a tunnel if you are in a vehicle.
It is convenient to divide Tana into the two main areas most often wandered by visitors:
Avenue de l'Indépendance and the side streets to its southwest (districts Analakely and
