Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
JEAN LABORDE
was even more of a renaissance man. The son of a blacksmith,
Laborde was shipwrecked off the east coast of Madagascar in 1831. Queen
Ranavalona, no doubt pleased to find a less godly European, asked him to manu-
facture muskets and gunpowder, and he soon filled the gap left by the departure of
Cameron and the other artisan-missionaries. Laborde's initiative and inventiveness
were amazing: in a huge industrial complex built by forced labour, he produced mu-
nitions and arms, bricks and tiles, pottery, glass and porcelain, silk, soap, candles, ce-
ment, dyes, sugar, rum... in fact just about everything a thriving country in the 19th
century needed. He ran a farm which experimented with suitable crops and animals,
and a country estate for the Merina royalty and aristocracy to enjoy such novelties as
firework displays.
So successful was Laborde in making Madagascar self-sufficient that foreign trade
was discontinued and foreigners - with the exception of Laborde - expelled. He re-
mainedinthequeen'sfavouruntil1857whenhetoowasexpelledbecauseofinvolve-
ment in a plot to replace the queen by her son. The 1,200 workmen who had laboured
without pay in the foundries of Mantasoa rose up and destroyed everything - tools,
machinery and buildings. The factories were never rebuilt, and Madagascar's Indus-
trial Revolution came to an abrupt end.
He returned in 1861 and became French consul, dying in 1878. A dispute over his
inheritance was one of the pretexts used by the French to justify the 1883-85 war
Chute de la Lily
This large waterfall is 7km from Ampefy. It can be reached by
taxi-
brousse
if you don't have your own vehicle. Guides are available but not really necessary.
Going towards Tana turn left along the river before crossing it. Keep going till you reach
the falls. There is a second large and lovely waterfall about 20 minutes downstream. The
landscape here is geologically interesting with hexagonal basalt columns.
Geysers of Andranomandraotra
To get here head 4km west from Analavory, then at the
sign turn right and continue 8km on a dirt road. You can take a
taxi-brousse
this far. You
must pay a small fee to pass this point, from which it is a mere 1¼km walk. The colourful
clay formations created by the geysers are most surreal.
TSIROANOMANDIDY
Lying 222km to the west of Tana, on a surfaced road (four
hours),thistownisapleasantandattractive placetospendadayortwo.Itsmainattraction
is the large
cattle market
(Wednesday 12.00 to Thursday 12.00). The Bara people of the
south drive huge herds through the Bongolava Plateau to sell at the market.
Of the two basic hotels,
Chez Marcelline
(north of the market, near the airport) seems
to be the better.
