Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There is no public transport, but Evatraha can be reached from Taolagnaro either by
pirogue (a peaceful sail downriver), 4x4 (2 hours), mountain bike (but the last 15km is
tough due to deep sand), or on foot - a three-hour (10km) walk along the beach running
north from Taolagnaro. From Evatraha, it is an hour's walk through hills and forest to the
beach at Lokaro.
The isolated Bay of Lokaro is perhaps the most beautiful spot on the southeast coast.
Given the beauty of the area there is a strong case for staying longer than a day trip. There
are some beautiful spots to camp and three bungalows and an open-air restaurant can be
found at
Camp Pirate,
run by Hôtel Lavasoa (see
Click Here
).
BERENTY
Thisisthekeydestinationofmostpackagetoursandmostvisitorsloveit.Thecombination
of tame lemurs, comfortable accommodation and the tranquillity of the forest trails makes
this
the
Madagascar memory for many people. The danger is that Berenty is already be-
coming overcrowded, and too many groups bring problems. Fortunately, there is only a
limitedamountofaccommodation,soifyoucanarrangetospendanightortwoyouwillat
least have the reserve to yourself in the magical hours of dawn and dusk when the daytrip-
pers are gone.
VisitsmustbeorganisedwithMadagascarResorts-throughoneoftheirhotels:Dauphin
in Taolagnaro (see
Click Here
)
or Capricorne in Toliara (see
Click Here
)
- or online
(
e
berenty@madagascar-resorts.com
;
www.madagascar-resorts.com
). Note that you can-
not turn up without a booking or with your own transport.
THEROADTOBERENTY
Thereserveliessome87kmtothewestofTaolagnaro,amid
a vast sisal plantation, and the drive there is part of the experience. For the first half of the
journey the skyline is rugged green mountains. Traveller's trees (
Ravenala
) dot the land-
scape, and near
Ranopiso
is a grove of the very rare triangle palm,
Neodypsis decaryi
.
Your first stop will be a visit to some
pitcher plants,
Nepenthes madagascariensis
,
whose nearest relatives are in Asia, and you may stop at an
Anosy tomb
. While driving,
look out for what look like clusters of missiles lurking in the forest. These Antanosy ceno-
taphs commemorate those buried in a communal tomb or instances where the body could
not be recovered.
Ranopiso marks the end of the hills and the landscape soon flattens out. The bizarre fin-
gersof
Didierea
and
Alluaudia
appear ontheskyline, interspersed with thebulkytrunksof
baobabs - the unique flora of the spiny forest (see
Click Here
).
