Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where to stay and eat
Austral
(30 rooms) 73 000 97;
m
032 05 017 65;
e
austral@netclub.mg
. Good
rooms, some with AC. Well sited for
taxi-brousse
station. €€€
Coco Beach
(10 bungalows) 73 911 87/88;
e
ranarson@dts.mg
.
Beachside bunga-
lows 3km south of the centre. En suite with hot water. €€€
Cocotiers
(15 rooms) 73 911 87/88;
e
ranarson@dts.mg
.
Dbl, twin & trpl en-suite
rooms, some with AC. €€€
Chez Abba
(15 bungalows)
m
032 41 033 89/033 12 639 01/032 44 369 84. Seafront
bungalows with simple bucket showers. €€
Miarina
(7rooms)
m
0320758670/0320558670.Newlyrenovateddblrooms,some
en suite. €€
Tsaravatsy, Camarade, Hanitra
&
Relais d'Agnambahy
are very basic cheap op-
tions. Hanitra is recommended for food. €
Laguna
Bungalows 4km south of town. Being rebuilt at time of writing.
Oasis
07.00-22.00. Recommended simple restaurant.
Croustillant
07.00-12.00 & 15.00-19.00. Bakery; also confectionery.
Mimosas
09.00-13.30 & 16.00-late.
Salon de thé
with good selection.
Money and communications
There are BOA and BFV banks here; the latter now has
an ATM. Near the market are the post office (
Mon-Fri 08.30-12.00 & 14.00-17.30
)
and Colis Express (
73 007 32
). Internet places keep opening and closing but try Escale,
Espace and Radio Soanala.
WESTTOIHOSY
Fortheseriouslyadventurous,theroadtoIhosyisnowjustaboutpass-
ableinthedryseasonby4x4ormotorbike.
Taxi-brousses
runasfaras
Vondrozo
.Youcan
continue by car to the
Vevembe
region, at which point the passable road ends and jungle
takes over. You will probably need a guide to help you reach the next stretch of passable
road at
Ivohibe
because of the numerous trails that have been created by the locals. If you
make it to Ivohibe you're home and dry; there are
taxi-brousses
to Ihosy. But beware: the
area is said to be infested with
dahalo
(bandits).
MANOMBO SPECIAL RESERVE
This reserve 25km south of Farafangana protects
around 5,000ha of littoral forest. It is home to eight species of lemur including the south-
ernmost population of black-and-white ruffed lemurs and the extremely rare grey-headed
lemur (
Eulemur cinereiceps
) which is among the world's 25 most endangered primates.
Manombo also has the highest diversity of land snails of any rainforest in the world. There
is no accommodation but visitors can camp at the park office on the main road, 4km from
the forest.
