Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dynastie
Chinese restaurant with extensive menu & sizeable portions; open breezy din-
ing area.
Etoile Rouge
Slightly more opulent Chinese restaurant.
MONEY AND COMMUNICATIONS
There are a few places for internet access:
SBS
and
BIC
are both quite central and charge 100Ar/minute. You are spoilt for choice with
banks: there are five in the centre.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
In and around town
There is a good market which is known as
bazary kely
, not because
it's small or
kely
(it isn't - and certainly not on Tuesday, market day), but because there
used to be two markets and no-one felt inclined to change the name when they were amal-
gamated.
VANILLA IN MADAGASCAR
Clare & Johan Hermans
Vanilla is the major foreign currency earner for Madagascar, which together with
RéunionandtheComorosgrows80%oftheworld'scrop.Itscultivationiscentredon
the eastern coastal region around Andapa, Antalaha and Sambava.
The climbing plants are grown supported on 1.5m-high moisture-retaining trunks
and under ideal conditions take three years to mature. When they bloom the vines are
checked on alternate days for open flowers to hand-pollinate. The pod then takes nine
months to develop. Each 15-20cm pod will contain tens of thousands of tiny seeds.
They go to a processing plant to be prepared for the commercial market. First they
are plunged into a cauldron of hot water (70°C) for two minutes and are kept hot for
twodays.Duringthistimethepodschangecolourfromgreentochestnutbrown.Next
they are laid out in the sun each morning for three to four weeks.
After maturing, the pods are sorted by size and bundles of sorted pods are tied with
raffia. They are checked for quality by sniffing and bending before being packed into
wooden crates, with most of the product going to the US for use in ice cream.
Thevanillausedincultivation inMadagascaris
Vanillaplanifolia
whichoriginates
from Mexico. It was brought to Madagascar by the French once the secret of hand-
pollination had been discovered - the flower has no natural pollinator in its foreign
home. The culinary and pharmaceutical use of vanilla dates back to pre-Aztec times
when it was used as a drink or as an ingredient of a lotion against fatigue for those
holding public office. Similarly a native Malagasy vanilla stem can be found for sale
on Tana markets as a male invigorator.
