Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A wide boulevard follows the sea along the west part of town, terminating near a light-
house. At its elbow is the Mahajanga baobab, said to be at least 700 years old with a cir-
cumference of 14m. This area comes alive after dark: indulge in the local life by sampling
the delicious zebu brochettes being barbecued along the street.
GETTINGTHEREANDAWAY
Mahajanga is 560km from Tana on a good road (RN4).
By
taxi-brousse
it takes around ten hours and the price is 32,000Ar. Heading further north
costs 44,000Ar to Antsohihy, 66,000Ar to Ambanja and 77,000Ar all the way to Antsir-
anana.
There are daily Air Mad flights between Mahajanga and Tana, and weekly flights
direct to Antsiranana and Nosy Be. Twin Otter services connect with Analalava, Soalala,
Besalampy and Maintirano once or twice a week. Check
www.airmadagascar.com
for the
latest schedules. Air Austral (
www.air-austral.com
) also flies here weekly from Mayotte
and Reunion.
BEWARE OF THE LOCAL WILDLIFE!
John Gehan
TheportofMajungawasseizedbyBritishforcesfromtheVichyFrenchinSeptember
1942.TopreventanyFrenchtroopsfromretreatingtoAntananarivo,apartyofBritish
Commandos was taken up the Ikopa River to the south of Majunga in small boats.
Unfortunately, as the boats travelled up the river, they ran aground on a sandbank.
The simple solution to this was for the men to climb out of the boats and drag them
into the main channel - but the river was full of crocodiles!
The Commandos found that the only way they could keep the crocs at bay was by
throwing hand grenades at them. The soldiers fought their way through the crocodiles
and finally reached their objective, only to find that their perilous journey had been in
vain. Instead of trying to retreat, all the French had simply surrendered!
