Antananarivo
Walk the cobbled streets of Upper Town, lined with
art galleries, cafes, and jacaranda trees…take a daytrip to Ambohimanga,
a World Heritage Site, whose compound has displays of 19th century royal life…enjoy
the hot springs of Antsirabe and learn about wood
carving at Ambositra, the center of Madagascar's
wood carving industry…walk through the rainforest at nearby Ranomafana.
Environs
Learn about the Mahafaly tribe, whose wooden carvings,
stelae, and paintings are displayed above graves…visit the famous "spiny
desert"…at Isalo National Park,
see the sandstone canyons sheltering rare endemic plants… from Fort
Dauphin, one of the most beautifully situated towns in Africa, take a
day trip to nearby beaches to snorkel…look for ring-tailed lemurs at Berenty
Reserve or the indri-indri lemur at Perinet…go
to Ile Sainte Marie for its white sand beaches and
superb coral reefs (look for hump-backed whales off
the coast from July to September)…in the western region of the country,
check out the limestone karst massifs (tsingy) and
the beaches of Morondova…in the north, hike
to the waterfalls at Montagne D'Ambre National Park…visit
the Nosy Be archipelago, scented with vanilla and
ylang ylang, and one of the best diving spots from May to October.
