Travel Diary: Antananarivo “Tana”, Madagascar

Madagascar was one place I always fantasized about since I was a child.  Not only did it seem so far away (it is!), but I remember a little Georgie sitting in his desk in second grade while the teacher would show how the island fit perfectly into the eastern coast of the great continent of Africa millions of years ago.

Years later, a trip to Mauritius presented itself.  It was during that time I decided to see what the flights were to Antananarivo from Mauritius.  I thought a quick three-day “excursion” would be enough. 

There are daily flights between the two islands, about a two-hour jaunt and it’s some sort of code share relationship between Air Madagascar and Air Mauritius (in other words, if you have a ticket on either airline between the two cities, if there is space, it will be honoured).

At "Tana" Airport, look closely at the "Travelers Tree" on the tail of the Air Madagascar plane.

However, I was impressed with Air Mauritius’ business class, offering for just a two-hour flight, full lunch, excellent seats, and even a big amenity kit.

Arriving in Antananarivo was a little bit of a dream.  It was exciting because it felt I was somewhere far away.  The natives refer to their capital as “Tana” and Madagascar has a much different history than the rest of Africa which has been torn with everything from civil war to hunger.  "Tana" is a young capital compared to other world capitals.  In 1610, King Andrianjaka built this city on the summit of Mt. Analamanga and called the city, Antananarivo - the city of a thousand warriors (referring to the thousand soldiers who settled in the town)

Since the city is protected by its cliffs, they could see if enemies were approaching from a distance.  There were only seven entrances into the city, six slowly disappearing as the city grew.  Today only one remains, called the Gate of Ambavahadimirafo.

The Rova in Haute Ville, Antananarivo.

"Tana" grew around the palace, called Rova, which comprises of many palaces, like a compound.  There is a gate at the Rova that has a metal eagle given to the Queen by Napoleon III.  On the far right of the picture below, you might see some construction.  In 1995, there was a fire where five of the remaining palaces were unfortunately burned down (everything was built of wood).  They are now being restored (or have been).  The Rova was closed because of these renovations.

One of the palaces is now the Museum of Royal History of Madagascar.  The city spread downwards (down the cliff) and outwards (out to the plains) into three distinct areas, again seen in the picture of me below.  The first, "Haute Ville" is the highest point, the cliff, called "Antaninarenina" and then the lowest one, where Lake Anosy is located (and the hotel I was staying at).  Everything is connected by countless stairs (and of course, roads).

Postcard picture of Lake Anosy taken from Haute Ville.  The tall building (cut in half) on the far upper left is the Hilton.

There are now 1.5 million inhabitants in the city.

The island speaks a certain dialect of French and they consider themselves almost like their brethren thousands of miles in France.  And just try to refer their country as being in Africa, “We separated from that continent 500 million years ago,” is what you’ll get in response.

As in any big city, I restricted my movements around at night.  I never felt I was in a compromising position, though.

The Hilton, probably the only better Western hotel in the city and considered by the locals as the hotel.  It was central and being the tallest building in the city, had incredible views, one which was a monument smack in the center of Lake Anosy called “Monument aux Morts” or the Monument of the Dead (the French erected after WWI).  Again, farther, were the incredible homes of the wealthier part, of “Haute Ville” – you can actually see it in the picture I took from the hotel room.  In the picture, the background is the lake and part of the memorial and then further afield is the cliffside and then Haute Ville (actually it's very beautiful and charming).  It reminded me of somewhere in France.

I went during their late-Fall, which made it a little chilly and rainy…but the good part was there were few tourists.

I hired a driver and an interpreter (via the Hilton) to show me around the city and to give me a good "feel" of its' beautiful people. The taxi cabs there are old fashioned and very small, too small for 6'4'' me to get in (note the picture above).  I got into a Jeep Cherokee and we did the sights.  We managed to hit some of the countries protected parks, one called Lemurs Park (you need to make reservations), outside Tana.  This was my first sighting of a lemur of any kind.  And they were beautiful.  They roamed free and there were many different kinds roaming around without restriction.

One type of lemur (l) and another (r) this one followed me around.

We had the park to ourselves, but one is not allowed to roam without supervision, you must be accompanied by a guide from the park.  There were two lemurs in particular that were particularly interested in me, following me as I went along my path, whilst urinating all over the place (to show me who's the alpha male).  But then they came up to my feet and allowed me to feed them. They were just absolutely gorgeous.  Every species of lemurs, like the famous "Mouse Lemur," or microcebus, were represented, even the tiny Twilight or Night Lemurs with these HUGE red eyes.

Also, were types of turtles, endangered because the locals love to make turtle soup…when my interpreter saw the turtle, she told me that she would love to cook one of them.  There was this one huge turtle, over a hundred years old!

There are so many different activities people can do in different parts in Madagascar from hiking to white water rafting.  People fly into “Tana” get their jet-lag taken care of by staying there for three days, and then go on to different parts of this beautiful island, just magnificent!

One BIG tree, the famous Baobab Tree (r); also on their currency (above in blog).

The island has these famous beautiful trees found only in Madagascar.  One is called the Baobab, right outside the capital stands the worlds largest tree.  If adults were to hold hands around its' trunk, you would  need over 100 people!

There is another called the gorgeous Travelers Tree, where the palms face only north and south - sailors used the trees as a compass long ago.  They are also illustrated on the the tails of all Air Madagascar planes and their currency (both pictured above).

Double-take: Mars or Madagascar?  Note the Baobab tree (and shadow!), and the red laterite clay road.

One thing I thought to be noted was the entire island is made from this RED laterite clay.  Everything is red, which also gives it this feeling of Mars.  It is referred to as “The Red Island.”

One last note, I saw many women walking barefoot with these huge baskets on their heads.  I had watched a program specifically showing African barefoot women and a counterpart wearing shoes.  The one barefoot had better posture and less incidence of having back problems.  Interesting I thought.