The third and final stop in Madagascar on the Indian Ocean Islands cruise was the city of Tamatave. It is located along the coast in the east of the island of Madagascar. The modern name of the city of Toamasina. It’s the same story as with the city of Diego Suarez. By local standards, Tamatave is a fairly large city with a population of more than 300 thousand people.
When preparations were being made for this stop, my soul was sad. Reviews online said one thing, that there was nothing to do there and not much to see either. In the national park, animals are in cages, “beggars” are annoyingly pestering you at the market – that’s all I managed to find out. The question was whether to go ashore at all from our cozy liner Costa Mediterranea.
Excursions to Toamasina
There were enough days on our cruise that we went nowhere no need to go out. It was unacceptable to miss something interesting. Especially in You will never go to this place again, but as part of a cruise it’s just the thing. Therefore they accepted decision to visit Tamatave. And they didn’t regret it.
We accidentally met our friends near the port, who invited us on an excursion. Apparently they had already agreed and there were free seats in the minibus for us.
The route was as follows:
- Boat ride along the Pangalan Canal
- Walking tour of the village
- Relax by the ocean
- Market in Tamatave
The excursion cost $30, but since we didn’t have dollars, we agreed for 25 euros. The bus took us to the boat station where it all began.
Boat ride along the Pangalan Canal
It should be noted that the canal is artificial, dug 50-60 years ago back and has a length of more than 100 km. It was used to deliver goods when The road infrastructure in Madagascar was not so developed.
The section of the Pangalan Canal that we passed by boat had width no more than 30-40 meters. This can be clearly seen in the video below.
From the boat we observed how the locals live. They they transported cargo, fished and grew something in their gardens. More saw life in the village in detail.
Walking tour of the village
After about 40 minutes we moored to the shore, where we were warmly greeted by the villagers with national dances. Let’s go deeper.
Exotic fruits were growing everywhere, and you didn’t have to worry about a coconut or something falling on your head.
Souvenir sellers and just people with children sit right on the streets of the village.
Everything is decorated in African style and there are plates for gifts. People live very poorly; tourists seem to be their “main source of income.”
The huts are tiny, made of reeds and bamboo. 4-5 people huddle on an area of 9 square meters. The roofs are covered with palm leaves, and for the more “affluent” with corrugated iron sheets.
After reading the reviews, we took apples, pears, and cookies from the ship and distributed it to the children. There was so much joy and gratitude in their eyes. By the way, They don’t grow apples and pears and these are exotic fruits for them.
Relax by the ocean
After walking through the entire village, soaking up the local color, the guide led us to the ocean shore.
There were souvenir shops there, and a female folk dance ensemble was dancing.
And in one tent there was a table with treats. Everyone could taste the exotic fruits, berries and fruits.
The ocean was not calm, large waves would not have allowed us to swim.
We wet our feet and took pictures against the backdrop of abandoned boats.
Two boys walked around with chameleons and gave them for a photo shoot for a small fee.
We spent about an hour at this beautiful place. Then we returned to the boats and set off on our way back.
Market in Tamatave
Not a very pleasant place in the city of Tamatave, local, large market.
Of course, everything is fine inside, but while you get out of the car and walk to the entrance to the market, you are simply attacked by “beggars” and traders of all sorts of nonsense.
They tug at your hands and look pitifully. If you are sitting in a car, they knock on the windows and extend their hand.
And there are just crowds of them.
The police don’t let them into the market; it’s calm and clean there. They sell souvenirs, fruits, spices, haberdashery, clothes and much more. I also couldn’t resist and bought a wooden model of a sailing ship in Tuamasina. Later I’ll show you and tell you about all the souvenirs I brought from this cruise.
“Read on for our next stop on Reunion Island.”
Blog author Sergey Buslaev
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