RN 7 is a road that connects the capital Antananarivo and Tulear, the biggest town on the southwest coast. It is one of the most famous national roads in Madagascar, especially popular with visitors because it connects some of the main tourist attractions; amongst them are the colonial spa town Antsirabe, National park Ranomafana, Anja national reserve-famous for the ring-tailed lemurs, Isalo National park- or grand canyon of Madagascar. It finishes in Tulear, a town close to the popular beaches of Ifaty-Mangily.
After our adventure on the west coast of Madagascar, we took a taxi- brousse back to Antsirabe. After we have spent 10 hours traveling we needed some proper rest, so we went back to Chez Billy, the reliable and cheap hostel/hotel in the city center with good cuisine.
The next day we were ready to move on, and the next stop on our itinerary was a visit to KAFS where I was working as a reforestation assistant in 2013. KAFS is MBP (Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership) research center near the small town of Kianjavato. To come there we had to come to Finaranatsoa and then take taxi-brousse to Manjary or Manakara (towns on the east coast) and stop on the way,
However, how this is Madagascar, you never know when you will arrive, so for 200 km to Fianarantosa we needed like 10 hours.
After we took a half-empty taxi-brousse to Fiana (oh, what a joy 🙂 ) we didn’t expect at all what would happen! After half an hour drive we had to leave our vehicle because the bridge was broken (le Pont est cassé) and to walk with all our luggage 5 km.
We had a bit of luck in our misery (sreća u nesreći) that there were people waiting to help us carry the luggage for a small fee. Of course, we had to wait again for another taxi-brousse after we have finally arrived at the next station, so it was dinner time when we finally arrived at Fiana.
Next morning we were ready to continue our trip to Kianjavato; once you leave RN 7 to RN 25 the difference in climate patterns is obvious. It is much wetter and greener there, especially around Ranomafana NP.
Ranomafana is also a great park to visit and see many lemur species, and many other interesting animals. But this time we skipped it.
After four hours trip we finally arrived at KAFS. It was great to be there again, even for a day 🙂 Lots of new construction has happened in KAFS in those 3 years
Fredo, the reforestation manager took us around so I could see how much the trees that I and my team planted in 2013 have grown since then. I also met my old colleagues and some new volunteers It was really nice to be back! Hope to visit KAFS again one day.
After a day in Kianjavato, we were ready to go back to Fiana and then continue our trip to Ranohira and Isalo NP- the grand canyon of Madagascar.
All photos are by Maku Faye
