Aside from lemurs, what is Madagascar known for? Baobabs. These trees can survive in harsh environments so they are found in many places in Madagascar, but mostly on the western regions. The place where you can get the best shots of these trees though is in the so called Avenue of the Baobabs. The closest town to this place is Morondava, so I decided to head there next.

It’s easy to get there from Antananarivo. If you’re not traveling on a budget you can book a flight. Madagascar Airlines has a monopoly of domestic flights in the country though, so it can get expensive. A one way ticket costs 800,000 -1,200,000 Ariary. That’s about 180 to 260 USD… not exactly cheap. Flights aren’t daily too. It’s usually 2-3 times a week, depending on the destination. Luckily, there are multiple buses/ taxi brousses leaving daily from the capital, and it only costs 60,000 Ariary (a little over 13 bucks) each way on the average. Most people book with Cotisse. They have the most extensive taxi brousse network in the country and they travel to many towns, thus they’re known to be the most reliable. They even have their own terminal in the capital. You can purchase a ticket online, but they don’t accept credit cards, you need to pay using one of those mobile wallets linked to a cellular carrier. Antananarivo to Morondava is a popular route, so tickets do get sold out. Thus, I would recommend heading to the Cotisse terminal and buying a ticket in advance. In case you’re buying a ticket at the very last minute and it’s fully booked, you could try your luck at the Fasan’ny Karana bus station (Stationnement Fasan’ny Karana on Google Maps). There are other mini buses/ taxi brousses there heading to Morondava and they might still have a seat available. Most of the mini buses in the other bus stations in Antananarivo wait until they’re full before they leave. So keep your schedule flexible— unlike Cotisse, a lot of the other taxi brousses do not leave on time.

One thing you should take note of— it’s gonna take almost an entire day. We left at 6:30 in the morning, we arrived at around 9:30 PM. Yup, that’s a whopping 15 hours. The taxi brousse was comfortable enough, thanks to the fact that it wasn’t really full (there were two vacant seats). It wasn’t a new van. There was no air-conditioning, some windows wouldn’t open, and when it rained for a bit, there was water dripping from the door, but it was a fairly pleasant ride overall. It wasn’t hot at all and I was able to nap for a bit. There were two stops for about 30 minutes each. one at around 10 AM in another Cotisse ticketing office where you could grab a quick snack, and another one at a restaurant at around 2-3 PM for late lunch. I had a huge ass sandwich for only 3,000 Ariary and fried chicken with rice for 5,000. Food in Madagascar is really, really cheap. The view of the countryside was really good too. Madagascar is such a beautiful, unspoiled country. Thanks to the beautiful views, those 15 hours just flew by.

As I’ve mentioned on my previous entry, there are hardly any hostels in the country. There’s absolutely none in Morondava, and it’s quite puzzling. It’s a very popular spot, lots of travelers stop by for at least a day or two before heading elsewhere. It’s a perfect spot to open a hostel. Good thing hotels are cheap. I got a room with air-conditioning at a basic hotel close to the beach for only 20 dollars a night. Hotels are real cheap everywhere in the country. You could stay in a fancy resort for only 50 USD a night— I should stop quoting prices in US dollars because hotels don’t accept these lol. Most hotels do not accept credit cards, they only accept cash– either Ariary or Euros. In Madagascar, cash truly is still king. Luckily there are lots of ATMs in Morondava. I wish more hotels would accept credit cards though. The highest denomination in their local currency is only 20,000 Ariary. It’s not a problem paying for just 1-2 nights, but I hate carrying bundles of cash just to pay for more than 3 nights… ATMs also have daily limits, so you may have to pay several daily visits to an ATM before checking out. Even the maximum amount you could withdraw— 800,000 Ariary, may not be enough if you’re staying in one of the nicer hotels, or paying for a tour. That’s just about 178 USD. 800,000 Ariary is equivalent to 40 20,000 bank notes. 40 bills– that’s a pretty thick wad of cash, and it’s awkward carrying such a thick wad every time I withdrew money. 40 bills couldn’t even fit inside my wallet. Bring a bag every time you withdraw cash so as not to draw attention to yourself.

The Avenue of the Baobabs is about 40-60 minutes away from Morondava. The cheapest way to get there is via Tuk-Tuks (damn, what are these even called in Madagascar. I just realized I didn’t know. lol). They’d ask for 90,000- 100,000 Ariary (about 20-22 USD) for a roundtrip (plus 2,000 Ariary for parking), but you can get it down to just 80,000 depending on your haggling skills. If you’re going in that direction though, you might as well go farther and check out the Kirindy Forest to see lemurs in the wild.

Tuk-tuks won’t go that far though.. maybe someone would be willing, but I didn’t meet any tuk-tuk driver who would. If you take a taxi, a roundtrip to the Avenue of the Baobabs would cost anywhere from 300,000 -350,000 Ariary, depending on your haggling skills (about 66-72 USD). A round trip to Kirindy costs about 360,000-390,000 Ariary (about 81-86 USD). If you’re taking a taxi, you might as well go all the way to Kirindy. You only have to pay a little extra. If you wanna share a cab to cut costs, visit the tourism office and say you’re looking for fellow travelers who also want to check out the Kirindy Forest. Or ask around at the hotel you’re staying at. Approach fellow travelers on your own. Along the way to the Kirindy Forest your guide will most probably stop at a number of peculiar Baobabs: the Baobab Amoureux which looks like entwined lovers, one baobab that seems to have a dick (no joke), and the Baobab Sacre, which is sacred to the locals. I bought a small wooden Baobab sculpture here for only 20,000 Ariary. Just doing my part to support the local economy 🙂

Many travelers also head to Morondava to book tours to Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park. Now if this is the reason why you’re going to Morondava, don’t bother checking out the Avenue of the Baobabs separately because you’re going to pass through the Baobabs on the way to Tsingy and back.

The word Tsingy basically means ” the place where one cannot walk barefoot”. Check out the pictures below and you’ll understand why it’s called that.

Tsingy de Bemaraha is the largest Tsingy forest on Earth. It’s not exactly close to Morondava… it’s going to take an entire day to get there. The roads aren’t even paved, thus you’d need to rent a 4×4. The cheapest rate I found was 400,000 Ariary (about 89 USD) per day, including the driver. Obviously, since it takes an entire day to get there, you’ll need a 4×4 for 3 days. Head to Tsingy on day1, explore Tsingy on day 2, head back to Morondava on day 3. So that’s at least 1,200,000 Ariary for transportation if you want to check out Tsingy. Yeah that’s not exactly cheap since that’s only for transportation. If your schedule is flexible, you can head to the tourism office and tell them you’re looking for other tourists who would be willing to share a 4×4. Just leave your name and contact number. A single 4×4 can fit up to 4-5 people. Even if you can share one with just one other person, that’s gonna cut costs. You’d still have to pay for 2 nights lodging in Tsingy though. Hotels in Morondava can help you book one since some of these lodgings aren’t listed on booking websites. Since these hotels are practically isolated, food and lodging would be a pricier than the usual hotels in Madagascar. You might be wondering if it’s possible to just rent a 4×4 and drive on your own? This is highly discouraged in Morondava because of the road conditions. It’s also easy to get lost. Since everyone in Morondava seems to say this, I doubt you could rent a 4×4 in this town and just drive on your own. I did meet a couple who drove on their own though, but they rented a 4×4 in Antananarivo and have been driving all over the country for more than a month.

If you plan on visiting Tsingy, you should take note that you can’t visit this place throughout the year. It’s because some of the roads to Tsingy become flooded and impassable during the rainy season. The exact dates when tours resume and end each year aren’t fixed. It all depends on the weather. Once roads become passable, which is usually around April towards the end of the rainy season, trips to Tsingy would resume. Once the rainy season starts, typically around November to December, the roads would become impassable again. I was there on the third week of November last year, and it was all sunny in Morondava. They were still doing tours on the day that I left. I’ve been told that on some years, roads are already impassable early in November. If visiting Tsingy is on your itinerary, I guess the safe period to visit Madagascar would be from May to October.

Most people just stay in Morondava for a night or two before heading elsewhere, but I ended up staying for 6 days. I really loved the place. I dunno, it just seemed so… raw. People could easily spend many days here if they took the time to explore the place. Morondava isn’t just a place to spend the night before heading to Tsingy or to see the Avenue of the Baobabs. The town itself has a lot to offer.

First is the beach. It’s vast. And beautiful. The part of the beach close to town, you’ll see a lot of locals. A lot are preparing to fish or just came back from fishing. There are lots of kids playing at the beach and swimming on the puddles. Even though there are lots of people, the beach is so massive that there are lots of isolated spots. Even though there were lots of people, they mainly minded their own business. Some would smile or wave at me, two dudes tried to sell me some wooden crafts, but I was mostly left alone. Maybe it’s because it was clear I neither spoke Malagasy nor French? I dunno. Walk south toward the resorts, and you’ll see tourists sunbathing on the beach. I preferred the part of the beach close to the center of town though. It felt more authentic.

Nightlife is mostly catered to tourists. Not surprising considering how much locals earn here, most of them would rather spend their money on something else. There are a couple of bars in the center of town and some more in the area where the resorts are. it was pretty chill when I was there, probably because it was off season. One local told me that the bars can get packed during high season. Morondava seemed safe to walk around at night. I’ve encountered hookers on the streets near the resorts who asked me if I wanted some company, but that’s pretty much it. Still, Madagascar is a very poor country, and some streets get really dark at night. I wouldn’t recommend walking alone because petty crime can occur in any place, no matter how friendly the locals seem to be.

If you’re planning on staying for a couple of days, I’d recommend spending a day in Betania. It’s a fishing village in the south separated from the town by a river. To get there, you need to hire a boat. it’s real cheap if you directly talk to someone who owns a boat. No need to book a tour, you’re bound to meet someone who’d offer to take you there just by walking south toward Nosy Kely. Several locals offered to take me there when I was walking along Rue De L’ Independance. Two guys were asking for 50,000 Ariary, and one dude only asked for 40,000 Ariary to bring me to Betania and back. That’s just about 8 dollars! He called two other guys to row the boat for us. I asked him if I had to pay extra, he said i’d only have to pay 40,000 Ariary for the three of them. So then we’re off. The trip starts on Canal Hellot by the mangroves. At the end of the canal we had to row against the current, and the two guys were obviously struggling— we were barely moving forward. Eventually we managed to reach the shores of Betania. Man, this place was so authentic. If you wanna see how the locals live, this is the place. I was invited inside one classroom and watched the children sing and perform. There was a soccer tournament going on and we watched a couple of games. Some guys asked me if I wanted to play, I said no. I suck at soccer, I’ll just make em lose. lol. There are small restaurants in Betania where you can eat the freshest seafood. There are also guest houses if you choose to spend the night. Take note that these are very basic though. It’s just a bed in a hut. There are no luxury resorts here. But if you want to immerse yourself in the local culture, I can’t think of a better place. Betania is beautiful. it’s like a little slice of unspoiled paradise.

Heading back to town wasn’t as hard cause we weren’t going against the current. I handed the 40,000 Ariary to the guy who owns the boat, then I saw him hand just 3,000 Ariary each to the two guys. My mouth dropped. Jesus. I saw how much they struggled. And they only got an equivalent of 60 US Cents for all that?? I gave each of them 10,000 more. Yeah that’s still not much, but when I saw the huge smiles on their faces when I handed their tips, I figured that 10,000 Ariary is a lot to them.

One thing that deserves special mention: Baobab juice. I knew that the Baobab tree has many uses, that’s why it’s referred to as the “Tree of Life”. I had no idea that the fruit tastes good though… good enough that people made a juice out of it. It’s a must try, it’s absolutely delicious. I kept ordering some with my meals the entire time I was in Morondava.

Leaving Morondava is just as easy as heading there. There’s a huge bus/taxi brousse station in the center of town. If you’re heading back to Antananarivo, there are a number of options. I noticed that some of the other buses going to Antananarivo were newer compared to the ones from Cotisse AND these had air-conditioning. One other company that runs the Morondava- Antananarivo route is Co Transam. If you’re loyal to Cotisse though, they have a separate ticketing office closer to the beach. The Cotisse bus that goes to Tana leaves at 5 in the morning, and you have to be there 20-30 minutes before departure. If that’s too early, there are other buses leaving at a later time. I found one that leaves at 10 AM, and another at 2 PM. Take note though that if you take the later buses, you’re going to arrive really late. I took the 5 AM bus. It was almost 10 PM when we got to Tana.

Morondava is a great place to relax and chill. If you’re a digital nomad, this is a good place to base yourself too. There were several power outages, but none of em lasted long. Although internet provided by hotels could be spotty, I found the mobile internet connection in Morondova fast and reliable. Morondava has a lot to offer, it shouldn’t just be treated as a stopover. It’s a destination in itself.