Yesterday we landed in Antananarivo quite late at night but even then, the airport was something unbelivable. Apart from the secuirty which was close to none (you could essentially leave the aiport without the stamp in your passport), in order to get the official stamp we had to go through hell. Just imagine hundreds of people amassing outside the officer boot (yeah, only one boot for the whole airport) where all the passports were slowly piling up. The two people sitting in the boot were manually entering, signing and stamping each passport of the pile. What a mess!
For those first-timers visiting, the country of Madagascar has various types of obligatory visas (30/60/90 days) which cost 27/33/46€ respectively. Visas can be done in advance but given the rarity of Malagasy embassies, it is also possible to do it at the airport. In the past there used to be also a salty exit fee (back in 2014) but since then this has been taken away.
You can check out more information about visas on the country’s embassy in france.
A quick peak into Tana’s life
This morning, while waiting for our rent-a-car to show up, we decide to roam the streets of Tanà (that’s what they call it here) for a bit. The moment we step out on the street, we get overwhelmed by the noises, the smells and the movement we see around us. Like a cloud of complete chaos, the loud noises of vintage cars, the smell of dust swirling up the streets and the big clamped of people, vehicles and livestock seem to compete to be the most incredible sight ever. Without any doubts, the streets of Tanà could easily overshadow the craziness of Kumbakonam.
Monuments & Interesting places
Randomly, our walk bring us in front of the Gare de Soarano (old train station), an absolute misplaced beauty located in the middle of a rumbling city center. It is only the station that we really realize the amount of people roaming the streets. Crazy! On either side of the sidewalk, on the road, in small alleys, on balconies, in the shops: there is everyone you can ever think of. Not to mention the “usual” pineapple (or similar) and coffee sellers which are pretty much everywhere.
Looking up we see the Palais de la Reine (royal palace of Tanà) overlooking the whole city and just below a funny hollywood-styled writing with the city’s name on it “Antananarivo”; quite sad we think, there’s no need to give this city a more “international” print. Unfortunately, we don’t get a chance to visit the palace as earlier that day we got to know it was closed due to a country holiday.
After the entertaining stop, we find ourselves walking through the Anakely market and there the fun starts. Remember the “many” people of earlier? Well, in that market there is EVERYONE and EVERYTHING !!! The several stands are selling and shoppers buying anything ranging from books to sound systems and from vegetables to beautiful canvases; we do see a couple of tourists but be aware, if you’re not a local, shoppers will be very annoying in trying to sell you anything from their stand and this could ruin (like it did for us) a nice chill walk in a local market.
Coffee Seller at Anakely Market
Oh, did we also mention that we got robbed for 5 minutes ? Yeah, you reading right, a guy tried to steal us a little pocket camera we were bringin around with us but Max figured they just stole it and run after the thief, managing to get him and the camera. What an experience, it was the first time we got robbed (or at least close to) on our trips!
Butcher at Anakely Market
The tempted robbery was kind of the last drop. The city itself is not a very “gorgeous” place and as expected by the capital of country (likewise to many other capitals) it’s messy, noisy and hardly repsresents the beauty of the country.
At least, now in front of our hotel we see our rent-a-Jeep! What a relief! We take the keys, hop on and off we to go toward the next stop in Andasibe the see the first lemurs. Roaming around for half-a-day was long enough for Tanà but what was your experience?
Would you visit the city again? Any notable places to go to? Did you like it? Let us know in the comments!