Driving West

At Antsirabe, we turned west and started the drive to the region of Menabe, where we were to do our monitoring. The western slopes of the highlands were once covered with forest, and are now grassland. During the rainy season, the grass is brilliant green, but at the end of the dry season, the hills are mile after mile of dusty gold. Unlike the savannahs of east Africa, there are very few animals, because the species on Madagascar are adapted for forest life.

The road, which was nicely paved, if narrow and winding, in the highlands, becomes worse as you head for the coast. We spent a night in the extremely warm, dusty little town of Miandrivazo. Its claim to fame is that's where you start your trip if rafting down the Tsiribinha River, which is becoming increasingly popular, so the few little "hotels" are always full. After Miandrivazo, the road was still "paved", but we would have preferred if it hadn't been. Navigating the least bumpy places was a tough job for our driver!
On the coast, the architecture is a lot different - more like I'm used to seeing in the rest of Africa. As you approach the coast, palm trees start appearing in the grasslands - Madagascar has dozens of species of palms.
Palm trees at sunset