Analalava Forest

One of the adventures I have been here in Mada is to the Analalava Forest. It is a small nature reserve with 26 different species of palm trees.  The nearest city, Foulpoint is about 90 minutes from Tamatave, but you have to walk the last 7 km to the reserve because the taxi-brousse doesn't go that far.

The plan was to leave Friday after work and head to the local bus station.  There we hopped on a taxi-brousse (think 10-15 passenger van, but filled with 18-20 people). About 10 minutes into the trip, we had to stop because the lights on the van weren't working. After waiting around for awhile, with no replacement bus in sight, we walked back to the station to get another bus. We finally made it successfully to Foulpoint (after some very bumpy roads) and, for about $8 each, stayed in a small bungalow near the beach.

Saturday morning we walked the 7 km to Analalava and spent the afternoon hiking in the reserve.

The road from Foulpoint to Analalava

Scenery on the walk to Analalava

My travel companions: Robert, Fred, Floor, and Alex

Some of the palm trees were huge!

Some of the palm trees in the reserve can be found no where else in the world!

I've never seen anything like this before.

We saw Flying Foxes: a species of bat that have furry bodies like a fox.