On arrival at Ivato (Antananarivo) Airport, you are met and transferred to your hotel in Tana. On your way you will see rice paddies, and a colourful patch-work of houses. Plus all the daily life in this city of about 2 million inhabitants. Tananarivians mostly live from day to day jobs. This is called “Ady Gasy”: tires repairing, selling Chinese-made products in the streets, selling scrap.
City Tour – Time Permitting (or enjoy the following morning)
Depending on your flight time, you will start with a tour of the city. We begin in the hills above the city with a visit to Ambohimangat, one of the 12 sacred hills of Tana. This is a World heritage site as classified by UNESCO. This historical place was where the King Andrianampoinimerina started to unify the different kingdoms into one Madagascar. It still holds a strong spiritual significance. People go there with offerings and ask the blessing from the holy king spirit. From the palace you have a panoramic view over Tana. We return to the city where we tour the high, low and middle parts of the city – both in elevation and in wealth.
Antananarivo
Tana, (as the capital city of Madagascar, Antananarivo, is conveniently called) is a brightly coloured mélange of French colonial architecture, multistoried houses and narrow alleys.
Tana must have been a beautiful city at one time. Today, the city is quite often a shock to first time visitors – throngs of people, buildings in a state of decay, street urchins, hooting and belching old French cars and the lively hustle and bustle of the street markets, all combine to make Antananarivo (Tana) a bit overwhelming at first. But Tana is quite a fascinating city to explore. The city sprawls over several hills with lots of narrow houses, cobblestone streets and stone staircases linking one street to another. Each street seems lined with traders and the array of merchandise on offer in the stalls and markets is in a class of its own. With Malagasy embroidery, semi-precious stones and local crafts all jumbled up together.