Antsirabe
Travel Guide > Africa > Madagascar > Antsirabe
In this Article
- Introduction
- Neighbourhoods
- Sights and Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Weather
- Getting There
- Getting Around
- Eat
- Drink
- Sleep
- Work
- Learn
- Keep Connected
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Introduction
Heading south from Antananarivo on the reasonably good RN7, past emerald green paddy fields and red mud houses brings you to Antsirabe, a relaxed spa town in the highlands of Madagascar. You will certainly feel the temperature drop from up here so make sure you bring some warm clothing. Antsirabe is the home to the enormous Hotel des Thermes overlooking Lac Ranomafana and hot springs. Unfortunately the lake is too dirty to swim in but interesting to see the hot gases bubbling up to the surface. In the area surrounding Antsirabe are Lac Andraikibiba and Lac Tritiva which are each worth a day trip.
Getting around is by way of Pousse Pousse, colourful rickshaws, hand drawn by bare footed locals who can be a little persistent at times but good humoured. There are many souvenir shops with prices lower than in the capital. Antsirabe is a good place to book a trip down the Tsiribihina River in a 'pirogue' (dug out canoe), drifting whilst watching Malachite kingfishers, lemurs and crocodiles. There are numerous tour companies so bargain hard for the best price.
Also from here you can head further into the highlands and the most spectacular scenery. Past Ambositra with its many craft stalls selling beautiful wood carvings and silk scarves to Fianarantsoa, the starting point for most of the trips to Parc National de Ranomafana. The road then continues towards Toliara passing Parc National d'Andringitra and Parc National de L'Isalo.
Neighbourhoods
Sights and Activities
Events and Festivals
Weather
Antsirabe has warm and pleasant weather most of the year, but from November to March is rainy season. The rest of the year is fairly dry, like most of the inland parts of the country. Temperatures are around 26 degrees Celsius during summer, 20 to 22 in winter. Nights can drop to below 10 degrees during this period.
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This is version 3. Last edited at 15:39 on Feb 10, 09 by Utrecht (+826). 1 article links to this page.
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