Before travelling | During your journey
Community tourism
Community
tourism is
becoming more and more popular these days. This “other
kind” of
tourism can be described as a closer relationship or interaction
between the
traveller and the host country.
Thus,
visitors get a deeper, wider and also cheaper experience of the real
daily life
of local communities than other travellers, and learn first-hand lots
of
information about local culture, customs or way of living. Nature is
also a
very important part of this more sustainable way of travelling, since
ecotourism is closed related to community tourism.
On
the other hand, the local (often rural) communities benefit from
tourists since
the money they leave goes directly to the community, village or
organisation,
and it is a very welcoming support to their development.
Madagascar is not an
exception
to this trend of
solidarity and there are more and more NGOs, international and local
projects,
associations, foundations and other initiatives whose aim is to give
visitors
an intense and unforgettable experience and at the same time to improve
the
hard life of too many poor local people.
One
tour takes two days and makes a loop through the rural communities
living
western from Antsirabe. This tour is focused on the way of living and
culture
of the Merina on the high plateau. Accommodation is at guest families
in
villages not stated in any tourist guide.
Another
trek (also two days or longer if you wish) leads to the
The
third route lasts also two days and get visitors acquainted with the
traditional iron crafts of the local blacksmiths and also visit several
sacred
places.
Phone:
+261 (0) 20 44 498 87 /
032 42 638 22 /
033 24 204 03
Email:
Lambahoany
Ecotourism
Centre
is a Dutch
foundation that works both in the city of
Besides hiking, you can spend the day with the
villagers, see how they live and help for a day in the rice field. The
area is
also very attractive for biologists and special interest tourists such
as
wildlife photographers.
Currently there three
different
treks:
The
Plaisir trek is a 3-day trip which is suitable for experienced as well
as
non-experienced hikers. You will travel by boat and foot to the
The Milay is a simple and short
3-day trek, but it gets more difficult in case of rain when the paths
become
slippery. The trip leads us through several villages where you can feel
the
Malagasy hospitality and enjoy the local culture. You will sleep in
Fetrahomby,
where the locals also give a special cultural performance and you will
learn about
medical use of local trees and plants. Of course you will also look for
wildlife and take a bath under the waterfalls.
The sauvage trek is a 5-day trip for
experienced hikers who are in good health. You have sufficient time to
really
experience the nature and culture of
Mitsinjo offer forest tours in the two forest
areas they manage. On the Forest Station Analamazaotra visitors can
make both a
day-walk to spot indris and many other lemurs, birds, reptiles and
plants, and
a night-walk to discover the strange creatures which are hidden during
the day.
Another highlight is the canopy tour: a team of
professional climbers takes you on platforms constructed high in trees,
the
descent into the various platforms is done by sliding along a cable
stretched
in the forest canopy. This tour will offer you the opportunity to
observe
wildlife, including lemurs groups that live around. The tour is offered
from
June to December only.
The Torotorofotsy site is one of the few places
where the extremely endangered greater bamboo lemur occurs. Visitors
can join
the research team to track this lemur and also observe birds and
reptiles and
enjoy a great scenery.
You can find more information on their website:
http://sites.google.com/site/mitsinjo/home
The peaceful environment, the superb beach and
the crystal clear ocean, along with the opportunity of contributing to
a
laudable local initiative to support community tourism make a stay
worthwhile.
You can stay overnight at one of the 3 basic bungalows built by the
local
people and enjoy the hospitality of the villagers. The area was hit by
a cyclone
on 2009, so coming here is even more important now! Their website is so
far
only in French: http://www.ankevo.com/index.html