Madagascar road trip, Tulear to Isolo
Meikyo
Phil and Sarah Tadd
Sat 15 Aug 2026 14:16
The distance from Tulear to Isalo is 230 km and Google says this can be done in 5hr 15m, more like 8-10 hrs, including the drive into Tulear and sight-seeing we were on the go for 12hrs. Google needs to try it. The roads are good occasionally but there are sections which are gravel and sections where the deep potholes have to be carefully driven round and add to this the amount of heavy trucks and overloaded minibuses. This is National Route 7, a main road. There was a fair bit to see along the way and Bushy-Bushy toilet stops were made when needed, we had bought food for lunch in Tulear and water is provided on the coach. We made frequent stops so that Mamy could explain local features.  The road is shared with all sorts of transport. The Zebu cart being very common.  Salt production on the coastal plain, the water is channelled in from the sea by hand dug ditches. The salt is collected off the surface by men standing in the water and 'raking it' off the surface of the evaporation pools.  Housing can be of woven reeds and grass, corrugated sheet or mud brick. The houses are often washed away or damaged in the rainy season,  and the woven houses are designed to be transportable. The houses in this area are low and as we progressed inland housing progressed to two or three levels. We were to see different burial practices as we travelled, tombs in this area being large and painted.  This would have been one man's tomb. The decoration tells of the man and his achievements. It's the practice in this area, despite the poverty, that when a man dies all of his cattle are sacrificed leaving his family with nothing We were to pass through various landscapes  Scrub and occasional trees.  Forest, later Grassland and more barren rocky hills and basalt cliffs. At one point along the road children and occasionally adults were breaking down rock and filling some of the potholes. At another point there was a setup for distilling sugar cane and making Moonshine, illicit but in plain view at the road side.  Illicit Moonshine distillery. Eventually we came down through Ilakaka and the Sapphire mining area. Sapphires are still mined in the area by locals and brought into town to sell to the many gem traders. We visited a Sapphire 'museum' and a couple of people bought but we had seen this already in Sri Lanka. Eventually we arrived at our next hotel 12 hrs after leaving Ifaty Sent from my iPad |