Vohemar (Iharana)

Vohemar, also referred to as Iharana, is the northernmost town in Madagascar’s north-eastern SAVA region. It is located right at the Indian ocean and vast Iharana bay which is subjected to the tides. Historically, Vohemar seems to be one of Madagascar´s oldest settlements, if not the oldest, where Swahili merchants installed a port for trading […]

Bobangira

If you are looking for a last unspoilt piece of paradise, it is unavoidable to come across Bobangira, even though there are only few people right now who know about that place. The local residents for sure, some expats, and a few adventurous travellers who came upon the name accidentally and were open enough to […]

Macolline, Antalaha

Right before entering the southernmost town of the SAVA region, Antalaha, there is a steep hill that once had been intensively used for agricultural means. More than ten years ago, Marie-Hélène Kam Hyo, a Malagasy pharmacist, and her german dentist husband Bernd Zschocke have bought those 10 ha of land. Both are passionate about conservation, […]

Andapa

Andapa is the only of the four major towns in SAVA region to be situated away from the Indian ocean 100 km southwest of Sambava. It has around 30.000 inhabitants of whom 90% are farmers, mainly cultivating rice. The place is ideal for that because of its location at the eponymous basin to where all […]

Vola Maitso, Bemarivo river & Soavoanio Coconut plantation – Vola Maitso, der Bemarivo-Fluss und die Soavoanio Kokosnuss-Plantage

Vola Maitso is a cooperative of farmers growing and selling cocoa, vanilla, pepper, cloves, coconuts, and fruits in a picturesque landscape a few kilometres north of Sambava. They practice a sustainable form of agriculture, combining the cultivation of different plants in an ecological way – without chopping off trees till there is nothing left. Unfortunately, […]

Domaine d’Ambohimanitra

Domaine d’Ambohimanitra is a vanilla plantation 50 km south of Sambava, only a stone´s throw from the Indian ocean, and the name means “hill of perfume”. Not only do they produce vanilla for sale but also for educational as well as touristic purposes. They grow various types of vanilla, starting with Mexicaine, the original species […]

Kidepo Valley National Park

Coming from the south from Kotido and heading for Kidepo Valley National Park, you first pass Kaabong, home of Karamojas northernmost ATM. Along those 80 kilometres, the landscape is gradually changing, it is a rolling landscape now with several rock formations and small mountains. In this appealing location, Kaabong is the last town before Kidepo […]

Toro Crater Lakes – Die Toro Kraterseen

Starting north of Fort Portal, a concentration of crater lakes runs down south alongside the western border of Kibale National Park with its groups of habituated chimpanzees. The crater lakes south of Fort Portal sprawl over a large region with a lush, hilly countryside and a patchwork of cultivated areas and remnants of swamps as […]

Semliki Valley

Ten kilometres north of Fort Portal, there is an abyss. Somewhere beyond the trading centre of Harugongo, the highland comes to a sudden end, disappearing at a spectacular slope down to Semliki valley a 1.000 m below. The Semliki river is coming from the DR Congo and flowing into Lake Albert, marking the border between […]

Kilembe & Buwatha, Rwenzori mountains / Ruwenzori-Berge

Near Kasese along the main road to Fort Portal at the northern tip of the Rwenzori mountains, a road goes up to the mountains for about 8 km until it reaches Kilembe. The small settlement has been founded in 1950 as accommodation for the workers of the local copper mine. Most of Kilembe residents earned […]