After four days in Andasibe, our next destination was the city of Toamasina. We figured out on the spot that no direct buses are running between Andasibe and Toamasina, and we’d normally have to travel to Moramanga, an hour’s trip the opposite way, to catch a bus from there.
To avoid this, we asked for help from our host at Hotel Vohitsara in Andasibe. She promptly found the number of the taxi brousse company operating the relevant routes and called them to arrange for us to be picked up along the way.
It turned out two buses were leaving Moramanga for Toamasina at 8 and 9 am, and we chose the latter to have better time in the morning. The ticket cost 25,000 ariary per person, and for them to reserve us the seats, they requested that we prepay for at least one ticket by mobile payment. Since we didn’t have any mobile operator’s payment method installed, we gave cash to our host for her to send the payment in our stead.
So we arranged for the bus to pick us up from the junction where the road to Andasibe meets the main road N2 (coordinates: -18.9502, 48.4190). We were going to leave shortly before 9 and take a tuk-tuk there, which would have cost 1-2,000 ariary. But since we found a guy who was about to drive to Antananarivo and offered us a free ride, we took it and left about an hour earlier.
We had plenty of time to kill at the junction. A couple of restaurants were on the spot but were still closed. Conveniently, there was a stall to get coffee and some bananas from for breakfast while we perched and waited on a ledge beside the road.
The bus arrived at about a quarter after 10 and had the two front seats reserved for us. It was quite a comfortable and pleasant ride despite the extreme heat. Accounting also for a lunch break in the town of Antsampanana, the trip took about 6-7 hours. With still some daylight to go, we arrived at Toamasina’s bus station and settled in the nearby Hotel Beryl for the three nights we stayed in the city.
If you’re looking for a more comfortable and fairly inexpensive trip, you may arrange a private transfer here:
Accommodation and Activities in Madagascar
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