After a few days in Toamasina, it was time we ventured north along Madagascar’s paradisal western coast. Before heading to Sainte Marie Island, we decided to first spend some time in the village of Mahambo.
The taxi brousse to Mahambo departed from a point by the eastern end of the bus companies along Boulevard d’Andevorando. We could have shown up at any time and boarded the first bus, but since we lived around the corner in Beryl Hotel, we popped by the previous day and reserved our tickets for 9 am this morning.
The trip cost 15,000 ariary per person. We got crammed inside the poky vehicle like parcels and hit the road. The distance from Toamasina to Mahambo is only 87 km, but it took two hours to just escape the city and then the road was as if shelled by artillery. Also accounting for a half-hour breakdown in the middle of a shadeless field, we finally arrived at 1 pm. We got off at the junction to Mahambo and walked for some 20 minutes to Onja Surf Camp near the beach where we settled for some time.
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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