After leaving the paradise of Sainte Marie, and on our way back to Antananarivo, we were looking for some nice waypoint along the coast to break down the long journey. We ended up in Foulpointe (officially Mahavelona), a lovely beach town halfway between Sainte Marie and Toamasina, and settled there for four days near the end of our three-month trip around Madagascar.
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We were lucky to find a direct bus from Sonierana Ivongo to Foulpointe—in most cases, you’d have to change a taxi brousse in Fenoarivo—and we made it before noon. Following a short walk from the main road, we reached our accommodation at the town’s northern beach.
We stayed in a lodge called Cat Pat, I presumed because the names of the French pensioner couple that owned it were Patrick and Catherine. They were quite a rarity among the usual, French-retiree-and-young-local-mistress couples who commonly maintain lodges in these parts. Their beachfront property was neat, homely, and economical. I totally recommend it. What I wouldn’t recommend is Ixora Hotel next door. We visited it for dinner on our first night, were forced to pay double the menu prices by the not-too-kind staff, and never set foot there again. You can explore more accommodation options on the handy map below.
The north beach of Foulpointe was the quiet one compared to the south beach. There were but a handful of simple hotels and scattered hovels bordering its great length; only sparse fishermen and pirogues on the sand. Toward the beach’s far end, lay what I first took for a shipwreck but closer inspection revealed was a working ferry pulled out on logs for repairs; a pretty picturesque addition to the scenery. The sea was opaque due to the almost constant rain, but still ok to swim. The sand was littered with stormwater debris, but fine enough for my daily runs as long as I meandered and jumped past the runoff branches.
The sun shone for a substantial amount of hours on our second day in Foulpointe, and we went out to explore. Last night’s cataclysmic storm had turned the whole town into a swamp. We waded through a maze of flooded backstreets, past numerous churches and across wide sports pitches, and arrived at the south beach.
I wasn’t expecting such a sharp contrast between this beach and the other one just around the sand cape. For as far as we could see, the beachfront was jammed with posh resorts and private estates, interspersed by arrays of makeshift restaurants with ladies peskily pitching overpriced lobsters. The strand featured an endless row of pallet deckchairs and awnings. Aspiring tour guides and knickknack peddlers crowded the whole place and pestered large groups of Asian tourists. The sea here was much cleaner, probably because most waterways ran south.
We returned home via the main road. It brimmed with local restaurants, bars, and convivial folks. After yesterday’s ripoff at Ixora Hotel, we’d be getting back to the main road every evening for some decent, reasonably priced food.
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Photos from Foulpointe
View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Foulpointe.
Accommodation and Activities in Madagascar
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