#50 - Turn around point

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Manakara 28 Jun - 1 July 2008

Quitting Fiana in search of sand and sunshine, we took the train down to Manakara, on Madagascars South-Eastern coast. The train ride was a real adventure. It took the best part of a day to chug down a couple of hundred kilometres, stopping at least a dozen times in quaint little jungle villages to pick up and drop off supplies and people. The scenery was spectacular, as we decended through a mountain range and through lush tropical jungle, but the stops were the real highlight of the trip. Each village offered a different range of snacks to try, and the ladies and kids would come straight up the the windows to sell their stuff from a basket they carried on their heads. We tried barbecued shellfish and smoked whole fish, potent sausage rolls and all kinds of little pastries and cakes wrapped in banana leaves, not to mention beautiful fresh fruit and nuts.

When the train arrived we found a cute little guesthouse run by the local French consulate, and found a great meal at La Capitane, a bistro run by an old French expat with a knack for farfetched stories. The next day we managed to borrow a scooter and took a sandy track along the coast for a bit of exploring, then organised an overnight canoe trip along the old canals to a fishing village, where we slept with our guide and his rowing buddies in a shack on the beach.

Dreaming of an adventure like ours? Find out how we did it at JulieAndDariansWorldTourGuide.com

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Photos

Interesting local dish
These tiny fish are called 'Choucoun' or something like that. It has a sweet fishy flavour and went down great with rice and a beer.