Canal des Pangalanes Getting there & around

Getting there & away

You can travel along the canal in either direction by boat, by taxi-brousse along a parallel inland road or by cargo train. For all travel on the canal, allow plenty of time, and be prepared to spend time on boats without any amenities at all – not even seats!

To find a boat heading down the canal from Toamasina, ask around at the gare fluviale about 2.5km from the centre of town. There are no fixed sailing schedules, so you may have to wait a while. To continue down the canal each day, you will need to keep asking about onward public boats or pirogues, which can be chartered. Allow three to four days between Toamasina and Ambila-Lemaitso, travelling by pirogue and staying in villages en route. If you take public boats all the way, reckon on about Ar50, 000 per person, not including accommodation, for the whole trip.

If you are coming from Antananarivo, the usual places to start a tour of the canal are Manombato, a tiny village on the shores of Lac Rasobe, or Ambila-Lemaitso, where there are several hotels.

Watch out for the green barge called Imitso, which runs between Toamasina and Vatomandry, carrying merchandise and a few passengers (the fare is Ar2500 from Ankanin’ny Nofy to Toamasina).

La Compagnie du Canal (53 351 48; compagnieducanal@wanadoo.mg; Rue Maitre Nativel; 6-7am & 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, to noon Sun) runs daily boat services to Manambato (€50) via Ankanin’ny Nofy (€35); there are discounted rates for groups of five or more.