Southern realms : Itampolo, unblurred paradise

The village makes, together with Anakao (an hour long sail away from Toliara), Lavanony or also Cap Sainte Marie, a string of fishing villages covering the whole southern coastal line, which also hosts the third largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the silver medalist in Florida. For having largely been kept clear from tourists, a small chunk paradise has naturally been remaining unblurred: white sandy beaches bordering an emerald green sea. Life there still develops the way it used to in the past times. At sunrise, the fleet of Vezo fishermen’s canoes set sail as per usual to collect fish. Alternatively, it is now possible to visit the caves in which lemurs used to seek sanctuary or trek towards the Mahafaly plateau where the souls of ancestors slumber beneath the local totems called Aloalo, erected ages ago to revere them. The luckies ones may eventually catch a glimpse of local tortoises (only a glimpse though – protected species) which settled there. Adventure and fishing lovers may rely on two accordingly suitable bases of operation, namely a hotel providing with camping cars in the stead of bungalows, and a rest house with three bedrooms and four standard bungalows. Smiles and local warmth complete the welcoming canvas which make the visit worth the turn