Tourism: the atypical sightseeing tour of two Lyonnais

During three months and a couple of days, Sébastien and Julie, two tourists from the city of Lyon, have travelled through the distance of 2500km across Madagascar. They did the kind of trip that many if not most of the Malagasy could not achieve in their whole lives. Sébastien and Julie started their tour of the Great Island in October 2011.

The island of Madagascar has sparked in them the desire to make the trip, added to that the fact that they have been told by an acquaintance working for the NGO “Enfant du Soleil” about the special beauty of the country. Obviously, the Malagasy tourism can also work through word-of-mouth.

The journey of Sébastien and Julie began in Antananarivo. Then, they set off to explore other parts of the country, including Toamasina, Sainte-Marie, Maroantsetra, Antalaha, Sambava, Antsiranana, Mahajanga. They did not forget to pass through the inevitable park of Andasibe and Masoala for which they really fell in love. And after a little detour through the capital, they set off again towards the south, including Antsirabe, Miandrivazo, Morondava, Morombe, Toliara and Tolagnaro.

Performing a true journey into the heart of the island, the two Lyonnais chose to travel with the means at hand, that is to say, by taxi-brousse, by boat, by canoe and even by ox cart in some cases.
In short, an unusual sightseeing tour and a little bit out of the “conventional” tourism, such are the expressions that best describe the journey of Sébastien and Julia in the Great Island.
What they remember is that the country is rich in diversity, both for its fauna and flora, for its people and religions. They country has at its disposal a multitude of potentials that are just waiting to be exploited.