The road to Île Sainte Marie

We reserved our seats for the bus to Tana (Antananarivo) the previous day and coordinated for a pickup from our hotel at 6 am.  When we went downstairs there was a bus from the same company, but not the one that we were told would come for us.  We understood that they would take us to the station and we agreed, but then we saw the bus that was supposed to get us pass by on our way down.  

At the station, we showed someone our ticket and waited.  We questioned if we’d done the right thing, but didn’t have many options besides wait.  An hour later, our bus pulled up almost full and with the roof rack mostly packed.  We threw our packs up and climbed in.  The road led us up to Antsirabe and then we had our lunch break.  One of the many differences in road travel in Madagascar is that for long trips they make a stop for food around lunchtime.  Everyone filed out of the bus and into the restaurant and within 30 minutes we were loaded and on the road again.

As we approached Tana, there were more buildings and people.  The traffic also picked up.  It took us at least 45 minutes to get through the line to enter the bus station.  We had assumed that we would be able to get a bus to Moramanga from there, but we were wrong.  The station that serviced the East was 9 kms (5.5 miles) away so we got a taxi that wound us through the streets to the right station.

We were offered a bus before we could get out of the taxi.  The office had 2 prices listed depending on the vehicle type.  I pushed for the cheaper one even though they wanted us on the other, which was basically empty.  We got a cheaper price than that was listed and were shown our seats.  Only 2 more people were needed to fill it and they arrived just after us.  

It was slow moving out of the city, but we worked our way east towards the rolling hills.  A combination of the rain and the curving road meant we weren’t even halfway when the sun went down.  Once it was completely dark, we came to a standstill next to a line of 18 wheelers.  At a loss for what was happening, we waited for something to give us a clue.  The driver turned off the car and spoke to the people in the road.  We passed a few of the parked trucks before finding another spot to hide from the oncoming traffic.

 

As we moved a little further along, we could see the line of vehicles working their way down the hill.  The road we were on was the only way from the port to the capital and it was filled with trucks moving cargo.  The curves were so narrow that 2 trailers couldn’t pass at the same time so the cars were waiting their turn to go up or down.  

We reached Moramanga at 8 pm, 3 hours later than planned, and after 10 hours of bus rides.  There was a hotel across the street from where we were dropped and we took advantage of the convenience.  It had a restaurant next door, which served surprisingly tender meat.  And after a long day of sitting on buses, we were ready for bed.  

We crawled in for the night and not long after I got up for one last trip to the bathroom.  When I reached for my flip flops, they were sitting in water.  Tico immediately stood up and we realized that the entire floor of our hotel room was a puddle.  He started getting things off the floor while I ran downstairs to tell the front desk.  The receptionist understood my use of “problema” and followed me.

 

The hallway floor was also wet and we could hear water gushing from the room next to ours.  He went back for the key and then ran back down again to shut off the water.  We peaked in while he was gone and saw the pipe feeding the toilet spraying water everywhere.  Once it was under control, we grabbed our things and moved into a room downstairs.  We hung up what was dripping wet and got in bed for good.  

The next morning we woke up to the rain still coming down.  We had planned to go to Andasibe to visit the national park, but changed our minds with the weather.  It took time, but we repacked our wet backpacks and put what we didn’t want to get even wetter in plastic bags.  As we left the hotel, we asked where to catch the bus to Toamasina and walked in that direction.

We found the taxi-brousse station and were directed to the correct company’s stall.  The bus was supposed to leave in an hour so we walked back to the main road to find food.  There was a hotely that had eggs scrambled with vegetables and we couldn’t believe it.  While everyone else thought it was weird, we ordered eggs and beans (and no rice) and were thrilled to find eggs.

 

We stood under an awning we while waited for our bus to arrive as it sprinkled on and off.  Once 2 of the smaller buses filled and left, ours appeared.  The bags got loaded and we waited for the signal to board.  We were given the far back seats, but were happy with a window.  The man next to us had his bottle of whiskey on hand and offered us some before taking a swig and passing it forward to his friends.

 

 

The road curved around the green-covered mountains and past the many trucks that had accidents and were half off the road.  We reached our lunch break and then turned north.  The towns we passed were sitting on top of the road as they had in other areas of the country and we zoomed through them while honking at those in the street.  We got more bathroom breaks than we had on any other trip and realized that this was likely our most comfortable journey so far in Madagascar.

 

 

The road became more populated as we entered Toamasina or Tamatave, depending on the language spoken.  I asked the man next to me how to get tickets to Île Sainte Marie and he pointed to a building as we neared the bus station while saying too many words in French that I didn’t understand.  We unloaded the bus and walked towards the city center in search of a hotel.

Our normal routine of checking various prices led us back yet again to our first hotel, but as we’d left, the man at the front desk offered us a discount.  We snatched it up and unpacked our wet things before heading back towards the bus station to check out the boats to the island.  Several of the companies that had signs posted for transfers were closed so we continued to the company that the man on the bus had pointed to.  It was also closed, but as we stood across the street writing down the phone number a cyclo-pousse stopped in front of us.  He offered to go get someone to help us.  We didn’t think it was possible, but we agreed as it would be easier than dealing with a phone call.

He returned moments later with a man in tow who had the keys to open the shop.  We sat down with him and he explained that their boat was being repaired so there was no boat the following day.  Everything after that sentence was not understood so we kindly asked if he spoke English.  He was able to get us on someone else’s boat and told us they would pick us up at 5 am the next morning.

We spent the evening walking around town and getting food that didn’t include rice before getting a few hours of sleep.  The alarm went off while the stars were still out and we sat outside the hotel waiting for our ride.  It always takes a bit of faith that they will actually show up and 30 minutes later than the agreed upon time, the shuttle pulled in.  We picked up another couple before heading to the office to finish paperwork.

The bus had seats open, which was a big change from the taxi-brousses we’d been on recently.  We tried to sleep, but found it difficult with the poor road conditions.  The road was paved, but covered in water-filled potholes.  We’d accelerate only to slam on the breaks to weave around the holes.  There were stops for the toilet as well as a breakfast break before we reached Soanierana-Ivongo, where we’d get the ferry across to the island.

 

A man approached the bus and gave us instructions of what to do before boarding the ferry.  One of us was to stay with the luggage while the other took our passports to the police and gendarmerie.  Tico watched our things while I went in the gendarmerie first as the other people on our bus went to the police.  A woman wrote down details from our passports and asked a few questions and then sent me on my way.  When I returned to the police booth, it was closed.  A French woman in our group asked if I went and I said no.  She communicated this to the ferry man and he said it didn’t matter, which only confirmed our feelings that it was a useless task.

We waited for the ferry to be loaded and then took our seats when our names were called.  Life jackets were provided to everyone and buckets lined the aisle in the event of someone getting seasick.  The boat pulled out of the bay and had to cut across the incoming waves.  The difference from our last experience with this was that we had a motor pushing us through.  This also meant that he could kill the motor and wait for a wave to break before moving on.  It was a smooth process and we were in the ocean in no time. 

 

The first half of the ride was uneventful, but then someone gasped and pointed in the distance.  A humpback whale had breached and the splash was still returning to the water.  The rest of the trip was spent watching for whales and we managed to see quite a few of them.  Some were closer than others and some only came up for air, but several jumped and did flips as if they were putting on a show for us.  We knew that we wanted to do a whale watching trip while on the island, but this was bonus.

 

When the boat arrived, there were people waiting to offer their hotels, restaurants and trips.  We ended up with cards from countless people and accepted a ride from a local man that had a hotel.  It was in front of the beach and while not the fanciest place, it would let us listen to the waves throughout the night.

It took us 3 days to make it to the Île Sainte Marie and by the end of those days we were ready to make ourselves at home.  As always, the journey was eventful and let us see different parts of the country, but it was also more exhausting than other trips.  More than anything, we were ready to enjoy being on an island and hopefully get to see whales upclose and if we got very lucky, while diving.

 

 

Helpful tips:

• There are several companies that will transport you to Sainte Marie.  In our experience, they all had the same price except El Condor as it spends more time on the water compared to the others.  We used Cap Sainte Marie and were happy with their logistics even though we didn’t use their boat.
• This trip is long and if you have the ability to fly, it’s worth it.  They told us the roads a re bad in the country and it wasn’t an overstatement.