The East coast and Indian Ocean

The East Coast has a lush vegetation, inside which mingle tropical forest, “ravinala” or traveller’s tree, palm trees and banana trees. From the North to the South of Madagascar, between the Highlands and the Indian Ocean, the East Coast depicts a great diversity. Low rugged hills and dense forests line the littoral, while fishing villages decorate the coast, some places being real gardens of Eden like Sainte Marie Island (Nosy Boraha). Inland is a swamp realm, bordered with lagoons and dotted with channels (like the Pangalanes channel), which turns into a forest realm (Andasibe-Mantadia National Park) when going a little further more into the heart of these lands. Greatly rain-soaked by trade-winds, the best season to visit this part of Madagascar is in October/November, or April/May.