Travel Guide Tamatave – Toamasina

Toamasina, often referred to as Tamatave, is Madagascar's largest port and the country's2nd largest urban agglomeration (around 450,000 inhabitants). Cloves, coffee and vanilla leave here on cargo ships from all over the world. In November, it's "lychee fever": for a fortnight, the city is in turmoil. Small hands from all over the country rush to harvest the fruit. The fruit is quickly exported (no more than 24 days later), to the delight of Europeans. If you're visiting the Grande Île at this time of year, be sure to pay a visit. An economic, administrative and university center, it's a cosmopolitan city where merchants from all regions of Madagascar have settled. And it's easy to understand, as you pass many Oriental eyes in the streets, that the city is also home to one of the largest Chinese communities on the Grande Île. At the end of the day, the muezzin's call to prayer is a strong sign of the presence of Islam. The former Tamatave is thus a cultural crossroads. It is not, however, a very touristy town. More people pass through than stay...Toamasina is built along the same lines as many of the island's other towns, with a systematic grid pattern of houses sheltered behind flamboyant trees along wide avenues. It's all very pleasant... at least when the weather's fine! When it rains (which is often), the waterlogged streets exude a powerful melancholy.