The Land of Mahafaly
The land of Mahafaly, geographically bounded by the Onilahy River to the north and the Menarandra River to the south, actually begins at the RN 7 level: Most of the charcoal and farming villages south of the table mountain are inhabited by Tanalana migrants (population of the coastal plain of Mahafaly).
From the eastern crystalline peninsula to the huge limestone plateau that slopes westward into the coastal plain, the Mahafaly agricultural herders, constantly in search of new pastures, practice a transhumance that showcases their legendary cohesion.
Does Mahafaly not literally mean “you who make us happy”?
Until the end of the 19th century, the Mahafaly Kingdoms were respected by their neighbors Antandroy, Antanosy (de Bezaha), Bara, and Masikoro, who did not spare foreign traders, plundered shipwrecks on their coasts, and regularly raided trading posts.
If this region of the Great Subarid South remained mysterious and unexplored for a long time, it is now famous for the talent of its woodcarvers, the originality of its fauna and flora, and its wealth of minerals (fossils, gemstones, and precious stones).
From ANDRANOVORY to BETIOKY
Andranovory (70 km from Toliara), this city marks the intersection.
Discover our market located near the RN 7 and RN 10. We sell roasted locusts by the kilo, a solution to protect the region’s crops from these insects.
The Tropic of Capricorn
The RN 10 crosses the Tropic of Capricorn about 45 km south of Andranovory. It’s a chance to remember this imaginary line, 23° from the equator, marking the southern boundary of the transition from the sun to the zenith.
Bezaha
The ancient rice farmers of Taolañaro (Fort Dauphin), located in this village 59 km southeast of Andranovory via Inanavy and 22 km east. From Tongobory, inhabitants benefited from an ancient hydro-agricultural development.
Warm (55°C) and sulfuric water, evidence of active volcanism, deafening here and there. The thermal complex built by the South Africans in the 1960s on construction sites has unfortunately completely deteriorated.
Bezaha-Mahafaly Reserve
These 600 hectares of thorny forest on the left bank of the Onilahy River are home to specimens of most plant and animal species in the southern Madagascar (lemurs, radiated tortoises, and Madagascar hedgehogs, or tenrecs…).
A permit from the National Association for the Management of Protected Areas (ANGAP) is required for visiting, and it is recommended to bring a guide as the way there is complicated.
From Betioky to the Mozambique Channel
Past the trading town of Tongobory, RN 10 is lined with imposing tombs that are characteristic of the Mahafaly culture. It crosses the dry forest at the foot of small hills to reach Betioky (23 km south). This small town with its streets lined with ornamental baobabs is very lively on market days.
Under the arcades of the city center, seamstresses work on order on ancient Chinese copies of Singer sewing machines, while rubies and amethysts are traded at the stands next to the bush taxi station.
Not available in English. away from the beautiful tombs, at the entrance of the city, an art workshop offers bed wood, chests, honey boxes, and copies of ancient Aloalo (carved and painted grave posts).
The Tanalana Coastal Plain
Leaving RN 10 24 km south of Betioky to take the Itambono Corridor, it is possible to make an unforgettable hike in the deep south, provided you have a 4×4, camping equipment, and fuel reserves.
From the Vezo village Beheloka at the end of the road, you can follow the coastline to Soalara and Anakao 62 km. Head north or venture south for the great adventure to Androka.
The route is challenging, rolling its sandy ribbon between an emerald green sea lined with lagoons and the fantastic bush vegetation: Fantsiholitra, huge thorn trees of unreal green, whose trunks resemble monkey arms, Rondroho or sausage trees, tamarind and cactus fig trees or Riketa.
Tsimanampetsotsa Integral Nature Reserve (30 km southeast of Beheloka)
It is organized around the salt lake of Tsimanampetsotsa, a huge milky-white groundwater table lined with petrified trees, where hundreds of flamingos, plovers, and other wading birds move around.
The lake is also home to the famous Typhleotris, an extremely rare species. Blindfisches. This 43,000 ha reserve is not always accessible, it is better to inquire with ANGAP.
Sakoa Coal
From Ambatry (16 km south of Betioky), a road leads 62 km east to the former mining center Ankinany. In the 1940s, there were plans to industrialize the entire south with Sakoa Coal.
Even a railway was installed in the Itambono Corridor to transport the ore to the port of Soalara in the Anantsoño Bay, as evidenced by the abandoned rails and wagons in the bush.
This Low-grade, sulfur-bearing ore was occasionally used for feeding the slaughterhouses of La Rochefortaise in Toliara until the 1970s.
Androka (81 km west of Ampanihy), when camping near this Vezo village at the mouth of the Linta River, you can enjoy the beautiful beaches of Ampalaza Bay, explore coral reefs, and embark with fishermen to Nosy Manitse.
From Androka, a fork in the road leads to the RN 10 at Ampanihy, and at the bend of the Linta River, you can discover the royal tombs built along the riverbank (Betioky – Ampanihy: approx. 280 km).
Beahitse (52 km from Betioky) On the RN10 highway, south of Betioky, impressive graves adorned with Aloalos can be found along the main road. Passing through Beahitse, the only large village between Betioky and Ejeda, cacti and baobab trees give way to sisal fields and prickly pear hedges.
Ejeda
At the entrance to this bustling town, located 84 km south of Betioky, a stone bridge spans the Linta River, which transforms from a trickle in the dry season to a raging torrent in the rainy season.
Herds of zebus come here to drink, while washerwomen spread colorful Lambahoany in the sun. According to some, Ejeda got its name from a formidable adjutant or French Ejeda from the colonial era.
Goldmine
The path that opens on the right side of RN 10, 5 km south of Ejeda, before Beholiva, leads to Placers (ponds lined with earth dams, ditches, and straw huts) where gold miners are active.
Ruby Mines
To visit the ruby mines, it is advisable to contact the Fokontany (local administration) and hoteliers of Ejeda and take a good guide with you, as the route is quite complicated: Follow the path that leads northeast of Ejeda to Gogogogo, then turn off to Vohitany, the regional penitentiary center.
Mountains of sand and gray stones mark the imposing. Excavation, from which muffled blows of crowbars and chisels can be heard from afar and from a great distance.
In the valleys that separate Ejeda from Ampanihy (50 km), the landscape gradually becomes more humanized: in addition to pastures, there are valleys (fenced fields) with thorn trees, some rice fields, and magnificent mango trees.
Ampanihy
With its administrations, numerous shops, hospital, and high school, this city is the capital of the Mahafaly region, but it is particularly proud of its amazing Saturday morning market.
Agropastoralists come about a hundred kilometers in their ox carts to gather in the main square 
seller of crushed rice, cassava, corn, sugarcane, poultry, vegetables and vegetable plants, fish, shells, knives, reeds for weaving, sorrel (lichen used for dyeing), carved wooden or plastic objects, clothes, hats… for sale.
In addition to the exotic products, it is necessary to insist, along with François Sabelli (Les Marchés ruraux d’Afrique noire, Universalia 1985), on this vocation of a “peripheral market, where economic negotiations are only the apparent aspect of a political relationship, in which the prestige of one is opposed to the calculation of the other”.
Ampanihy is also a Mining Center. Prospectors come to offer tourmalines and garnets to travelers, while the company Delorme, located on the outskirts of the city, sends fine stones to the capital, which, once cut, become solitaire pieces and decorative balls.
After Ampanihy, the relief becomes more hilly and the route more difficult.
In the bush, stretching as far as the eye can see, distances seem to grow larger.
Only the graves rising on both sides of the road, and in the distance a baobab tree with a large trunk, break the unity of the landscape.
Mohair Carpets
Due to the increasing shortage of Angora goats and especially due to serious management mistakes. Founded in the late 1940s, the Mohair House of Ampanihy quickly became a cooperative and closed its doors in the early 1980s.
However, the weavers, who are either independent or work for a commercial network, still produce magnificent mohair carpets with 20,000 stitches, in brown and/or white, featuring Aloalo, Mahafaly, or Antandroy cross patterns.
The carpets, measuring over 20 square meters, are named after one of the first large buses that served Ampanihy, called Buses.
Passage of the Menarandra River
41 Located 41 km south of Ampanihy, the route crosses the Menarandra River, whose wide bed separates the Mahafaly land from Androy. Herders bring their zebus there to bathe, under the watch of the two monumental tombs adorned with frescoes, wooden panels, and Bukranes, located on the hill above the left bank.
Tranoroa (41 km east of Ampanihy), this large village lost in the bush with only one grocery store is the center of graphite mining operated by South African companies.
Mahafaly Tombs
Like the Antandroids, the Mahafaly built huge individual tombs following the model of royal tombs, often exceeding 200 m² in size.
Bucranes and Aloalo (carved and painted wooden posts) adorn their tops, and naively painted geometric motifs or scenes from the daily lives of the deceased sometimes run along the masonry walls.
The construction of these memorial tombs and the ceremonies preceding the burial can last several months and be associated with very costly zebu sacrifices. The Mahafaly are quite tolerant of the presence of strangers at these ceremonies.
