Brickaville
Brickaville, officially named Ampasimanolotra, although everyone refers to its old name of Brickavilla, is located on the RN2 route between Antananarivo (225km from) and Tamatave (134km). The town name originates from Mr Charles Bricka, the once Director of Public Works Department during the French colonial times.
Brickaville is an agricultural centre with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Even mangosteen, an unusual and exotic friut, is available here. The area around Brickaville once included cocoa plantations and the town is the site of the first chocolate factory in Madagascar, namely Chocolaterie Robert. As cocoa plantations eventually moved to the Ambanja region in the northwest of the country, the cocoa were replaced with sugar cane fields. There is a traintrack from Antananarivo to Tamatave via Brickaville.