Antsalaka

Antsalaka is a town and commune part of the Antsiranana district in north Madagascar. The population is approximately 10,000 people including the surrounding villages. Early immigrants are of Creole heritage as apparent by some of the houses in the town centre.

The area is rich in farming rice, maize, pepper, carrot, sweet potato, haricot, tomato, pineapple, banana, guava, papaya, mango, orange, mandarin, lychee etc.

The single most farmed crop is khat, an illegal class-C drug, which is widely traded and accepted by the authorities. Much of Madagascar's khat is cultivated in and around Antsalaka and every day there is a khat market in the town.

Antsalaka is located about 70km from Diego Suarez and can easily be reached by taxi-brousse from there or from Ambilobe for example. Step off at the crossing with the Montagne d'Ambre National Park sign and walk from there or wait for the local but sometimes overcrowded taxi-brousse to take you the remaining 7km. Alternatively, ask any of the snack stall vendors at the crossing to call you one of the only three existing tuk-tuks in town to come and pick you up.