Morondava

Morondava is a town and capital of the Menabe region in south west Madagascar. Once the centre of the Sakalava Kingdom and a popular stop-over for sailors, it is nowadays rich in rice and sugar cane farming. As the population has grown in the area the forests have also been gradually cut down, except the baobab trees which the locals has preserved for religious reasons. However, deforestation continues in large areas of the region including some of the remaining baobabs to make way for sugar cane plantations.

Morondava can be reached by a 700km drive from Antanarivo but since road conditions in the latter part between Miandrivazo and Malaimbandy are especially poor, such journey can take between 10 and 20 hours. Morondava has a domestic airport and is best reached by plane, with daily flights by Air Madagascar connecting with Antanarivo and Tulear.

Nearby attractions include Tsingy de Bemaraha (150 km north), Kirindy Forest (40km northeast) and the Baobab Avenue (15km east).