Tulear

Tulear, also known as Toliara or Toliary, is a port and coastal town on the south west coast of Madagascar. There are over 100,000 inhabitants from various and mixed tribal origins, such as Vezo, Masikoro, Mahafaly, Antandroy and Karana.

Tulear's colonial style buildings, grand lanes and many multi-coloured rickshaws leaves a lasting impression on its visitors. Since locals prefer rickshaw transport, there aren't many motorised taxis and less number of cars in comparison to other cities of similar size, which makes Tulear a particularly pleasant city location, worth staying for a few days.

While Tulear itself is missing a perfect beach, Playa de la Batterie (close to the light tower), located approximately 4-kilometre walk north of town across some salt-production fields, may be worth visiting if not only for its large and beautiful sand dunes.

Other nearby attractions suitable for day-excursions include the botanical park of l'Arboretum d'Antsokay (or Antsokay Arboretum) 12km south east of Tulear and the Reniala Nature Reserve - a 45 hectare nature reserve 27km north of Tulear.

The perfect beaches can be found either further north of Tulear, at Ifaty, Madiorano, Salary and Andavadoaka, or to the south, at St. Augustin Bay, Sarodrano, Beheloka, Itampalo and Anakao. For tourists, Tulear is usually a gateway to one of these destinations.

Tulear is the final city along RN7 (National Road 7), which is a tarred road in very good condition starting in Antananarivo. Drivers choosing this route will many of Madagascar's attractions, such as Fianaratsoa, Isalo National Park and the sapphire boomtown Ilakaka.

A local airport connects Tulear with Antananarivo, Morondava and Fort Dauphin with daily scheduled Air Madagascar flights.