Making the most of Taolagnaro Fort Dauphin
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Madagascar’s oldest town, Fort Dauphin is called Taolagnaro in Malagasy and is popular for Berenty Reserve and Spiny Forest excursions.
Most ships anchor off Fort Dauphin and take guests ashore in ship’s tenders. Town is a short uphill walk away.
Taxis and taxi-brousse, small trucks with benches on their open truck beds, are normally available at the pier.
The province of the same name lies in the south-east of this enormous island. France founded its first colony here in the 17th century, naming it for the Dauphin later crowned Louis XIV of France. Built on a small peninsula, the town has beaches on three sides and high green mountains behind. It is drier and much less rainy than the rest of Madagascar, but fierce gales occur around mid-year. With only about 20,000 inhabitants, its beaches and interesting surrounding trips draw many visitors annually…
Nearby places
Several miles west of Fort Dauphin, the Spiny Forest begins, another distinctive regional feature where cactus-like didierea and unique baobab trees grow.
Berenty Reserve, the area’s main attraction, is some 57 miles from Fort Dauphin. This enormous self-contained complex has bungalow accommodation, acres of sisal plantations and tropical forest supporting a lemur colony.
Food and shopping
Fort Dauphin’s lively market offers plenty of local colour, selling everything from fish and produce to French baguettes and live animals.
Money
The ariary is the monetary unit, predating French rule; Malagasy franc notes also displayed their ariary value (50000 francs = iray alina ariary = one million ariary). One ariary is worth about half a U.S. cent.
Staying connected
Remarkably, the whole island speaks Malagasy, an Austronesian language pronounced 'Malagash' or even 'Malgash', rather than as its spelling suggests. This vast island has many dialects. Merina, spoken around Antananarivo’s highlands, is the island’s "Official Malagasy", and most Madagascans speak it across the island.
Madagascar’s second official language is French, used daily by government and large corporations, though 75-85% of Malagasies have only limited proficiency. Madagascans expect foreigners to be French speakers and use several phrases; they welcome and encourage foreigners who try to learn and speak Malagasy.
English is the third official language, though very few people use it. It became official in 2007.