Antananarivo (Madagascar): best place to stay)

[TheHunter]

Hi, I have read much time ago Place de Indipendence is the best place to meet people in Antananarivo. Is it true? I'm looking for Place de Indipendence on Google Map but I don't see it. Where it is precisely? Is there a hotel in Place de Indipendence? Do you have a map where I can see where it is? Thanks

[gzz]

I think they meant Avenue de L'Independance. Near the Glacier and the train station. It's the most central location in Tana. Definitely a good place to stay, but Tana is huge.

[TheHunter]

I think they meant Avenue de L'Independance. Near the Glacier and the train station. It's the most central location in Tana. Definitely a good place to stay, but Tana is huge.

I thank you a lot for your info. I never went to Tana, I will go there alone. Can you tell me how much is dangerous to walk alone in the day and in the night? Can I walk in every place in Tana or only in the center? Is it danderous to walk with my videocamera in the day? Thanks for your precious info.

[gzz]

I have no idea how dangerous it is. I grew up in Europe, so the concept of dangerous places is something foreign to me. Locals kept telling me that everywhere was dangerous. That was a bit of a paradox because everybody is dirt poor, so I don't know what you can steal.

On my first day I went on a walk with a huge black dslr camera on my neck. Nothing happened, but when I showed pictures to some people their reactions were like "you went there and they didn't rob you?" It could be my beginners luck. When I traveled in a bus around the island people told me stories about armed bands that stop buses and rob everyone. The army still can't clear them from some parts of the country.

All that being said, I felt really safe there. I had the feeling that if something bad happened to me, somebody would help me. The Malagasy people seem genuinely nice to others. The only problem I had was that I got traveler's diarrhea twice. Once I was so sick that I had to stay in hotel for the whole day, and the second time I couldn't reach the toilet on time. It was good I had spare pants. Btw, pack as light as you can. I went there with a mid-sized backpack weighting maybe around 7kg and I highly recommend that everybody does the same. Take a flashlight. Outside Tana they switch off power plants in the night for some reason (save diesel?). Yep, you read that right. Tana is dark in the night too.