Antalaha

Antalaha, pronounced Antala, is a coastal town located on the north east coast of Madagascar. Antalaha is known for being the capital of vanilla,A long and beautiful beach often with huge waves is part of the scenery. The area is regularly affected by heavy cyclones. In 2004 and in 2007 virtually all its vanilla crops and much of the town was destroyed, but this is a town which always seems to know how to rebuild itself. Antalaha can be reached by land, sea or air. The quickest and maybe most comfortable way of transport is by plane. Antalaha has an airport about ten kilometres out of town which is not served by Air Madagascar but which can be accessed by private air charters. A tarred road in good condition connects Antalaha with Sambava in the north. The 80 kilometres drive by taxi-brousse from Sambava takes about 1½ hours. Other available and more adventurous routes are a 3-5 days hike across the Masoala peninsula starting from Maroantsetra or via Cap Est. Sometimes it is possible to get a lift on a cargo boat on the way to/from Maroantsetra, Sainte Marie or Toamasina (Tamatave).The city is served by a civilian airport ( Antsirabato Airport , IATA airport code : ANM) and is home to a seaport .Route nationale 5a (RN 5a) connects it to Ambilobe.