It was time to leave Ranomafana behind and continue south. First stop today was Fianarantsoa – about 65 km away. We arrived there around midday.

Fianarantsoa is Madagascar’s fifth largest city with around 190,000 inhabitants. It is also an important cultural and religious centre, serving as the seat of a Catholic archdiocese and home to some of the island’s oldest Protestant and Lutheran churches.

We spent a good hour exploring the old town, following Rue de Rova and taking in some of the churches along the way. We then continued towards the top of Ivoneana, which offered some good views across the town – a nice opportunity to get a different perspective on this city with its many churches. Eventually, we left the old town behind and continued towards the Anja Community Reserve – another 65 km away.