Current Time in Antsirabe, Madagascar

Antsirabe sits high in the central highlands of Madagascar, roughly a hundred and seventy kilometres south of the capital Antananarivo, at an altitude of about fifteen hundred metres. The name means the place of much salt, a reference to the mineral springs that bubble up from the volcanic ground beneath the town. Around a quarter of a million people live here, making it one of the largest cities on the island and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region.

The setting is striking: extinct volcanoes and crater lakes ring the town, terraced rice fields fill the valleys, and the air is noticeably cool, with nights that can approach freezing in the southern winter. That climate is exactly why the town exists in its modern form. Norwegian Lutheran missionaries founded a station here in 1872 as a place where Europeans could escape the heat and malaria of the coast, and the French colonial administration later developed it as a spa resort, building the grand thermal baths and the long, straight avenues lined with jacaranda and colonial villas that still give Antsirabe its faintly nostalgic character.

The city is above all famous for its rickshaws. Thousands of hand-pulled pousse-pousse and pedal-powered cyclo-pousse, painted in bright colours and often named by their drivers, move people and goods through the wide streets, and they have become the emblem of the town. Bargaining for a ride and being pulled past the pastel facades of the old quarter is the classic Antsirabe experience.

Antsirabe is also Madagascar's most industrial provincial city. A large brewery producing the country's best known beer, textile mills, a dairy, tobacco processing and a soft drinks plant provide employment, while the surrounding region supplies rice, potatoes, carrots, beans, apples and milk to the whole island. Craft workshops are a major draw for visitors: gemstone cutting and polishing, since the region is rich in tourmaline, quartz and other semi-precious stones, carving in zebu horn, embroidery, and the famous miniature bicycles, cars and rickshaws assembled from recycled tin cans.

Just outside the town lie two beautiful crater lakes, Andraikiba, wide and calm, and Tritriva, a deep green pool held in a steep volcanic rim and surrounded by local legends. The Betafo area, the Ibity massif and hot springs are all within easy reach.

The main national highway connects Antsirabe to Antananarivo in around three to four hours and continues south towards Fianarantsoa, and the old railway line still runs through the town. Schools, technical institutes and university faculties serve a young population, and Merina and Betsileo traditions mix in the markets and music of the city.

Cool, green, unusually orderly and full of craftsmanship, Antsirabe is one of the most enjoyable stops on any journey through Madagascar.