Antsirabe sits at about fifteen hundred metres in the central highlands of Madagascar, and the altitude gives it a cool, dry climate that surprises visitors who expect the island to be tropical. Nights can be chilly, even in the dry season, and the town feels a long way from the heat of the coast. The Norwegian missionaries who founded it in 1856 chose the site for its healthy air and its hot springs, and the name, which means the place of much salt, refers to the mineral waters that bubble from the ground.
The town is known for its pousse-pousse, the colourful rickshaws that are pulled by runners through the broad avenues, and they are as much a part of Antsirabe's character as the old colonial buildings. The Hotel des Thermes, an Art Deco hotel built in the 1930s, stands at the end of the main avenue, and the railway station, a relic of the French era, is a handsome building. Crafts are a local speciality, including embroidery, horn carving and miniature models of vehicles made from recycled tin cans. The Three Horses Beer, known as THB, is brewed here and drunk across the island.
Around Antsirabe, the countryside is green and carefully farmed, with terraced rice fields stepping up the hillsides, and zebu carts creaking along the lanes. Crater lakes, including Tritriva, a deep, dark lake in an old volcano, lie within a short ride, and the volcanic hills give a landscape of conical peaks and forest patches. The RN7, the main road from the capital to the southwest, passes through town and is a lifeline for the country, so it is crowded with lorries, buses and taxi-brousses.
Antsirabe has about 186,000 people, and fuel, food and rooms are easy to find. The road north to Antananarivo, about 170 kilometres, is fairly busy and has potholes, and the road south toward Fianarantsoa climbs through tight bends and hills. Riding in Madagascar requires attention: pedestrians, zebu, bicycles and stray dogs are everywhere, and driving after dark is not recommended. Carry water, rain gear and some cash in ariary. The best season for riding is from May to October, when the weather is dry, and the days are sunny and the nights cool.