Half day tour with lunch in a villagers home

45 minutes of drive from Fianarantsoa to Sahambavy and the same to come back

01 hour of easy walk through the plantation

Departure from Fianarantsoa at 8am to reach the village of Sahambavy. Our destination for this morning is the Sahambavy tea plantation, the only tea plantation in Madagascar.

Mrs Fideline will welcome us and guide us through the different machines used during the different stages of tea processing. After having witnessed the journey of the tea from the fresh leaves until the tea bags ready for packaging and export, we will taste the different qualities of tea. Then we will head out among the tea gatherers doing their work and walk through the huge plantation decorated by a beautiful landscape. The history of this plantation began in 1969 with the arrival of the French Institute of Coffee and Cocoa. They started a scientific research project into the different qualities of tea that can be grown in Madagascar. In 1970, the European Development Fund financed the extension of the plantation, which became a state-owned enterprise in 1973 during the socialist period, under the name SOTEMAD (Société Théicole de Madagascar). In 1996, the plantation returned to the private sector: Mauritian investors bought 2/3 of the capital. Currently, the name of the plantation is SIDEXAM Sahambavy.
The Sahambavy tea plantation is the only tea plantation in Madagascar, so there is no competition yet. For years to come, the plantation is working on both the development of green tea, known for its health benefits and currently in great demand in Western markets, and a project of growing organic tea.

Lunch at the village for a typical Malagasy meal, then return to Fianarantsoa after lunch.

No details found.

No details found.