Avenue of the Baobabs — Madagascar's most iconic road at sunrise
Morondava is the gateway to the Avenue of the Baobabs, a dirt road flanked by towering Grandidier's baobabs up to 30 metres tall and 800 years old — one of the most photographed natural scenes in Africa. The town sits on the Mozambique Channel coast in the Menabe region, home to the Sakalava people, and is the base for exploring the Kirindy dry forest, where ring-tailed lemurs and fossas (Madagascar's top predator) are seen in the wild.
Morondava developed as a trading post under the Sakalava Kingdom, which dominated western Madagascar from the 17th to 19th centuries. The baobabs lining the ancient road between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina are centuries-old remnants of a forest cleared long ago for agriculture — the Sakalava consider them sacred and never cut them. French colonial rule from 1896 brought the current town layout; the region became part of the independent Malagasy Republic in 1960.