How to get to Vohémar’s Green Lake on your own?
Alongside my long travel stories, which I invite you to check out, I'm going to put together a few purely practical articles to help you out if you decide, like me, to explore northern Madagascar on your own.
Today, I'll show you exactly how to get to Vohémar's Green Lake by yourself, using GPS coordinates. I went there on a little city motorcycle with smooth road tires, and it's perfectly doable. By car, I reckon it would be a bit more complicated. On foot, it would make for a fantastic walk. Click on the underlined text to access the GPS coordinates on Google Maps.
As I explained in this article, I parked my motorcycle a little before reaching the lake because there's a very sandy stretch near the end that I didn't want to risk tackling, as it was already getting late. I couldn't afford to get stuck in the sand with nightfall approaching.
Starting from Le Square de Vohémar hotel, head back onto the town's main road, which is most likely the road you arrived on. Cross the sort of causeway on National Road 59A and keep going until you reach Beanjara Vohemar Pharmacy. By the way, this pharmacy came in pretty handy for me because, during my nighttime bar-hopping adventure in Ambilobe two days earlier, I'd decided to ride my motorcycle wearing shorts, even though I normally always wear jeans. Instant punishment: I burned my calf on the scorching hot exhaust pipe, the classic mistake of a tourist who only rides motorcycles when he's on holiday. The wound was starting to look pretty nasty, so I managed to find what I needed to treat it at this pharmacy (although I'd still waited two days without doing a damn thing about it, like an idiot). Just after the pharmacy, don't take the road that turns off to the left at a right angle, but the track that runs diagonally from the intersection. This is THE turn you absolutely mustn't miss if you want to make sure you reach the Green Lake. Here's the exact spot where you need to turn, I've included a link to a point just a few meters down the track.
On the map opposite, you'll find the route marked out from the hotel to that all-important turnoff. I hope this comes in handy for someone someday, because writing this kind of article is a real pain in the ass! You're on a photography website, not at the tourist information office!
From the hotel to the turnoff you mustn't miss.
Just after this turnoff, there's another fork in the road, take the left again. A few dozen meters further on, you need to keep left once more. If you go right, you'll end up at a dead end by the mixed secondary school, which is exactly what I did, but at least I got to take a few photos of some kids playing basketball in the schoolyard.
Basketball game in the schoolyard. If you end up here, you've taken a wrong turn!
After that, it's straight ahead all the way, there aren't really any more junctions that could cause confusion, just follow the main track. You'll pass through here, then here, and then here. I parked my motorcycle in the middle of nowhere, right here, because the really sandy stretch is here. As you can see on the maps at the end of the article, you're just a stone's throw from the lake!
I didn't stay long, as nightfall was fast approaching! Watch out, the Green Lake is crawling with crocodiles! Tell your mother-in-law to bring her swimsuit!
Gorgeous late-afternoon light, but don't hang around too long! Night falls fast in Madagascar!
Map 2
Map 3