The Mountain of the French and Ramena |
The Mountain of the French is a limestone mountain range covered with a dry forest typical of the area. It is now a natural reserve which also suitable for climbing. Starting from the Ramena road, a botanical path allows to observe several kinds of baobabs (among those the Andasonia Suarensis typical of the Diego bay) and some succulent endemic plants.
This path is also walked on by the Christians on Good Friday. Climbing along the flanks of the mountain you can discover the stunning landscape of the Diego Suarez bay and reach the summit where an old camp of “the foreign legion” can be accessed thanks to a gallery dug into the rock.
Down below lies the Betaitra plain where zebu herds quietly graze, facing “the Sugar loaf”, a sacred islet planted in the middle of the bay in front of the plateau on which stands the city of Diego Suarez. At the foot of the mountain the Ramena road, 28km long, follows the coast down to the small fishermen village and its large beach of fine sand.
Ramena is a very popular spot where Diego Suarez inhabitants like to spend weekends and holydays. It also used to be an important place for the French army which had set up two military camps, one at Orangea on the sea side next to the channel, the other at Ankorika on the heights which overlook Ramena. |
|
