The city of Ambanja, which is part of the Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) region, is located 20km from the Mozambique Channel, south east of Nosy Be Island. Ambanja is the heart of an area generally known as Sambirano, which is the name of the river flowing from the Tsaratanana heights down to Ampasindava bay. All along the way, Sambirano River and its affluents irrigate a large valley, surrounded by two mountain ranges which have given their name to two natural reserves.
In the west, Manongarivo mountain range reaches 1876m; in the east the commanding Tsaratanana is topped by Maromokotra summit (2876m), the highest point of Madagascar. In Sambirano valley, protected from the wind by a tiers of wooded mountains, heavy rains combined with fertile grounds enriched by centuries of alluvial deposits, have favoured the cultivation of many plants in strong demand abroad (vanilla, cocoa, coffee, pepper…). All along the year the traveller is struck by this exuberant vegetation.
The dark heights which keep some remnants of primary forests, the clusters of ravinala, (traveller tree) growing along the slopes of the valley, the tall sheltering trees which protect plantations provide a gamut of greens which characterize the Sambirano landscape and turn it into a beautiful ribbon, dotted with square rice fields and small individual farms.