Sambava Vanilla Coast

The SAVA region, named for Sambava, Antalaha, Vohemar and Andapa, produces the large majority of the world's natural vanilla, and the crop shapes everything here. Vanilla is an orchid that must be pollinated by hand, flower by flower, in a window of a few hours each morning; the green pods are then blanched, sweated, dried in the sun and conditioned over months, a labour so heavy that the price of the spice is not really a mystery once you have watched it. In the harvest and curing months the coast smells of it and beans lie on racks and mats in every yard. Prices have swung violently over the past decade, bringing both money and theft, and armed guarding of plantations is common. Visits are arranged through hotels or cooperatives in Sambava and Antalaha.

What you actually see

• Hand pollination - the morning work in the plantations in flowering season.
• Curing racks - beans drying and sweating in village yards.
• Vanilla vines - orchids climbing on support trees under shade.
• Coastal plantations - the farms along the road between the towns.

When to go

Flowering and hand pollination run roughly September to November; harvest is around June and July, with curing through the following months. May to November is the driest travel window. Cyclones hit this coast hard between January and March.

Honest expectations

Plantation visits must be arranged and cannot be improvised, partly because theft has made growers wary of strangers. Prices for beans sold to visitors are high and quality varies. Exporting quantities is restricted. The towns themselves are functional rather than attractive, and roads between them are poor.

Nearby

Marojejy and Andapa lie inland; Antalaha is south along the coast.