Madagascar op de motor
- Onderwerp starter MIOB
- Startdatum
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #53
Vreemd, elke keer als ik een hele post intik op mijn mobiel krijg ik een foutelding bij het versturen. Mega irritant. Vanaf de computer lukt het wel.
We zijn er nog en het is nog steeds fantastisch. Gisteren weer eindeloos offroad gereden en in een heel mooi vulkanisch gebied beland.
filmpjes van eerder:
Iedereen die over Madagascar als vakantieland twijfelt: DOEN!
We zijn er nog en het is nog steeds fantastisch. Gisteren weer eindeloos offroad gereden en in een heel mooi vulkanisch gebied beland.
filmpjes van eerder:
Iedereen die over Madagascar als vakantieland twijfelt: DOEN!
Exigence
Die hard MF'er
In één woord: prachtig!
Blijf zo doorgaan met mooie filmpjes en foto's posten, erg sfeervol
Blijf zo doorgaan met mooie filmpjes en foto's posten, erg sfeervol
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #58
Time for the report:
I've been to Madagascar, we got the taste of things in Cambodia a year and a half ago and were hungry for adveture. So why Madagascar? I've always wanted to go there. 80% (at least) of all plants and animals living there are endemic: They only live on Madagascar. The island is also renowned for beautifull landscapes. Finally: Madagascar is one of the least developed countries in the world. I wanted to experience that before it's gone.
General information:
Bikes: Hartfort 200 VR Offroad bikes
Rented at https://www.facebook.com/MotoTourMada/?pnref=lhc
Total kilometers travelled: Just over 2.800
Days in the country: 30
Travel time: May to june (winter)
Average wage in Madagascar: Less then $1 per day
Inhabitants: 22 million
Language: Mallagassy (I can speak one word Malagassy) and French (My French is marginally better then my Malagassy)
Origin: South East Asia (despte being close to Africa)
Surface: nearly 600.000 km2
Capital: Antananarivo (Tana)
We flew from Amsterdam Schiphol airport via Paris CDG to Tana.
Day 1: We arrived in Tana just before midnight. Our travel guide (Bradt) stated that it was best to get money from an ATM at the airport and not take cash. So we tried, unfortunately the only ATM on the airport was empty. Welcome to Madagascar, 10.000 km's from home with no money. The adventure started the second we arrived, great! We called down a cab and went to the hotel I had booked beforehand. Stopping at at least 10 ATM's along the way, all displaying this message:
The hotel (Maison Lavasoa) paid the cab (thanks!!) and we took to bed. The next morning I was up early and set off alone (by foot) to find a working bank. After about 7 banks I found an ATM from the BVF-bank. That worked. Though I could only get 300.000 ariary (about 88 euros). Spend the rest of the day walking around Tana. I am not a big fan of big cities (tana is big) and the old cars (diesels, no filter) caused a lot of smog and sooth, but all in all Tana is a nice, friendly, colorfull town.
But we didn't come to Madagascar to see a town. So early the next day we took one of the old cabs to the place where we rented the bikes. The guy who rented us the bikes (Francois Serrano) helped us out massively. We were still strapped for cash so het let us transfer money and didn't want the deposit payed. He is our hero now.
The bikes:
a 200cc Hartford (Chinese) with a license built Honda engine. The top speed is about 90 to 100 km/h (I think. No way you'll be going that speed and be safe in Mada), but they were light (which was VERY welcome) and had plenty of bottom end power for our goals. Great. So of we went.
Already late in the afternoon we only made it to Ambatolampy. Getting out of Tana wasn't easy. Google maps was suprisingly bad and the traffic was very heavy (but save, the Mallagassy are really friendly in traffic). Leaving Tana behind you immediatly hit one stunning landscape after another, we weren't prepared for all this beauty. In Ambatolampy we had some trouble finding a hotel, but no trouble at all to find great food. The stunning landscapes and great food would be a reoccuring theme the next 4 weeks.
I've been to Madagascar, we got the taste of things in Cambodia a year and a half ago and were hungry for adveture. So why Madagascar? I've always wanted to go there. 80% (at least) of all plants and animals living there are endemic: They only live on Madagascar. The island is also renowned for beautifull landscapes. Finally: Madagascar is one of the least developed countries in the world. I wanted to experience that before it's gone.
General information:
Bikes: Hartfort 200 VR Offroad bikes
Rented at https://www.facebook.com/MotoTourMada/?pnref=lhc
Total kilometers travelled: Just over 2.800
Days in the country: 30
Travel time: May to june (winter)
Average wage in Madagascar: Less then $1 per day
Inhabitants: 22 million
Language: Mallagassy (I can speak one word Malagassy) and French (My French is marginally better then my Malagassy)
Origin: South East Asia (despte being close to Africa)
Surface: nearly 600.000 km2
Capital: Antananarivo (Tana)
We flew from Amsterdam Schiphol airport via Paris CDG to Tana.
Day 1: We arrived in Tana just before midnight. Our travel guide (Bradt) stated that it was best to get money from an ATM at the airport and not take cash. So we tried, unfortunately the only ATM on the airport was empty. Welcome to Madagascar, 10.000 km's from home with no money. The adventure started the second we arrived, great! We called down a cab and went to the hotel I had booked beforehand. Stopping at at least 10 ATM's along the way, all displaying this message:
The hotel (Maison Lavasoa) paid the cab (thanks!!) and we took to bed. The next morning I was up early and set off alone (by foot) to find a working bank. After about 7 banks I found an ATM from the BVF-bank. That worked. Though I could only get 300.000 ariary (about 88 euros). Spend the rest of the day walking around Tana. I am not a big fan of big cities (tana is big) and the old cars (diesels, no filter) caused a lot of smog and sooth, but all in all Tana is a nice, friendly, colorfull town.
But we didn't come to Madagascar to see a town. So early the next day we took one of the old cabs to the place where we rented the bikes. The guy who rented us the bikes (Francois Serrano) helped us out massively. We were still strapped for cash so het let us transfer money and didn't want the deposit payed. He is our hero now.
The bikes:
a 200cc Hartford (Chinese) with a license built Honda engine. The top speed is about 90 to 100 km/h (I think. No way you'll be going that speed and be safe in Mada), but they were light (which was VERY welcome) and had plenty of bottom end power for our goals. Great. So of we went.
Already late in the afternoon we only made it to Ambatolampy. Getting out of Tana wasn't easy. Google maps was suprisingly bad and the traffic was very heavy (but save, the Mallagassy are really friendly in traffic). Leaving Tana behind you immediatly hit one stunning landscape after another, we weren't prepared for all this beauty. In Ambatolampy we had some trouble finding a hotel, but no trouble at all to find great food. The stunning landscapes and great food would be a reoccuring theme the next 4 weeks.
Laatst bewerkt:
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #59
The next day we started off a bit earlier in the morning. Riding in the dark in Madagascar should realy, really be avoided. Just don't.
We left Ambatolampy on the Route Nationale 7 (RN7), the main 'highway' to the south. Passing Antsirabe and finding a hotel in Ambositra.
Along the way you will pass people selling food and handy craft. I really felt sorry for the woman selling these trucks, she go her hopes up when we stopped, but there just is no way we can take any of this with us on our bikes
[/caption]
The Main road (RN7) was actually pretty good, but deviate only a meter and chaos will await you (see the bridge)
Our overly friendly waiter in the restaurant below our hotel (with the best Zebu steak ever).
The next day would take us to Ramanofana and the Ramanofana National Park. Again the scennery changed every single hill top we passed. Stunning. Just outside of town there was a 'road' to some cave. We tried it. No. Just no. No way.
Traditional (to this region) Malagassy two story houses
Madagascar is extremely poor. Farming is done by hand (mosty) or with ox-pulled 'machinery'.
The friendly locals, always happy to be photographed
The Malagassy children are something else... I don't know why and I don't know how, but they really are special (in the very best kind of way).
After a while we had to take a left from the RN7 onto the RN25 and we got our first taste of what was to come. The RN25 was horrible (pr so we thought, we later found out that roads can be MUCH worse). Slowing our progress to roughly 30 km/h. The road had obviously suffered a lot in the rainy season and deep tracks made quick progress impossible. No way I would do that road in a car. The scenery changed once again after passing some hill tops. This time we were greated by a tropic rain forest with rivers and bridges.
Did I mention that I brought my drone?
Shortly later the RN25 met up with the RN45 and we were back on the tarmac, and what Tarmac! This sign marked the start of an utterly brilliant motorcycle road:
On the left there were mountains with the rainforest, on the right a thundering river with rapids and waterfalls, below us near perfect tarmac. This has to be one of the best motorcycle roads in the world (at any speed).
Simply brilliant. The road let us down to the village of Ramanofana where we found our hotel (Forret Austral, highly recommended!) after some searching.
We left Ambatolampy on the Route Nationale 7 (RN7), the main 'highway' to the south. Passing Antsirabe and finding a hotel in Ambositra.
Along the way you will pass people selling food and handy craft. I really felt sorry for the woman selling these trucks, she go her hopes up when we stopped, but there just is no way we can take any of this with us on our bikes
[/caption]
The Main road (RN7) was actually pretty good, but deviate only a meter and chaos will await you (see the bridge)
Our overly friendly waiter in the restaurant below our hotel (with the best Zebu steak ever).
The next day would take us to Ramanofana and the Ramanofana National Park. Again the scennery changed every single hill top we passed. Stunning. Just outside of town there was a 'road' to some cave. We tried it. No. Just no. No way.
Traditional (to this region) Malagassy two story houses
Madagascar is extremely poor. Farming is done by hand (mosty) or with ox-pulled 'machinery'.
The friendly locals, always happy to be photographed
The Malagassy children are something else... I don't know why and I don't know how, but they really are special (in the very best kind of way).
After a while we had to take a left from the RN7 onto the RN25 and we got our first taste of what was to come. The RN25 was horrible (pr so we thought, we later found out that roads can be MUCH worse). Slowing our progress to roughly 30 km/h. The road had obviously suffered a lot in the rainy season and deep tracks made quick progress impossible. No way I would do that road in a car. The scenery changed once again after passing some hill tops. This time we were greated by a tropic rain forest with rivers and bridges.
Did I mention that I brought my drone?
Shortly later the RN25 met up with the RN45 and we were back on the tarmac, and what Tarmac! This sign marked the start of an utterly brilliant motorcycle road:
On the left there were mountains with the rainforest, on the right a thundering river with rapids and waterfalls, below us near perfect tarmac. This has to be one of the best motorcycle roads in the world (at any speed).
Simply brilliant. The road let us down to the village of Ramanofana where we found our hotel (Forret Austral, highly recommended!) after some searching.
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #64
The next day we hired a guide (Angelin) and walked from the hotel to the park entrance. Time to see our first lemurs! We did a 5km walk which took almost as many hours (these tracks are tough!) on a warm and sunny day.
The hotel has a beautiful garden with many gekkos and butterflies.
A leaf tail Gekko. A master in cammouflage and extremely hard to spot. This is his head.
Finally! Lemurs! This one doesn't look very bright...
Must be family..
Nope, not a Panda.
The egg of a praying mantis.
We got really lucky and saw a manguste
And some more lemurs (this is a very rare Golden Lemur).
This is me showing our guide the drone. Agelin, if you read this: I've already ordered the drone I promised you!
And finally: A compilation of the helmet camera footage up to here:
The hotel has a beautiful garden with many gekkos and butterflies.
A leaf tail Gekko. A master in cammouflage and extremely hard to spot. This is his head.
Finally! Lemurs! This one doesn't look very bright...
Must be family..
Nope, not a Panda.
The egg of a praying mantis.
We got really lucky and saw a manguste
And some more lemurs (this is a very rare Golden Lemur).
This is me showing our guide the drone. Agelin, if you read this: I've already ordered the drone I promised you!
And finally: A compilation of the helmet camera footage up to here:
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #65
The next day would take us to Ihosy, a mining town slighty over 350 km's away. Starting in the rain forrest arou nd ramanofan the ride is absolutely magical. Just before the RN345 meets sthe RN7 the vegetation clears and another landscape appears and you find yourself again in an ever changing landscape. Evry turn, every crest reveals something new and something special. This was by far the most zen ride I have ever done. It was just so incredibly beautifull. The photos really, really don't do it justice and I decided to not stop so often for photos and just tohroughly enjoy the views in silence,
Brick making in one of the towns along the RN7
Sometimes you just have to stop amd soak up the scene
You'll have to do that quite a few times
hi!
We arrived in Ihosy in the late afternoon. Ihosy is not a fun town, the atmosphere wasn't hostile, but it wasn't friendly either. Understandble: This area is know for gems. The locals dig them up by hand, international compagnies are allowes to use heavy machinery. That must have been some big bribes....
After Ihosy it is a short ride (70km) to Isalo National park. Just after Ihosy you climb up to a grassy plane and soon, with still 40 kms to, you will see the Isalo Massive (moutains) rise on the horizon. Troughly spectacular.
Grass. A hell of a lot of grass. And me, waiting for my travel compagnion to finally be finished taking photos. Of grass.
Isalo in the dsitance!
Just past the vilage of Ranohira we settles in Hotel H1 (another place to really recommend!). They were hugely impressed by the bikes (like they were everywhere), so one of the guys just had to sit on it and wanted my helmet. He was very proud of this photo
We got to sleep in this, and got lucky to see this:
Since it had been only 70 km's today on a good road, we had the afernoon to go exploring. God, this country is beautifull.
Brick making in one of the towns along the RN7
Sometimes you just have to stop amd soak up the scene
You'll have to do that quite a few times
hi!
We arrived in Ihosy in the late afternoon. Ihosy is not a fun town, the atmosphere wasn't hostile, but it wasn't friendly either. Understandble: This area is know for gems. The locals dig them up by hand, international compagnies are allowes to use heavy machinery. That must have been some big bribes....
After Ihosy it is a short ride (70km) to Isalo National park. Just after Ihosy you climb up to a grassy plane and soon, with still 40 kms to, you will see the Isalo Massive (moutains) rise on the horizon. Troughly spectacular.
Grass. A hell of a lot of grass. And me, waiting for my travel compagnion to finally be finished taking photos. Of grass.
Isalo in the dsitance!
Just past the vilage of Ranohira we settles in Hotel H1 (another place to really recommend!). They were hugely impressed by the bikes (like they were everywhere), so one of the guys just had to sit on it and wanted my helmet. He was very proud of this photo
We got to sleep in this, and got lucky to see this:
Since it had been only 70 km's today on a good road, we had the afernoon to go exploring. God, this country is beautifull.
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #66
The next day we loaded up the bike. I had bought a WW2 surplus 20l jerrycan and a LOT of water. It was very hard to find any info on the route that laid ahead, but we did know it would be 500 km's without fuel. The bikes would do 300 on a single tank (on a good road. Take note).
With 20 liters of fuel just ahead of the orange bag and with 15 liters of water distributed over the back and side bags the balance was 'slightly' off. But of we went, into the unkown. But not before we spoke to a local guide with a 4wheel drive who got really nervous when we told him our plans. Great, very comforting. He was going to be a few days behind us, that in fact was comforting.
The first part of the road was actually really good.
But soon we hit the dirt, which wasn't too bad actually. Bit bumpy, some deep sand, but manageable. The only problem being the balance of my bike, some parts I had to really wrestle with the bike. I could feel that in my arms.
It was very warm, so when you find shade, you use it.
Believe it or not, this is the RN9. The Route National 9.
This Taxi Brousse was fast at the stretches where we were slow (sand) and slow where we were fast (bumpy stretches) so we saw this delightfull and happy bunch more then a few times that day. Unbelievable that they managed to sit and stand on a road that rough.
Just as the sun was getting low we came to a part with many, many Baobabs on something best descriped as a land Island. The photo doesn't show at all, but it was one of the most beautiful sceneries I have ever seen.
Just before there was a village with a little kid plating with the remains of a football filled with grass. I had some inflatable balls with me, so I gave it to him, The whole village came out to see it and there were happy smiles all around. Heart warming and sad (because of the extreme poverty) at the same time. This country tends to make you emotional.
As the sun was getting really low we came to a giant river. We were too late for the regular ferry, but some guys urged us to follow them. So in good faith we did. We crossed the very wide muddy shores which was extremely hard on the bikes (especially mine). They were seriously stretched. When we came to the water, 2 canoes tied together with some planks awaited us. Surely this would take a long time crossing bike by bike.
nope.
They told us to load both bikes. Being tired and lacking sound judgement we did. It was exciting, but we made it to the other side.
By now it was getting dark. We rode for a few kilometers and with no hotels around for a long, long time we pitched our tent behind some bushes, not too far from a village (we could hear it). Madagascar is unsafe at night, we were carrying a lot of cash (you have to, you can't get money anywhere), a laptop, a drone, a camera and phones. We didn't feel save at all (and we probably weren't). We managed to sleep that night though.
Sunset at our campsite
Coocking with some of our valuable water (we had dried meals)
The next day we got up just before sunrise, packed the tent, had breakfast and mounted our bikes.
The going was very tough, but the views were very rewarding.
Having a break in the shade. Babette was having a tough time, being really tired from the ride from the previous day. I was surprizingly fit considering how much of a struggle it was to keep my bike on track. But we still did only 70 km's this day. After 70 km's we were exhausted and very happy to reach the small town of Manja with a half decent hotel. This is where the maps stopped and where we we really didn't know what to expect anymore.
We knew there would be a track from Manja to Morondava, called la piste mes amis (the track of my friends). The problem was: Google maps showed nothing at all for this area, neither did Open Street Maps, our paper map or our travel guide. Great. We asked the hotel owner who got extremely nervous and worried before I even finished my sentence. Looked at the bikes and just shook his head. Asked again if we were really without a guide and shook his head again. Great. Thank you.
Late in the afternoon a 4wd arrived with 2 Italian tourists. One being fluent in English and French, both being really nice. They acted as translaters and helped us ask around for the track conditions. The information we got was very unreliable (one said 80 km's, it was 15km's as the crow flies... One said no river crossings, the other said many and deep crossings and so on, and so on). The schedule of our Italian friends was a bit thight and seeing that the next day was going to be very rough for us, they offered to ride the first 30 km's or so with us so their guide (also worried) could show us the way.
It was really sweet to see all these people worried. Didn't really help though.
We knew we were in for a treat the next day, so we nervously started our bikes, waved goodbye to the hotel owner and followed the 4wd out of the hotel compound. The first part of the route was a relieve. It was quite good! Spirits went up. Then we came to a river.
The local guide in the 4wd looked worried (you get used to that look), but it was really easy and great fun. This was coincidentaly also the place where we said goodbuy to our 4wd escort. From here on we were on our own.
We passed a few more rivers and made some great headway, until, after roughly 40 km, we hit this:
Tracks in deep sand. My bike was way to heavy for this and the tracks made it even harder. We slowed down to below walking speed. this lasted about 10 km's, completely wearing us out with 130 km's to go.
We switched places. Babette had been riding in front, she was the least experienced and that way she could look further ahead and ride at her own pace, but she became so tired that she started making mistakes.
So I went ahead and started talking her through. Warning her for the many patches of deep sand and other obstacles. Shortly after we held our last break for the day. Still 100 km's to go. Every stop we checked our tires and pulled out at least a few thorns. Flat tires were a large concern. The sounds my struggling bike was making were a massive concern. It sounded really, really bad.
Turning back was no option.
On we went. Untill all of the sudden the road was blocked by a make shift barrier. A guy doing his best to imitate Ghadaffi demanded money for us to pass. He was clearly surprised by seeing bikes and just didn't know what to ask. We gave him some small money and were allowed to pass. The guy was clearly not 100% right with his tongue hanging out all the time. His helps besides the road didn't look much better. So as soon as the bar was lifted we accelerated away.
A few kilomters later. Again. This time the guy was a bit more normal, but it was already getting really annoying. This is a helmet cam screenshot:
We gave him our last small change, the bar was lifted and of we went again. A few kilometers later we passed a bar that wasn't down. Clearly we were not expected. As we passed a guy came running out of the bushes screaming and throwing stones. Time to speed up and roudn the corner, but just a little bit further there was the next road block.
Being tired, severly pissed off and seeing a gap on the left (again, they only see cars, no motorbikes), we just continued past the barrier while shouting no (that really seemed to impress them).
We turned right, immediatly had to pass a small stream and hit a large strech of deep sand AGAIN. There was still someone behind us so we just went for it getting to another large river. No time and no energy to walk ahead I just went in without even seeing where the track would continue on the other end. I could only see the track when I was already close to the other side.
By now we were absolutely exhausted. Another 50 km's to go. And again we hit loose sand. Kilometer after kilometer after kilometer (roughly 40 in total) of very deep sand. We both went down a few times and I had to lift the bikes immediatly each time since they would leak fuel and we couldn't afford that. At this time our communication also failed (empty), so we decided to start using the horn to let each other know we were still there. To make matters worse it was getting clear that we wouldn't mke it before dark.
We pushed on. he scenery slowely changed from rough nature to a bit more cultivated. We saw some people, but they seemed really scared of us as they always disappeared before we got even remotely close. Weird. Pushing on through the deep sand progress was really slow and tiresome. Just as we seemed to finally get close to a paved road after about 160 miles we came to yet another river. A really, really big one this time. There was a small village where the road met the water and the inhabitants got really excited when they saw us. They smelled money. They explained that the water was almost chest deep (to them, just over waist deep to me) and that they would carry the bikes across. For money of course.
There were 2 problems with that: 1. It was already getting seriously dark and this would take a lot of time. 2. I was way too tired to make a sound judgement call. So I wnet for it, plunging in the water and making sure that I had enough speed to make a bow wave. The water got to my tank, but somehow didn't get into the air filter, the bow wave must have been just enough. Babette, even more tired, managed to follow.
Now it was only a few more minutes to the paved road where we arrived in the pitch black of night. Finally. We took it easy the next 10 km's to the city of Morondava, decided to go for a more luxurious hotel and had to be helped of the bikes by the security who didn't really believe that we came from Manja that day.
We were dirty and exhasuted. The last part of the trip I was ven too exhausted to press the horn, let alone turn the camera on. I have a smart watch that monitors my heart rate. This is the graph of that day:
This was by far the most exhausted we have ever been. The stretches of deep send really weren't fun at all as we did them. The barriers made us feel unsafe, the horrible noices from my bike were a constant worry. We saw only 2 cars the entire 180 km's. The rivers we passed can hold the (in)famous nike crocodile. We were wet and really dirty. We felt great! We wanted adverture, we got it and we made it! There was a great sense of accomplishment.
Here is the first part of la piste mes amis. The second part I was just way too tired to tun the camera on. Also keep in mind: I had to let go of the handle bar to turn of the camera. You just don't do that on bad stretches of the road, so what you see here were the easy parts.
Note: We tried finding information online, but couldn't find anything. If you've found this page trying to find information on the route: Feel free to ask any questions. But I'll give you this advice: Do not do this route without a guide. Really don't. We got extremely lucky to make it through 'so easy'.
With 20 liters of fuel just ahead of the orange bag and with 15 liters of water distributed over the back and side bags the balance was 'slightly' off. But of we went, into the unkown. But not before we spoke to a local guide with a 4wheel drive who got really nervous when we told him our plans. Great, very comforting. He was going to be a few days behind us, that in fact was comforting.
The first part of the road was actually really good.
But soon we hit the dirt, which wasn't too bad actually. Bit bumpy, some deep sand, but manageable. The only problem being the balance of my bike, some parts I had to really wrestle with the bike. I could feel that in my arms.
It was very warm, so when you find shade, you use it.
Believe it or not, this is the RN9. The Route National 9.
This Taxi Brousse was fast at the stretches where we were slow (sand) and slow where we were fast (bumpy stretches) so we saw this delightfull and happy bunch more then a few times that day. Unbelievable that they managed to sit and stand on a road that rough.
Just as the sun was getting low we came to a part with many, many Baobabs on something best descriped as a land Island. The photo doesn't show at all, but it was one of the most beautiful sceneries I have ever seen.
Just before there was a village with a little kid plating with the remains of a football filled with grass. I had some inflatable balls with me, so I gave it to him, The whole village came out to see it and there were happy smiles all around. Heart warming and sad (because of the extreme poverty) at the same time. This country tends to make you emotional.
As the sun was getting really low we came to a giant river. We were too late for the regular ferry, but some guys urged us to follow them. So in good faith we did. We crossed the very wide muddy shores which was extremely hard on the bikes (especially mine). They were seriously stretched. When we came to the water, 2 canoes tied together with some planks awaited us. Surely this would take a long time crossing bike by bike.
nope.
They told us to load both bikes. Being tired and lacking sound judgement we did. It was exciting, but we made it to the other side.
By now it was getting dark. We rode for a few kilometers and with no hotels around for a long, long time we pitched our tent behind some bushes, not too far from a village (we could hear it). Madagascar is unsafe at night, we were carrying a lot of cash (you have to, you can't get money anywhere), a laptop, a drone, a camera and phones. We didn't feel save at all (and we probably weren't). We managed to sleep that night though.
Sunset at our campsite
Coocking with some of our valuable water (we had dried meals)
The next day we got up just before sunrise, packed the tent, had breakfast and mounted our bikes.
The going was very tough, but the views were very rewarding.
Having a break in the shade. Babette was having a tough time, being really tired from the ride from the previous day. I was surprizingly fit considering how much of a struggle it was to keep my bike on track. But we still did only 70 km's this day. After 70 km's we were exhausted and very happy to reach the small town of Manja with a half decent hotel. This is where the maps stopped and where we we really didn't know what to expect anymore.
We knew there would be a track from Manja to Morondava, called la piste mes amis (the track of my friends). The problem was: Google maps showed nothing at all for this area, neither did Open Street Maps, our paper map or our travel guide. Great. We asked the hotel owner who got extremely nervous and worried before I even finished my sentence. Looked at the bikes and just shook his head. Asked again if we were really without a guide and shook his head again. Great. Thank you.
Late in the afternoon a 4wd arrived with 2 Italian tourists. One being fluent in English and French, both being really nice. They acted as translaters and helped us ask around for the track conditions. The information we got was very unreliable (one said 80 km's, it was 15km's as the crow flies... One said no river crossings, the other said many and deep crossings and so on, and so on). The schedule of our Italian friends was a bit thight and seeing that the next day was going to be very rough for us, they offered to ride the first 30 km's or so with us so their guide (also worried) could show us the way.
It was really sweet to see all these people worried. Didn't really help though.
We knew we were in for a treat the next day, so we nervously started our bikes, waved goodbye to the hotel owner and followed the 4wd out of the hotel compound. The first part of the route was a relieve. It was quite good! Spirits went up. Then we came to a river.
The local guide in the 4wd looked worried (you get used to that look), but it was really easy and great fun. This was coincidentaly also the place where we said goodbuy to our 4wd escort. From here on we were on our own.
We passed a few more rivers and made some great headway, until, after roughly 40 km, we hit this:
Tracks in deep sand. My bike was way to heavy for this and the tracks made it even harder. We slowed down to below walking speed. this lasted about 10 km's, completely wearing us out with 130 km's to go.
We switched places. Babette had been riding in front, she was the least experienced and that way she could look further ahead and ride at her own pace, but she became so tired that she started making mistakes.
So I went ahead and started talking her through. Warning her for the many patches of deep sand and other obstacles. Shortly after we held our last break for the day. Still 100 km's to go. Every stop we checked our tires and pulled out at least a few thorns. Flat tires were a large concern. The sounds my struggling bike was making were a massive concern. It sounded really, really bad.
Turning back was no option.
On we went. Untill all of the sudden the road was blocked by a make shift barrier. A guy doing his best to imitate Ghadaffi demanded money for us to pass. He was clearly surprised by seeing bikes and just didn't know what to ask. We gave him some small money and were allowed to pass. The guy was clearly not 100% right with his tongue hanging out all the time. His helps besides the road didn't look much better. So as soon as the bar was lifted we accelerated away.
A few kilomters later. Again. This time the guy was a bit more normal, but it was already getting really annoying. This is a helmet cam screenshot:
We gave him our last small change, the bar was lifted and of we went again. A few kilometers later we passed a bar that wasn't down. Clearly we were not expected. As we passed a guy came running out of the bushes screaming and throwing stones. Time to speed up and roudn the corner, but just a little bit further there was the next road block.
Being tired, severly pissed off and seeing a gap on the left (again, they only see cars, no motorbikes), we just continued past the barrier while shouting no (that really seemed to impress them).
We turned right, immediatly had to pass a small stream and hit a large strech of deep sand AGAIN. There was still someone behind us so we just went for it getting to another large river. No time and no energy to walk ahead I just went in without even seeing where the track would continue on the other end. I could only see the track when I was already close to the other side.
By now we were absolutely exhausted. Another 50 km's to go. And again we hit loose sand. Kilometer after kilometer after kilometer (roughly 40 in total) of very deep sand. We both went down a few times and I had to lift the bikes immediatly each time since they would leak fuel and we couldn't afford that. At this time our communication also failed (empty), so we decided to start using the horn to let each other know we were still there. To make matters worse it was getting clear that we wouldn't mke it before dark.
We pushed on. he scenery slowely changed from rough nature to a bit more cultivated. We saw some people, but they seemed really scared of us as they always disappeared before we got even remotely close. Weird. Pushing on through the deep sand progress was really slow and tiresome. Just as we seemed to finally get close to a paved road after about 160 miles we came to yet another river. A really, really big one this time. There was a small village where the road met the water and the inhabitants got really excited when they saw us. They smelled money. They explained that the water was almost chest deep (to them, just over waist deep to me) and that they would carry the bikes across. For money of course.
There were 2 problems with that: 1. It was already getting seriously dark and this would take a lot of time. 2. I was way too tired to make a sound judgement call. So I wnet for it, plunging in the water and making sure that I had enough speed to make a bow wave. The water got to my tank, but somehow didn't get into the air filter, the bow wave must have been just enough. Babette, even more tired, managed to follow.
Now it was only a few more minutes to the paved road where we arrived in the pitch black of night. Finally. We took it easy the next 10 km's to the city of Morondava, decided to go for a more luxurious hotel and had to be helped of the bikes by the security who didn't really believe that we came from Manja that day.
We were dirty and exhasuted. The last part of the trip I was ven too exhausted to press the horn, let alone turn the camera on. I have a smart watch that monitors my heart rate. This is the graph of that day:
This was by far the most exhausted we have ever been. The stretches of deep send really weren't fun at all as we did them. The barriers made us feel unsafe, the horrible noices from my bike were a constant worry. We saw only 2 cars the entire 180 km's. The rivers we passed can hold the (in)famous nike crocodile. We were wet and really dirty. We felt great! We wanted adverture, we got it and we made it! There was a great sense of accomplishment.
Here is the first part of la piste mes amis. The second part I was just way too tired to tun the camera on. Also keep in mind: I had to let go of the handle bar to turn of the camera. You just don't do that on bad stretches of the road, so what you see here were the easy parts.
Note: We tried finding information online, but couldn't find anything. If you've found this page trying to find information on the route: Feel free to ask any questions. But I'll give you this advice: Do not do this route without a guide. Really don't. We got extremely lucky to make it through 'so easy'.
Laatst bewerkt:
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #67
We stayed a few days in Morondava. Babete got ill and my bike desperatly needed some tender love and care. There are worse places to spend some days. The area is, again, stunning.
My bike at the local mechanic. It was hard to cimmunicate, he only spoke Malagassy. The only thing that was obvious was that I payed too much (I really didn't mind) and that he was very worried about our safety.
The market. Just be happy photo cameras don't record smell...
Just east of is Madagascar's most famous stretch of road: The Avenue of the Baobabs:
If you continue past the avenue of the Baobas you will eventually end up at Kirinji national park. The forrest isn't that great, but the wild live is!
My bike at the local mechanic. It was hard to cimmunicate, he only spoke Malagassy. The only thing that was obvious was that I payed too much (I really didn't mind) and that he was very worried about our safety.
The market. Just be happy photo cameras don't record smell...
Just east of is Madagascar's most famous stretch of road: The Avenue of the Baobabs:
If you continue past the avenue of the Baobas you will eventually end up at Kirinji national park. The forrest isn't that great, but the wild live is!
P@trick
MF veteraan
En Madagascar schuift weer een plaatsje omhoog op het lijstje. Mooie trip en foto's.
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #71
All good things come to an end. We left Morondava after a few days and headed for Antsirabe. A two day ride. The first day would be through a rather dangerous area as was made clear by my mechanic and by the taxi driver we used in Morondava. The trucks do this part at night with a military escort apparently.
The ride starst in the low lying furtile coastal plains with a lot of rice fields and then slowely climbs. After 150 km's (we refueled out of some coca cola bottles at that part) the road turns north and follows a mountain range. This stretch of road is characterized by a lot of bridges and again great views. After another 120 km's the road turns east again. We spend the night there in a cheap hotel. After that it was another 220 kilomters of great views and pure joy to Antsirabe.
The ride starst in the low lying furtile coastal plains with a lot of rice fields and then slowely climbs. After 150 km's (we refueled out of some coca cola bottles at that part) the road turns north and follows a mountain range. This stretch of road is characterized by a lot of bridges and again great views. After another 120 km's the road turns east again. We spend the night there in a cheap hotel. After that it was another 220 kilomters of great views and pure joy to Antsirabe.
Laatst bewerkt:
MIOB
MF veteraan
- 18 sep 2004
- 12.215
- 46
- Onderwerp starter
- #72
We found a place to stay just south of Antsirabe at La fondation Madalief - Guesthouse Madalief. Madalief is a charity organistion, part of the charity is a hotel that employs local kids to give them a change. We've sat with the lady running the organisation and shared stories. She really does wonders there. Most on a small scale, but they really do count. Like helping a local blind couple get enough money to build their own house. You should really pay them a visit if you're in the area.
Besides from the good you're doing just by staying there, it is also worth staying because the place is simply fantastic. The rooms/cabins are great, the food is brilliant, the surroundings are great, the staff is fanstastic and the histess extremely kind with a lot of interesting stories. We inteded to stay 1 night and ended up spending 3 nights.
The place to stay.
One of the bonusses was that it was finally possible to take a long hike without a guide. And with their dogs. A walk over some hills, past a lake, through a village and back through the rice paddies. Plenty of landscapes and friendly people in just a single walk.
So that's what we did the first day. The walk and some relaxing (and finally some laundry).
The second day we opted to go to Lac Tritriva. A crater lake with a love story attached. Without any luggage the bikes are a joy to ride, especially with all the off road experince we had by now. So we ignored the easy road and did it the hard way. Which was even nicer than expected. Again superb views and, without luggage, superb riding. This country has so much to offer....
Compared to the highly entertaining ride the lake itself was a bit of a let down. The entry fees were very high (for Malagassy stadards), of course you had to take a guide and plenty of waying women/kids trying to sell stuff.
The latter is usual in many (poor) countries and can be incredibly persistant (or annoying). In Madagscar no usually really means no, so you're never really bothered by taxis or people selling stuff, not in an annoying way. This lake was a bit of an exception. .
After the lake we went to Antsirabe. Found a working ATM and bought some handy crafts.
Besides from the good you're doing just by staying there, it is also worth staying because the place is simply fantastic. The rooms/cabins are great, the food is brilliant, the surroundings are great, the staff is fanstastic and the histess extremely kind with a lot of interesting stories. We inteded to stay 1 night and ended up spending 3 nights.
The place to stay.
One of the bonusses was that it was finally possible to take a long hike without a guide. And with their dogs. A walk over some hills, past a lake, through a village and back through the rice paddies. Plenty of landscapes and friendly people in just a single walk.
So that's what we did the first day. The walk and some relaxing (and finally some laundry).
The second day we opted to go to Lac Tritriva. A crater lake with a love story attached. Without any luggage the bikes are a joy to ride, especially with all the off road experince we had by now. So we ignored the easy road and did it the hard way. Which was even nicer than expected. Again superb views and, without luggage, superb riding. This country has so much to offer....
Compared to the highly entertaining ride the lake itself was a bit of a let down. The entry fees were very high (for Malagassy stadards), of course you had to take a guide and plenty of waying women/kids trying to sell stuff.
The latter is usual in many (poor) countries and can be incredibly persistant (or annoying). In Madagscar no usually really means no, so you're never really bothered by taxis or people selling stuff, not in an annoying way. This lake was a bit of an exception. .
After the lake we went to Antsirabe. Found a working ATM and bought some handy crafts.
El Pollo Diablo
MF veteraan
1 woord: wauw. Echt wauw. Wat een toffe reis en nóg mooiere plaatjes! Die kun je mooi in je zak steken! 
Met plezier zitten lezen.
Met plezier zitten lezen.
koenWitjes
MF veteraan
1 woord: wauw. Echt wauw. Wat een toffe reis en nóg mooiere plaatjes! Die kun je mooi in je zak steken!
Allemaal heel erg wauw en zo maar;;
Als je onderweg zo'n krabbekoker tegenkomt met zo'n nep-slagboom die geld wil.. heb je dan niet heel erg de neiging om een dergelijk sujet hardhandig op andere gedachten te brengen?
(ik kan niet tegen dat soort dingen..)
Als je onderweg zo'n krabbekoker tegenkomt met zo'n nep-slagboom die geld wil.. heb je dan niet heel erg de neiging om een dergelijk sujet hardhandig op andere gedachten te brengen?
(ik kan niet tegen dat soort dingen..)
