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Madagascan Magic
Travelling Madagascar by Motorbike – The “Galapagos of the West” awaits!
Riders: Gareth Morgan, Jo Morgan, Dave Wallance
Motorcycles: Honda Translaps
Distance: 2,000km
Countries: Madagascar
Trip description: Ride south from the capital through the highlands, taking in the numerous National Parks (this is the Galapagos of the West after all!), and then out to the Avenue of the Baobabs before heading to the east coast and north of the capital to Toamasina and Nosy Boraha. This island is too big to cover in three weeks, especially given there are no circular routes – it’s all hub and spoke from the capital.
Blogs from the trip
10 Must do’s when traveling to Madagascar
1. Avenue de Baobabs – The native tree of Madagascar, the Baobas treem, are a unique site and avenue Baobabs is the place to see them. Located on the west coast by Morondava down a dusty trail. 2. Morondava’s Nosy Kelly Peninsula – The perfect place to unwind.There are heaps of good accoms on the beach which […]
End of the road
We have now ridden the west, the south and the east of Madagascar – so across the great Divide the separates the dry west from the wet east and done the Divide to the desert/savannah land of the south. While climatically it is a country of contrasts there are some constants, some good some not […]
The Face of Poverty in Madagascar
Man Madagascar is poor. Officially 77% are below the poverty line, but we’ve seen heaps that you would say are worse than that, they’re in essence, destitute. The Malagasys work really hard in the fields mainly as they try their best just to cultivate enough to live on. You don’t see many here that anyone […]
Thinking of Bryan
Our great mate Bryan Wyness was killed in a motorcycle accident a couple of months ago, when a front tyre blowout ended what was an unbelievably full life and left his lovely partner Marion and the kids and grandkids without their wonderful Poppa. For us riders though Bryan was, and always will be “the Captain” […]
The Bara People and their Lands
Down in the southwest of Madagascar now where the plains are open, the grass looks tough and the people are scarce. But here Zebu (humped-back cattle) are king and these folk are cattle people, much like the Masai of Tanzania and Kenya. They walk their herds for weeks to the markets in the north so […]
The Buildings of Ambalavao – or is it the French Quarter of New Orleans?
This is a great town of the south to stop in for a night – and walking around at sunset with a camera to capture the buildings the French colonial period saw constructed and today are in various states of disrepair. The balconies and shutters are familiar features, although the chickens, pigs and even pet […]
And then – Lemurs A’Plenty in Madagascar
5 different species of lemur during our forest hike yesterday and then an extra one at night. That’s pretty good we’re told to get five. For the record they were the Golden Bamboo, Red Fronted Brown, Red Bellied, Sportif and the Greater Golden Bamboo. Of course being high in the trees as they are the […]
Scaring the Natives
The road is the community – as it is in much of the developing world and Madagascar is no exception. Villages proliferate along the fringe of the bitumen, and there are folks walking all day long it seems, between town and country. Heading away from the main arterial, the foot traffic thins out a bit, […]
Getting the sweats up in Miandrivazo
After a disturbed night lying in a bed of sweat trying to get some shuteye in Miandrivazo, Madagascar’s hottest location, deep in the interior, but not high enough to mitigate the oppressive heat that sends the locals scurrying into the shade for a good part of the day, it is dawn at last. All the […]