NOTE: Internet access in Madagascar has been consistently unreliable or absent, I’ve been generally unable to upload photos until I got back to Tana at the end of the cycling trip; and then only slowly. Thus, below is an extremely long entry covering at least eight cycling/hiking days, followed by another entry with lots of pictures that loosely parallel the commentary…

NEXT DAY SEVEN

So last night we had a night hike after dark to look for chameleons. Somehow I expected colorful iguana size creatures. Most of the few we saw were probably an inch or two long, mostly green, although I did see spectacular one that you will see in the photos. Perhaps the funniest comment of the trip yet came from Herb, who said something along the lines of “what the hell is this, a bunch of idiots taking photos of worms hanging from branches on a dangerous road at night in the rain!”

Herb is a great guy, I can only hope that I will be as fit as he is when I’m 79 years old! He’s always in the front of the pack, a humorous and joyful man. He has a vault full of off-color jokes that always bring a laugh. Or a cringe and a laugh…

It rained overnight, and the morning was very chilly. We drove uphill to save the climb out of the valley, then on the bikes through beautiful countryside, on a back road unpaved crossing several very sketchy bridges, and through a tea plantation. We saw many groups of kids laughing and screaming greetings to us as we went through the villages, we would stop and take photos or videos of them, then when I showed them back to them, they would scream and laugh with joy! The reality is most of these kids have never seen television, certainly not the Internet. We continued through the scenic country, finally to the Lac Hotel. 

Lac Hotel is an interesting hotel of cabins beside a lake in a very poor town, owned and built by a Chinese family twelve years ago. I spoke with Bruno who had a very interesting story. He used to live in Luxembourg, his wife is from Germany, they came here for their honeymoon years ago. They had wanted to escape Europe, then ended up staying here and he now helps as a manager at this hotel, completely rejecting the modern culture of always working for more money constantly. He seems very happy and says he appreciates having time to live. Instead of just living to work…

Super funny today… On arrival at the hotel today, speaking to Bruno, he mentions that there are two lemurs on a small island in the lake. They used to be loose around the hotel, but there were too many problems; they would come through the restaurant and jump up on the tables when people eating and such. They will not enter the water so the island is essentially a cage for them. As we really hadn’t seen lemurs close up at all yet, Paul and I decided to take a puddle boat out to the island. We hopped into this barely see where the device that I don’t have a photo of, and we paddled out there. We could see the lemurs on the island easily, and they sort of came to wherever we were to look at us. We got pretty close to take photos and suddenly realized that the lemurs were looking for an escape and if we had gotten the closer they were absolutely prepared to jump on our boat! Not knowing what Lemur might do if it actually jumped onto our little paddleboat, we started backpedaling quickly laughing our asses off the whole time as these lemurs were clearly prepared to jump our way! Definitely a funny moment of the trip…

The evening was the usual group dinner, though I had some Lychee rum and Ginger rum, both tasty! Each was stored in large glass vats with the chopped lychee or ginger filling about 1/3 of the vat. Rum seems to be the most local alcohol, and cheapest. A gin tonic here was 8000r, or $2.50us. But an infused rum was 3000r, or $1.00us. 

Today’s official summary:

Day 7 – Ranomafana – Sahambavy Rise early and after breakfast we have short drive back up the hill to have an easier start to our day. During today’s ride we’ll be off road for 22 km and due to bridges being out our support vehicle cannot follow. Once we meet up again we’ll have a picnic lunch amongst the tea plants the Sahambavy Tea Estate, the only tea plantation in Madagascar. Set in a stunning valley beside Lake Sahambavy, the estate was created in 1970 and produces large quantities of tea both for export to Mombasa in Kenya and for local consumption. We overnight in charming bungalows set amidst a lovely garden and overlooking a glassy lake. Lac Hotel. Ride 53 km/Ascend 825 m. B L D

NEXT DAY EIGHT:

The ride today was cold and not superbly memorable, but maybe that’s because I’m trying to write about it two days later.

I do remember that I slept under four blankets to stay warm once at our destination!

A gray and cool day all day, needed three layers on every time we stopped, while a somewhat pleasant day of cycling, nothing to extraordinary to see along the way other than repeats of the same small type villages we’ve seen before.

Here is the summary:

Day 8 – Sahambavy – Ambalavao Following a delightful breakfast we take a short transfer to the city of Fianarantsoa where we’ll give you time for a bit of shopping before we continue the journey southward to Ambalavao by bike. Fianarantsoa is the capital of the Betsileo ethnic group who inhabits the highlands of Madagascar. The landscape is again captivating with undulations and breathtaking views of vineyards, terraced rice paddies and rocky outcrops. We then pedal further with a 10 km downhill to compensate for the climb up to Ambalavao, the wine region of Madagascar and a beautiful town with brightly painted buildings. Upon arrival, if time allows we may visit a craft shop which produces the well-known Antaimoro paper. Espace Zongo. Ride 56 km/Ascend 720 m. B L D

CAMP CATTA DAY 9&10:

The day started out very cool, but a sunny clear skies greeted us at the start of our day which is always a good thing! And what a spectacular day of riding it was indeed! Sunny and warm the whole day!! 

We stopped before lunch for a short hike into a small forest grove that is home to 30 or 40 lemurs. It was easy to get many photos and videos of them there, a very nice one hour hike round-trip, I definitely saw many leaping lemurs! 

Cycling through ever increasing massive mountains of granite, The last 20k off pavement (bitchumin to the Aussies) on a very rough rutted road but perfect for backcountry cycling on a mountain bike! Finally arriving after a 59k day at the base of a mountain of granite that is a close miniature of El Capitan in Yosemite! A spectacular area, surely the best day of riding by far the entire trip.

Camp Catta is listed as an ecological hotel, they have solar only hot water, no electricity except for four hours in the evening, no Wi-Fi, and no cell service. Sort of forces you off the grid which is a nice peaceful feeling.

In the morning we took a four hour hike around the base of the mountain, through a small village and back to the lodge. The village life is very basic and minimal, people living in one or two level mud houses. Certainly people are very poor here, I feel as if we are Kings among the poor. 

We did learn about many interesting plans, citronella plant, a plant that the leaf can be squeezed for glue to repair tires, Betadine plant, quinine plant, sisal plant…

We are in an incredible area, surrounded by tall granite mountains, in the foothills among many trees and vegetation. A surreal setting indeed. 

Back from the hike for a late lunch, the remainder of the afternoon was very relaxing for a change, I even went back to the room and napped for about one hour. 

Before dinner, we are all sitting around talking, it seemed like it was my time for a group counselor session. Everyone wondered why I was still essentially living in two places, why I hadn’t cut loose of one or the other, Alaska or Oregon, and what is the point of holding onto Alaska forever when the memories of all those wonderful years of raising a family, and building a home and working in the yard and all those things, those memories I will always have regardless of where I live. And where I know I want to be near my daughters and grandchildren in Oregon Washington. Almost brought me to tears a couple times… Herb is encouraging me to work as some sort of consultant to the fire service, he is willing to help me find a way into that somehow… very kind people to try and help me figure things out, but it’s uncomfortable to be in the focus that way…

Today was Lynn’s 50th birthday, Kathryn told us all in secret, and Lucien had arranged some local musicians and a birthday cake and such. It was very nice, and I think she was truly touched and will always remember this birthday in Madagascar. The locals danced and sang, a few of us white rhythm-challenged Westerners got in their conga line thing a few times, but the local folks were really the stars. The manner of dancing was in a circle, there would always be a leader and essentially everyone had to copy the moves of whatever the leader was doing. The rhythms were very fast and I was in there for about three minutes and was dripping sweat off my forehead. I did get a good video of Lynn and most of the others dancing in the circle that I will send her after the trip.

This is a nice gang of people, it was a good day hiking, we learned a lot, talked a lot, and enjoyed the music in the evening. Back on the bikes tomorrow…

Today and yesterday’s summary:

Day 9 – Ambalavao – Anja Park – Andringitra We leave the market town of Ambalavao and get in the saddle for another day of riding further south. While cruising you will notice the landscape gradually changes into open grassland savannah dotted with enormous granite mountains. Bizarre formations of towering cliffs await us in the small natural reserve of Anja, along with superb scenery, exotic plants, caves, tombs and ring-tailed lemurs. We take an hour walk into the park before we leave the road cutting through the Tsaranoro Valley of the Andringitra Range. Our 20 km off road effort is rewarded with our delightful accommodation complete with a natural swimming pool. Camp Catta. Ride 59 km/Ascend 882 m. B L D

Day 10 – Andringitra Massif Hike We start our hiking day at the edge of the granite Andringitra Massif, a rugged range that has over the years become a hiking paradise. It was formed by an abrupt volcanic event that took place millions of years ago and is well-known not only for the world-famous ring-tailed lemur, but also for its bizarre yet stunning rugged landscape, charming pastoral culture, and variety of endemic animals and plants. Due to its rich biodiversity, Andringitra was declared a nature reserve in 1927 and 60 years later a national park. Once we reach Chameleon Peak we can appreciate panoramic views over this rocky highland with a breathtaking landscape of prairies and alpine patches. Our hike will take 4-6 hours and we have the afternoon free for a swim and to try and catch the ring-tail lemurs as they pass through camp. Camp Catta. Hike 14 km. B L D

A HUGE 75k day!

Leaving camp catta, we took the vans out over the very rough road that we had ridden the bikes in on two days previous, back out to the main highway. While we were driving, it was Saturday and there were hundreds of people walking on the ten mile long road road heading towards the town at the end of the dirt road for the weekly Saturday market. It was amazing to see what huge loads these people were carrying. Huge heavy hundred pound bags of rice on top of a bicycle, baskets on top of heads, and you can just see these people working hard every day, and guys like me really have no depth of appreciation for how poor they really are. Our first world perspective, where we all try to be a little bit richer, get our pension or 401(k)’s or our mortgages paid off or vacation homes or boats or campers; even like all the trips I am able to take… Most of us really have no perspective for how poor most of the world really is. In one way it’s sad to me, and another way enlightening and helps me understand my own good fortune regardless of where I think I am on the american relative wealth scale.

We drove for about two hours up onto the Horombe Plateau, out of the mountains and up to an elevation of massively huge plains where you can see for miles in the distance and there are few trees. 

The weather of course got much hotter and we started riding after lunch at about 1 PM. 

At one water break, we stopped at the van under a tree. A family came out to the road to wait for a taxi bruisse van to come by. They had seven kids. Herb asked to take their picture; they were obviously so proud to have tbeir family photo taken by a vazaha! (Foreigner) Sulufu was there and the family asked if they could get a copy, and Herb said absolutely yes, so on his return he’ll send a print and Sulufu agreed to get it to them via their village. (You can’t just email things here, internet access is essentially nonexistent except for hotels…) That was a memorable moment. 

We had to ride for 75K, Herb and Bill and I pretty much stayed together and well ahead of the others, drafting eachother frequently, knocking out that full 75K in a little bit less than four hours, arriving at our hotel just before sunset. We were impressed with ourselves!

Day 11 Summary:

We transfer (4 hours) back to the tarred road to Ankaramena. This place is well-known for its sweet and juicy mangoes and papayas and after a short fruit break we continue the drive to lunch shortly after we pass Ihosy. Here we start our ride downhill across the vast Horombe Plateau towards Ranohira. You will notice the transformation as the landscape slowly changes into a wide-open savannah. Dry grass glows in the beaming sun and the distances between villages become longer. In this region it is mostly the ethnic group of Barra people who live and breed Zebu cattle. The first 50 kms of today’s ride are flat and then the hills begin 25 kms before we reach the town of Ranohira. Our lodge is located at the base of Isalo National Park and have a perfect view for sunset. Toil de l’Isalo. Ride 75 km/Ascend 332 m. B L D

NEXT DAY: NATIONAL PARK HIKING

Our day of hiking described below started at 8am in the fog, but it wasn’t long before that cleared and we had a completely clear day. But it was very beautiful, reminds me of how I imagine Canyonlands in Utah to be. We ended up hiking about seven hours in total, using different muscles but similar ones to being on the bike. Getting back to the hotel bungalow around 4 PM, it felt so good to just be horizontal off my feet for a little while.

Perhaps the first problematic news of the trip, we all discovered at dinner that our flight from Toliara to Tana was canceled by air Madagascar. It is common for them to cancel flights when there are not enough customers. So they rebooked us one day earlier. The main disappointment is that our much coveted day on the beach is now limited to just one afternoon and evening instead of an additional full day and evening. That is disappointing as we have all looked forward to hanging out on the beach at the end. Such is life, there is nothing to do about it, and it means I will spend and additional day in dusty Tana instead of a quiet day on the beach.

Day 12 – I’Isalo Massif I’Isalo is a vast region of wind-polished and water-scoured rock towers, deep canyons, gorges and oases. This huge mountain range is spectacular with its ventifacts, eroded sandstone boulders caused by wind. Our adventure begins with a short bike ride to the starting point of our hike in I’Isalo National Park. In this exotic park we trek through its captivating landscapes of the Jurassic-era formed by millions of years of erosion. On the way we visit canyons, look for the ring-tailed lemur as well as other lemurs that epitomise Madagascar. We can refresh ourselves on the way at a waterfall or take a dip into a natural pool. A catered picnic lunch will give us enough energy to carry on up the canyon to see the blue and black natural pools. After the walk of 4-6 hours we transfer back to the hotel. Toil de l’Isalo. Hike 15 km. B L D

NEXT DAY to Toliara

As we absorbed the disappointment of our flight changes, most of us decided to skip the cycling today and get into Toliara sooner than later since we will have to leave the following morning, a full 30 hours earlier than planned.

We drove about four hours through primarily desert, seeing incredible poverty, much worse than we had previously seen. And in this area, there are only drinking water sources about every 7 to 10 km, so you see people on their bicycles hauling huge buckets of water from the water source to their homes sometimes even 10 km away. It is common to see people living in stick wood huts beside the road, poverty to a degree not seen by me ever in the United States. Though I realize the blue tarp homeless camps that I see frequently in Portland and other cities may be our version of modern poverty, however a safety net for homeless in the US exists, it does not here, and average life expectancies here are much much lower than in the US as a result.

All that said, we finally arrived at our beach resort about 30 km outside of the main town, on a partially completed wide road being built under contract by a China construction company. Lucien joked that anything built in or by China won’t last. There are many Chinese built bicycles here, a complete bike for sale about $80us. The joke is that bikes last six months, roads two years before they start falling apart. I’m not sure how true any of that might be…

Finally arriving at our beach hotel, oh my gosh what an amazing setting. And the first impression I think we all have is really being cheated out of an additional here day by air Madagascar! What a spectacular place, on what is called the Mozambique channel of the Indian Ocean.

Bill, Herb, Paul and I hung out by the pool for a little while, the three girls were in the other van and had elected to cycle this morning out of Ranohira as Kathryn and Lynne are staying a couple days at the beach since they had discovered the flight change a month ago that we were never notified of. Grrr….

Also as a result of the flight cancellation, our farewell dinner was one night early. It was very nice, Paul and Herb and Bill and I all pooled our tips for the staff, Lynn and Kathryn wished to pool their tips separately as they were staying a bit after us. Plus I think Lynne wanted to be sure Suju got properly recognized for his help literally pushing her up a few hills!!.

Lucien was really a great team leader. At the dinner, actually before the dinner as everybody was sharing a drink, he went around the group and asked for one good thing and one bad thing that we liked about the trip so that he can help improve it the next time.

As spokesman, I delivered some off-the-cuff little speeches about each of the staff members, handed them their tip envelopes, we all had a few good laughs, it was a nice dinner.

Here is the day’s summary:

Day 13 – Ranohira – Ilakaka – Toliara After breakfast we continue cycling through the national park with a view on sandstone formations, rugged canyons and grasslands to the town of Ilakaka, famous globally for its world-class alluvial sapphire deposits. After our morning cycle we load the bikes for a transfer of approximately 5 hours by van, with a stop for a picnic lunch on the way, to reach the coastal town of Toliara in the afternoon. Home to the Vezo, a well-known maritime people, Toliara is also as most important trade centre in southern Madagascar. We overnight at a charming hotel elegantly located on the Bay of Ifaty and just steps away from the deep blue sea. La Mira. Ride 32 km/Ascend 392 m. B L D

HEADING BACK TO TANA

Disappointed the trip essentially ended a day early, regardless there is always the end of the trip where the goodbyes begin. So all of us except Lynn and Kathryn head to the airport. Final goodbyes to the staff at the airport, and the inevitable letdown of our wonderful cycling trip begins to set in. 

Here is the summary of what what was supposed to be a rest day:

Day 14 – Toliara Rest Day After the long journey it’s time for us to rest our legs and enjoy our well-deserved reward for our determination, the beach! Soaking up the warm sun and balmy sky you can lie down on the beach while sipping your favourite drink or get in the turquoise water of the Indian Ocean for a swim to refresh yourself and drive off the heat. At the coral reef right before your eyes discover colourful marine life while snorkelling. If you would like to learn more about unique plant life, don’t forget to take a walk through the nearby natural reserve which is known for its variety of didierraceae, adasonia, euphorbia and baobab trees. We have a farewell dinner tonight to celebrate all that we have discovered together. La Mira. B L D

TO TANA

We head to the Toliara airport early. Herb and Bill are leaving for good later today, so on arrival in Tana we will say goodbye. 

Herb is excited that I’m willing to do a self supported pannier trip with him, he really wants to go to Portugal. Later this year! There are several future trips being talked about; Lao, Greece; Bhutan. I really like Herb. 

Bill will spend a day in Mauritius, then head off to Croatia for a trip with a friend of his from Colorado. That sounds interesting, they will overnight on a boat each evening, travel around the islands and then cycle during the day. Another great traveler, I hope to cycle again with him in the future. 

On arrival in Tana, Paul and Rebecca and I will taxi to the same hotel we stayed at in Tana before, however they have moved their departure up one day and will be departing back to the US tomorrow. That leaves me in Tana on my own for a full day before I head to Cape Town on the 16th. I think a visit to the historic palace and the zoo are in order… (Neither happened…)

TANA DAY

We all slept in a little bit as it was the first day that someone else wasn’t directing our wake up time. I went down to breakfast around 730, never even saw Paul and Rebecca. I finally connected with him later, we decided to try and take a taxi to the palace before they headed to the airport. But the traffic was so horrible, we didn’t even get to the palace and we had to direct the taxi to turn around and return to the hotel. 

We had a nice lunch with a glass of wine, Paul and Rebecca are great souls and I appreciate that they invited me along on there on the honey-adventure- group-cycling-hiking-moon. Eventually it was time for them to the part to the airport, happy and sad hugs all around as they headed back to the United States. On reflection, this was really a wonderful trip with very nice people that I would love to travel with again.

The rest of my day consisted of a very long late afternoon nap, wandering around near the hotel a bit, eating spaghetti bolognese with a side of sauteed veggies dinner at the hotel and as usual falling asleep on top of the bed very early.

NEXT DAY to Cape Town

I think I mentioned earlier that Bill had had his wallet stolen by a pick pocket when he was in the market, the same place I had my bag slashed open. He had requested a replacement credit card from the bank and had it sent to his original hotel in Tana because he thought he was going to be back here one day. With the flight changes, he never left the airport once we got to Tana, so he asked me to go to the hotel and get it for him. My goodness, this morning over 2 hours round-trip into town center to get the envelope and then taxi back. That’s just a total 14 mile round trip. With great regard for the Malagasey people, I must say this town is one of the dirtiest and poorest and most difficult to get around in of any I’ve ever been.

Final packing and then to the airport, most of the rest of today will be taken up flying to Cape Town where I will stay for four days with Helmuth and Trish, friends of Paul’s that he met on a recent bike trip.

On arrival and checkin at the crumbling Tana airport, I was informed that my ticket did not allow any luggage, and that I must pay a fee per kilo for my single underweight bag! I paid $132 for one bag! Thanks Delta! And the worst of it is, I have to recollect my bag in J’burg and re-checkin which may bring additional charges. Just like Herb would certainly do, I will write Delta a letter and try to get some/any kind of recompense. 

I know, in retrospect, this stupid bag fee is a first-world problem… And my whining (whinging in Aussie) is a disturbing contrast to the masses of truly poor people I’ve seen here; my photos absolutely do not show the scale of poverty. Perhaps sharing a few of a thousand similar mental images from this trip; the guy in shorts, a torn shirt and bare feet, pulling a rickshaw style cart with about 12 five gallon water jugs (about a 420 pound load) through traffic; or the barefoot guys digging huge chunks of clay out of the river swamp areas to form uncured bricks with; or the moms with a kid just sitting on the sidewalk; the groups of little four-year olds seemingly wandering the town with their hand out. You and I have seen these things before, but the scale and depth and breadth of it here takes my breath away. 

On a more uplifting note, I will always remember the kids voices from everywhere yelling “Salaama Vazaha” (Hello foreigner!) and “Bonbon Vazaha?” (Candy please foreigner!) Like many of my cycling trips through rural third world countries, kids find us an interesting spectacle, even if it is sometimes solely for the hope of a handout. 

Leaving behind the cycling and hiking among the Malagasey, I am enroute to Cape Town for the last few days of this enjoyable and enlightening trip, looking forward to meeting Helmuth and Trish on the east coast near Cape Town.