Today was a nice ride through a more populated and seemingly slightly more prosperous area. Prosperity is relative as Madagascar is one of the poorer countries in Africa: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Madagascar is a former French colony and that is the most common foreign language. While I had French in high school, my English, Dutch, Spanish and Russian (in that order) is better so I find myself mixing words. Fortunately many transactions are simple like buying something where I can point and say the number.

The first 5km we left town and then bounced up and down before starting a sustained 7km+ climb up and out the valley. A view back follows from further up.

We unfortunately came on a motorcycle/bicycle crash (not us) on the way up. To set the stage, one needs to describe the road as having large potholes, sometimes half the road. Hence cars/trucks often swerve from side to side seeking a route without holes. Motorcycles and us on our bikes can swerve even more.

A motorcycle passed us going moderately fast. Coming downhill was a Madagascar bicycle. I didn’t see the exact crash but did see the bicycle go down. The cyclist was down for a while but gradually sat up, rubbed his leg and then tried to come up. By now the motorcyclist had already left, “hit and run”.

We waited a bit more to see he was really ok and also motioned for cars/trucks to slow. It seemed his knee took the worst hit but not broken.

Now time to see the bike. His rear wheel wasn’t turning as it got jammed in the dropouts. With a small minitool I had that happened to match the nut and some passing women who had a hatchet, it was possible to loosen the bolt and let the rear wheel turn. The metal crank was also bent but pounding with a rock and hatchet straightened it enough to ride. The front rim was seriously out of true but it was at least downhill for the rider.

We bid “bon voyage” to each other and continued the trip. Glad we could at least help him get mobile again.

Another three kilometers and we were at the top to see views from the other side.

Despite the incident I don’t see roads here as much worse than elsewhere in Africa. I’ve got my mirror but mostly requires checking both front and rear. Trucks and cars are patient, the motorcyclists and three wheelers need some more care.

From this point we mostly followed a valley. There was still a considerable amount of short hills along the way but not the single big hill.

We came through more villages.

Here was a case where minibuses stopped and then locals approached with trays of food to sell. We’re even more out that we can see locals. Close enough to trade smiles.

One of the villages had a large church.

A short while later was a mosque. Despite both churches and mosques, I don’t get the sense this is a particularly religious country.

There was some sort of dedication going on.

Basic agriculture.

Without too much difficulty we found our way to the larger town of Fianarantsoa. Overall a good ride.