Antananarivo, farewell Madagascar
Today a day to be a tourist. We packed our luggage and checked out of the hotel. We arranged with our driver for a visit to Lemur Park, ~23 km away. This was a sanctuary that also took in lemurs … Continue reading →
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Antananarivo, into the big city
We made it to Antananarivo. My bike is boxed, so the total for the trip will be 619km. While it was sometimes busy, we made it to the middle of a city of one million plus without seeing a single … Continue reading →
Ambatolampy, dusty trails
I now know why some drivers and bus passengers were wearing masks. It wasn’t for spreading viruses. Instead it was dust, lots of dust on the road. Today looked easy on paper, 97km with not too much climbing. What I … Continue reading →
Antsirabe, rest day
Today was an easy rest day in Antsirabe. We explored the market, took care of some errands and cycled out to a nearby lake for lunch. Our hotel is in style of French chateau in Versailles and has a number … Continue reading →
Antsirabe, into a larger town
Today was a nice ride on the RN7 to the larger town of Antsirabe. There was some climbing but overall less climb and shorter distance made for a quicker day than yesterday. Hotel last night was very nice, particularly the … Continue reading →
Ambositra, a long hilly ride
Today was a good day of riding, ~96km with a lot of hills. We passed through multiple small villages so seemed like calling out “Bon Jour” or “Salome” most all day long. These are the instructions for hotel guests. There … Continue reading →
Ambohimahasoa, a short hilly ride
We’re in a hilly part middle part of Madagascar. We knew we didn’t have the speed to do the full ~150km + 7000ft climb between Fianarantsoa and Ambositra in one go or even with our Ranomanafa detour so looked for … Continue reading →
Ramonafana, busy RN7, quiet road and a few lemurs
Today was a nice mixed ride with several parts. We started in the busy city of Fianarantsoa headed outbound. Relatively quick cycling and for a bit we even paralleled railroad track. The road was good, though also more traffic. I … Continue reading →
Fianarantsoa, large climb followed by rolling hills
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 … Continue reading →
Ambalavao, markets, zebu and lemurs
Today we stayed in Ambalavao and cycled to the Anja lemur preserve 12km south of town. It was an interesting place to stop. Slept in, we’d been getting up before sunrise to give enough time for longer rides. Rather than … Continue reading →