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 →
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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 →
Ambalavao, against the wind on the mesa
Our hotel last night was also known as a pizzeria. We had a nice eggplant pizza where they first had to stoke a fire to get coals. Overall, delicious. Our hotel also overlooked Isalo National Park. From the reviews an … Continue reading →
Ranohira, over the hills
Today could have been a tough day with wind and hills but we cut it short with a sag to Ranohira and a relaxing afternoon. When we awoke the power was out. Soon enough it was so daylight so we … Continue reading →
Sakaraha, riding from the coast
Today was a long ride, 127km/79 miles from Toliara heading inland. When we woke up, it was still dark. We packed our belongings and had a breakfast in the hotel. Turns out we had picked a nice hotel and had … Continue reading →