Today, 5 days after my arrival, I set out for a first day-long ‘test ride’ on Malagassy soil. From Toamasina I cycled south on Route Nationale 2. The road was paved and in good condition. The (small) portion I cycled has moderate climbs. The countryside left and right is dominated by bushland and young forest. The central mountains can be seen on the west, The Canal des Pangalanes and the Indian Ocean on the east. The Canal des Pangalanes is a series of French-made canals linking natural lakes and rivers along the east coast of Madagascar, stretching south from Toamasina for more than 600km.

Every couple hundred meters there were people riding their bikes or walking on the road. Many greeted with a bonjour or salam(a) or salut and a smile. Many other answered when I said bonjour. One guy shouted bon voyage!.
I finally found a place with no people around and used the stove to actually cook something for the first time.

Right after the village of Ampasimadinika I stopped and returned to Toamasina on the same route.

Cycled: 99km

Locals doing laundry in the Canal des Pangalanes

Lunch break

No rain forest left

Clearing forest with fire is common

During the past days I stayed with Heinz. He showed me around Toamasina, and gave me plenty of tips about traveling in Madagascar. He himself has been out and about all over the island on foot and with the bicycle, as well as (seemingly) all over the world.

Boring day on the boat.

At some point in the evening Madagascar came in sight at the horizon. We arrived in Toamasina but had to wait until long after dinner before we could touch Malagasy soil. Learned that I would only get my bike back tomorrow morning from 8am. Clearing customs was a hassle-free if a tad lengthy process.

Stepping out of the customs building at the city side, I was approached by a guy who asked me in French whether I had seen a German couple on the boat. Told him that I was German but hadn’t seen any others. Turned out he was a German expat himself, too, lived in Toamasina, and was waiting for German friends to arrive from Mauritius. When he was convinced that they weren’t on the boat he offered me a bed in his house for 30.000FMg (= 6.000Ariary ~ 2,40€) per night. I agreed and so we walked to his house in the outskirts/slum-like dwellings of Toamasina through dark, dusty, but interesting-looking streets. Sometimes the road was well-paved, sometimes it was badly damaged, and then again there were only sand or cobble stones.

Heinz has a simple brick house with 2 rooms and a kitchen; toilet and shower are outside in a separate building. I got a straw mattress and went to bed soonish. I hid entirely in my sleeping bag despite the temperatures for protection from the mosquitoes. The high-pitched ‘bssssssss’ was ubiquitous. I even wore my mosquito-net-cap-thingy! ‘bsssssssss!’ The night was kinda horrible.

Madagascar!