Madagascar - a place I've dreamt about visiting ever since camping on a Mozambique beach under a full moon and gazing out across the Indian Ocean. Although it's out of sight, knowing that there was this immense and slightly mysterious island out there.
And so, some years later (other travels and work got in the way) , here I am heading that way for some travel and exploration.

My Dad mis-read the name of this trip (every journey needs a title) and chuckled "Hapless, that about sums up all your trips" thanks for the vote of confidence Dad!
In fact it's Mapless, although I am taking some maps, many of the places that I'm hoping to visit are not actually on a map, they're too small and too remote - just the type of places I like.
I've even got a sticker for the trip - very un-British of me




For those still unsure, Madagascar is the island to the right of the front wheel on the bike.

Aah yes, the bike...Thelma- she's NOT coming with me on this one. She's my 1992 BW R80GS, she's done well over 200,000 miles and for the first time I am not taking her, it's just to expensive to ship her over.

I'll be there for three months exploring and travelling, mostly on my own, although my sister (quiet librarian) will be joining me for three weeks of pillion riding.

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

The past few weeks have been pretty busy with getting ready to go whilst still holding down a full-time job up until the day before I left the country

I've had a lot of help from various people, whom I like to think are doing this because they feel
"Wow what a great adventure to support"
but actually I suspect it's something more along the lines of
"that poor misguided Englishwoman is setting off again, she needs all the help she can get"!

First of all Bill Mayers who customised the seat on Thelma for me, and who is someone that realises just what a bony backside I've got, has sent me a strap-on seat. A new BMS Ergo, to try out



whilst those nice chaps at Giant Loop sent me a box of goodies


My excitement knows no bounds as I dig through the contents of the box




Here it all is, now I've got to work out how to attach it to a bike. Some of the stuff is new prototype- if it passes the Tiffany Coates test than anyone can use it!


I fitted in a quick trip to Cyprus to visit my brother, refresh my diving skills and get some warmth!
I also had some new sunglasses from Ugly Fish - the best motorcycle glasses in the world


While I'm away, Thelma will be in the safe hands of Craig and Barbara where she will be having a bit of an overhaul and some TLC. It was sad to leave her behind, but nice to see how happy these two are to have her in their clutches! I'll be getting regular updates.




Ian Coates came down the weekend before I left- mainly to wave someone off at Lands End but I persuaded him to stay for a couple of days, and we managed a nice coastal walk... in the driving rain!


Ian has also travelled extensively, and as we share a surname (no relation) he's often asked in various corners of the world- are you Tiffany's Dad?! We've narrowly missed each other when we've managed to be on the same continent and were even once both in Bulgaria at the same time but opposite ends of the country and I had a tour group tagging along who would probably not have appreciated doing a social call! So it was good to finally met up.

Maps purchased from Stanfords and I was ready to go, once more heading to an airport with full bike gear.

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

It's a long journey to Madagascar.
And straight away everything looks and feels different


That was the view from the taxi. The taxis are easy to spot, they're all beige and almost every one is an old French classic complete with holes in the floor where I could see the ground passing by





Scenes from the local market






The view from my room



The dogs I was sharing the house with



As soon as possible I headed to the bike shop, they're selling me a Suzuki DR 350, which looks good - not that I'd know if it wasn't looking good! It's going to be ready on Monday so in the meantime they said I can borrow something else for the weekend. I've got this Suzuki 250cc (at least I think that's what it is!)

the guys at Motostore Madagsacar have been really helpful and friendly.
Here I am, getting ready to set off.

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

With the 250 loaded up, I had the weekend ahead of me and I needed to beat the rush hour traffic getting out of town, Madagascar is similar to Mongolia in that there is a decided lack of paved roads- just five roads lead out of the capital so it's not too hard to find your way. I was soon weaving and filtering through the various vehicles as I made my way west to the Highlands.



The roads pretty soon got much quieter which was nice, the tarmac isn't bad except for the occasional pot hole.
I stopped for a cold drink from this guy...


The rural villages have only dirt roads and zebu carts- zebu being the African cattle with humps on their backs and big horns, they're used more like oxen as they plough with them and get them to pull heavily laden carts often with wheels made of iron-clad wood.





A dirt track led me to a clearing amongst some citrus trees, the sun was setting fast so I put up my tent just before it got dark (stealth camping at its best).




By the morning half the village had wandered past to say hello...so much for my stealth!!




Moving on I found a lovely spot by Lake Itasy and decided on a room for the night and a meal on the terrace overlooking the lake



I was delighted to find that not only did they offer tea but that it was served in a large tea pot.



I went for a wander around the village and found a laundry line with a difference. the locals wash their clothes in the river, then climb up the river bank and arrange the laundry on the bride railings to dry.



Street food is something I always try. This was unlike anything I had ever seen - was it meat or fish??



The guy selling it assured me it's sweet and definitely vegetarian friendly so I bought a slice.



I liked the way he served it wrapped in a piece of paper torn from a school exercise book - complete with a lesson written on it.

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

The next morning, the view from my window looked something like this...



A typical African scene.
I was on the shores of Lake Itasy, which is rumoured to have crocodiles in it, but this was the closest I got to seeing one



A photo in the hotel reception.

I headed off to find some local waterfalls, and was directed along a small track which got increasingly narrow and full of fesh fesh (bulldust).
I had assumed I was on the route that the bush taxis take, but there's no way that anything with four wheels used this track - and I'm sorry but I was having such a hard time riding that I didn't take any pictures at this stage. I had a couple of river crossings and then I was told I was heading the wrong way and had to go back again!
I found more people AND a proper bridge, I MUST be on the right track now



I finally got to the waterfalls, very dusty and sweaty



but still able to smile

It was like being at a smaller version of Victoria Falls, much smaller



I zoomed in with my camera at the white blob at the top to see this



A couple of ducks that looked like they're contemplating diving in!!

And yes, as I turned to go, here were the bush taxis arriving on the good road



I just had to try and follow this road out.

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

I did come face to face with a crocodile


Luckily it was just in a bar, where I was having a well-earned cold .

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

Fresh back from my jaunt along the Baobab Avenue, we splash out on a meal in town- yep, the Loud Librarian is getting to grips with travelling Tiffany style, when street food rules the way every time. This was a great spot and we ate here a couple of times.

Here’s a close up of the fish that she paid 15 pence for!

Then watched a stand-off between a gecko and a cockroach, no prizes for guessing which one I was cheering on.

The gecko had a go then ran away, to our shock the cockroach then FLEW away.
Cocktails to finish with

and another great sunset

Goodbye to the beach as we head east, for a dash across the country from Morondava to Brickaville.
The usual seaworthy vessels battling the waves - makes some of the boats we take Suzi in look good


Then a quick stop at this shop to get a new mirror - we'd lost our one in one of the sand falls


Almost forgot, we’d bumped into a familiar face- it was Kim the Korean with his bike, and as promised here’s a picture of it for those of you keen on motorbikes. He’s managed to ride the same sandy tracks as us on this bike so he’s doing well.

some random pictures from the road the evening before




as you can see the other traffic is mainly zebu carts

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

Not so many bike pictures, but wow, what a great time we had, it is THE perfect island with no traffic and no hustle and bustle.
Lemurs,

dogs,

palm trees, beaches, fresh fruit and veg delivery to our beach bungalow and final night cocktails and a posh meal.
Sunset and time for a cocktail IN the sea



we had a few tries at standing on the tree, the first time we had some help

but it looks more like a fight

The Librarian went out snorkelling

No she did NOT catch those fish herself

more animals than people on the beach

Cyclones are a regular occurrence, and we even spotted a Shelter Box tent - still being used after the last time a major one hit.

strange to think that this tent has come all the way from a small town near my house - Shelter Box is a Cornish charity that has gone global
www.shelterbox.org
take a look to see what they do - a simple yet extremely effective idea.

the kids did a demo for me


when I jumped, the photo came out looking very strange


this was as brave as I got with the tree


as you can see, the Librarian is a lot braver than me when it comes to heights

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

The kids showed us a new game


no one on the beach except us and Milo the dog


We heard howling in the woods and went to investigate - it was lemurs


this one was quite good at showing off







this JUST missed me



Genuine lemur poo.

Tortoises as well




Giant spiders



look closely and you can see the lemur leaping form one roof to another










no vehicles on the island so the only traffic jam is caused by the geese, though why they were using the bridge when they can swim, I really don't know

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

Loving the wildlife shots Tiffany ,the boabab trees are much taller than ours in Queensland but ours are bigger in circumference.

Hi Noel
I'm heading north now and I'll be checking out the Baobab up there which has a circumference of 21 metres
Can you beat that?

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

Love it ! " my Baobab is bigger than your Baobab"
Not a conversation I've come across often.

You need to get out more

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo