Tiffany that looks like a hard day!

Reading your issue with getting the rear bogged down even further makes me think of recent TV prog. There was a guy called .......well a guy called Guy, trying to do crazy things involving speed. One of which was to see how far he could ride a motorbike on water, seriously he did it for about 60metres ! ( no joke)
Anyway he was trying to find out which tyre was best for the job and tried several, one of which was a knobbly just like yours on Suzi. It turned out that it was rubbish and actually pulled the rear of they bike down into the water instead of pushing it forward. Sound familiar? So you were probably doomed before you started on that one. I think the prog. was on Ch4 (UK) and may be worth looking at if you plan to return to as much water again in the near future, get some ideas, save on a few ferries.( as long as it is less than 60metres wide)

BTW well done getting it out- first time I did that, I dropped it !

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

Thanks for the top tips! I'll keep an eye out for that programme. Luckily my journey is about to get drier, but then as it's Madagascar, drier is not always better

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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'm glad to hear you're safely back in the UK, and can't wait to read the account of your travels along Route 7 back to 'Tana. I have to confess that although I've been to all sorts of dodgy places, the route along Route 7 through the sapphire mining shanty town of Ilakaka was one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had - and we were in a vehicle! The sight of 100+ machete-armed locals approaching the car face-on down the road was a bit cringe-inducing ... However, that was a while ago. Hopefully it's gotten better!

I didn't have 100 of them but there were definitely a lot of machete carrying blokes along Route 7 - and err, I stopped in Ilakaka - but that's a later chapter...

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

WHEW
Clean up day, first task to dry my wet stuff out, I draped it over the outside stairs and landing; luckily there were no other guests on this floor so I didn’t inconvenience anyone.



Fort Dauphin, the most southerly of Madagascar’s towns and a bit cut off as the road that leads to it from Tana and which is mostly tarmac is controlled by bandits and zebu rustlers – oh yes, there’s an easier route to take than the one I was on, but it goes down through the middle of the island and I’m trying to ride around it. At times as you may have guessed from the pictures, there were a few occasions when I felt that taking the coastal road was not one of my better choices in life.
A chance to explore town, by far the biggest town I’d seen since leaving Tana a couple of weeks ago, it's a port and resort (by Madagascan standards)




The local council is apparently making a stand against corruption, their main action having been to install this box a couple of years earlier, it didn’t look very well used,

I wondered what it would be like to have something like this at the village hall where I live.

Fort Dauphin is known for its surfing and so I eagerly headed down to what is supposed to be one of the main surf spots in Madagascar- to find that there were some good breaks but… no surfers, only goats



No-one to hire or borrow a board from, so I contented myself with some bodysurfing keen to achieve the feat of having surfed in three Oceans and a Sea in four months (Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean and now the Indian)
The goats didn’t think much of my performance and started to head off


a lack of sunshine meant I didn’t stay in long.


As you may guess, I had a strong sense of achievement at having completed the long East Coast section with all its mud, sheer rock faces and extreme conditions, but the satisfaction soon gave way to some foreboding as I knew that I would be swapping the mud and rivers for the sandy tracks that cross the remote desert regions in the far south of Madagascar, this is what lies ahead

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

G'day Tiffany ,i trust you enjoyed Christmas and New year period .
I don't agree with the earlier post about traction in water/mud ,i can see the point if you wish to stay on top of water ,that a knobbie tyre would contribute to the breaking of surface tension ,but this only has an effect at high speed .i think for your purpose the knobbies are the preferred option.
Anyhoo still enjoying very much your blog and look forward to more episodes.
Regards Noel

I didn't linger long in Fort Dauphin, I had the long road west stretching away, a route that would take me through the Badlands - this is actually the only part of Madagascar that I had been warned about, for once everyone seemed to be in agreement, it's an area to be avoided. Ho Hum It's my only route out of FD because I'm definitely not going to go back up the muddy tracks again. I loaded up Suzi and headed off on a fine sunny day.
The track heading west took me through tropical plantations of strange looking plants - I think they might be Sisal.



To my relief, no sign of mud except some small patches like this one in the middle of a village where the local pigs were out and about enjoying themselves


and causing a hazard to traffic as they wallowed in the muddy road.

The soft deep sand took a while to get used to, and there was little other traffic- these guys were the only bike riders I met - they work for an NGO and were most surprised to see a woman riding a bike, AND coping better with the sand than they were!

Zebu were aplenty and mindful of the area’s reputation for zebu rustling and the gunmen who do it, I kept my eyes open. I was hopeful that the locals would not mistake me for a zebu rustler, but comforted myself with the thought that they’d realise I wouldn't be able to carry one far on my bike until I spotted this little guy and his mother

So very cute and so young that his umbilical cord was still attached to him

They trotted off

The zebu are a bit of a liability on the road, often they are just roaming free and have no road sense.
I might not have seen many people on this trail, but I did see quite a few animals, including this fellow

A tortoise which was a bit camera shy

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

While having a sandwich break in the shade of some trees I noticed these funny looking leaves
on closer inspection turned out to be some sort of insects – David Attenborough eat your heart out
The The sun started setting and another tortoise appeared, with striking geometric patterns on its shell.

Again this one was a bit camera shy as well. I didn't see any people, but passed quite a few tombs - nearly all with strange images on them

Some looking like the drawings of a child. The tops decorated with zebu skulls


Having managed to cross the worst of the Badlands without any problems, I was trying to make it to the village of Beloha but the soft sand, long day of riding and my tiredness meant I was making slow progress. Looking out for a place to camp didn’t prove fruitful as I kept seeing huts off to the side of the track. Eventually I spotted a guy coming out of a small compound and asked him if I could camp there- he smiled and opened the gate. It was a bare looking place and I realised no-one else was around which felt odd, but selected a flat spot of ground and put up my tent, whilst Landry (he’d introduced himself) watched my every move with great interest.

Landry then brought over a rusty bucket of water from the well in the ground to have a wash, to be honest I felt too tired, but knowing that being clean is important to the people here, I used the water to wash the dust off. The locals strip and wash naked in the rivers but I kept shorts and bra on, as he squatted just three feet away watching as I washed.
He then disappeared into the dark and I retreated to my tent for a dinner of processed cheese and crisp sandwiches.

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

Early morning and I could see my surroundings more clearly, it actually looks more like a building site than a tropical part of Africa.
I used the rest of the water in the bucket to have a quick wash



The cactus started to appear beside the track



and my only company at this point are the birds, I came upon a treeful of yellow headed hammer birds who weave intricate nests






The only other traffic I see apart from zebu carts are trucks like this one, a "camion-brousse", or bush truck, the only form of public transport which as you can see carry everything from people to commercial goods, somehow cramming it all in and on the truck.




The heat is intense and in an attempt to keep cool, I stop regularly to wet my gloves, t-shirt and also my trousers



Some respite in a village where the weekly market was taking place, people watching at its best as I sat in the shade eating rice and beans, and to my delight found a place that had semi-cold drinks

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

For some reason, I'd been feeling unwell most of the day and didn't want to push myself too hard on what is notoriously a "road" with difficult conditions. I was having regular breaks and stops when I could - parking up by the side of the road and eating mangoes- my favourite fruit and they were now in season.
This lone cyclist passed during one such break





I'd taken this picture as well to show that I was back in muddy conditions, thankfully not as wet as the east coast and also a very different colour.

The sun was getting low as I arrived into a large village, the children gathered excitedly around my bike,


once I got my camera out, others started to arrive




This was the biggest and grandest building I had seen since leaving Fort Dauphin two days earlier



A surreal sight after the bare desert I'd been riding through, and also a surprise as my Lonely Planet guidebook described this particular village as "looking like it had suffered an air raid" - that wasn't the impression I had from the village and I wondered if the guidebook author had actually been there!

An African sunset

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

Breakfast was served up by this smiling woman



As usual, I'm not entirely sure what it is I'm eating but it tastes OK - some sort of tapioca cakes.
The road is quiet - in fact so quiet I wonder if I'm on the right track, the only other person is this guy - the way he wears his shawl is fascinating - I haven't seen people dressed like this since staying with the Shuburu tribe in northern Kenya




I catch up with this "camion brousse" which reassures me that yes, I must be on the right track.



I follow it into the village



It's market day and pretty busy as people have walked in from miles around.

Zebu carts jostle for space



People swarm all over the bus as they unload it

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

The road out of the village was fairly crowded with zebu and carts , all heading west



The villages once again consist of simple huts






I stop for a much needed break and refreshments, sharing the sole bench seat with this guy



It all looks quiet, but what you can't see from this picture is what stands in front of me, once more my every move is being watched and villagers have come flocking over to see the bizarre spectacle of a vazaha (foreigner) drinking tea. They packed in under the shelter for front row views!



The young woman in blue was particularly interested and could speak good french and so I offered her a go with my camera with this result...

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

Fuel stops had been scarce, so I was pleased when I found out that this guy sells petrol



His wife was sporting the best Princess Leia hair-do I had seen so far this trip


Her kitchen was quite a sight as well



I had a sort of stir-fry dish, unidentifiable veggies and noodles, with a dubious cold drink, and then, Suzi didn't want to start. I tried and tried, but she wasn't keen. I headed back into the shade to have a cold drink- except it was hottest coke I've ever had the misfortune to taste! The whole village was muttering about the sad state of affairs- the moto is broken "what is the vazaha going to do?"

A bus pulled into the village with the usual heaving mass of humanity inside it and on the roof, the usual mountain of luggage, along with something that caught my eye



I took a photo with the thought that if Suzi really will not start, I'll just have to tie her onto a bus like this- and I'll use the photo to show the guys how to do it.
I'm not sure if it was the threat of such a humiliating scene for Suzi, but she immediately leapt into life at the next press of the button.

I was pretty excited at this point as I realised I was getting to the end of the sand, and if things didn't get too tricky I might even make it to Tulear- the major town on the south west coast. the thought of a cold spurred me through the dust and sand.
I paused only briefly to get a photo here


Yep, the Tropic of Capricorn, I'd been parallel with it for a while and now here I was crossing it- as a Capricorn I always get a thrill when I see these signs. I had crossed the Tropic on the east coast somewhere, but either the mud or the rain had obscured any sign - if there was even one there which I doubt as it's such a remote road. The road started to improve and to my surprise at the next river, there was that rarest of sights... a bridge


Soon after that I reached the tarmac, I almost wept with relief- no more sand for a while and I was clear of the Badlands. I pressed on- virtually able to smell the ...
making it to the coast and a beachside table where I watched the sun set over the Mozambique Channel



There's an almost indescribable feeling and mixture of emotions when reaching safety and civilisation after days of struggling through the intense heat and the sand. I felt as if this hard stretch had started weeks ago when I left the last bit of tarmac on the east coast, heading south. From here on I'd be riding north for a while.

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

My relief at reaching the coast and knowing there was no more sand for several hundred miles was immense and so I had a mini-holiday to celebrate and for some much needed rest, I could tell I'd lost weight as well over the past few weeks.
Down to the beach I headed


And a ride in a zebu cart with a difference


Yep, straight out to sea
Incredibly they use the carts to transport goods and people to and from the speedboats.


sometimes going quite deep


I stayed down the coast in a beachside hut

once more there were very few tourists around. I walked, snorkelled and swam a lot.
My favourite eating place was the Auberge Tintin, with a surreal fence made to look like crayons, where I would sit and drink cold s until the mud wrestling became a distant memory

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

Life is pretty simple in the villages along the coast, fishing and making boats seem to be the main occupations



Boats are used for transporting most things as the roads along the coast are extremely poor or non-existent. This was an entertaining bit of sea cargo, some sheep and goats being off-loaded


And then having to be dragged one by one to the shore


The women have a yellow mud pack type mask that they apply to their faces to protect their skin from the sun and the elements, for once I was a bit too chicken to try it



At first they look more like zombie faces.

It was time for me to get back on the bike,
first the zebu cart to get out to sea


then the speed boat to head back to Tulear


my R&R were over and I was starting to get concerned about the wet season starting in the north - everyone was shaking their heads when I said that I had left the north until the end...it can't be worse than the east...can it

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