Blogs from Madagascar, Africa - page 8

Geo: -18.5667, 43.8833Once again...Google Maps is way off...Great...How did you pinpoint the location in the middle of the ocean?...I can certainly swim but not in such deep waters...May I get back on land please...Here is the correct location of Mangily...23°07'39.4"S 43°36'29.6"EYep...sorry...no videos either...it's one of the only far and between tourist places...I don' like to meet tourist...I don't take videos either...I came here to stay at my favorite bungalow at my friend's place, he is the swiss owner of this bungalow coumpound...Very relaxing...I stayed in fact 10 days here and simply enjoyed the ocean and cooking good food and have interesting conversations with my friend...After servicing my motorbike in Toliaria I went on into the adventures that Madagascar has to offer...catch you at the next thread...... read more

Geo: -21.4333, 44.3333One day...I ventured onto the sandy track towards Manja...The track never assured you were on the right track towards Manja...Basically I just decided to follow to wherever this sandy track will lead me...I wasn't sure, I didn't care either...The track was nicely packed sand...It was worth to keep venturing rather than trying to find another better track...I did pass numerous, truly wasn't sure where to go...Thanks God it was still only the beginning of the wet season...I have passed 2 rivers, during raining season impassable...but today...no problem at all...Holy crap...Is that Manja on the horizon? Truly wild western town...There is only one hotel in town or better said one bungalow compound of extremely low quality...One thing I also learned in my 30+ years of venturing...The lowest quality bed always has an extremely unfair elevated ... read more

Geo: -20.7401, 44.0081...Well...It was clear to me right on arrival on the outskirts of Morondava...haha, outskirts, sounds like I am approaching a big city...no, but I remember from 2009 that around 40km before Morondava, people where walking the streets and carried along anything they could carry in order to sale it in Morondava on the market.What become clear immediately on arrival in Morondava itself...Hell, the entire road has been paved all the way down to the beach...Gone are the good days...From now on people's mind will get manipulated by the bad city people...A paved road into a village, be it any village in the world, will change the mindset of the locals to the bad...Indeed it already happened in Morondava...I basically decided to leave that town almost right away...Well, I was very tired from my 500km ... read more

Geo: -19.9, 48.8Being happy about my new motorbike...After settling in with, I got ready for my very first drive on Madagascar's roads...From the mountains down to the coast, it's usually paved...and believe it or not...It has been paved all the way, even the very last piece of road was so difficult on my very first trip, has been paved as well...The drive was smooth and easy...Motorbiking in Madagascar...Truly fun...Well...I am not what you would call call a typical biker who is just loving to ride a bike for the fun of it...No...no way...My reasons are clear to me...I like to be totally independent first of all...secondly...I don't like to depend on others...certainly not those reckless idiots who are allowed to command those buses these days...Well, I have made it through hell rides in Colombia, Ecuador, Cambodia...Brazil...Shall ... read more

Geo: -18.7669, 46.8691 While we were still in Antananarivo Robert thought it might be a good idea to visit the Air Mauritius office and see if something could be done about having to pay overage on our baggage from Madagascar to Mauritius. She must have done something because we got all four bags through with no extra charge. There is a 60kg limit on baggage to be checked. We had lightened our load which also helped. We did have to pay extra on our carry on luggage but glad for the break in costs!Were picked up at the airport and taken to another place to find some wine and beer to have a night cap heading off to bed. Staying in same place but another of the rooms and it has great views of the river ... read more