Madagascar
Stepping up our game: 4WD time!
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Johan Kruseman
Updated on 6 September 2024
Updated on 6 September 2024
After a first full week of driving the national highway, it was time to step up our game and bring our Mitsubishi to roads where he was made for: Tulear to Morondava. To be honest, I had no idea how roads could be even more challenging since the national “highway” already was a road with more potholes than asphalt where we could reach an average of 50km/h. But now also the few bits of asphalt between the potholes were removed and we were left alone with a 4 day stretch of loose sand, salt planes, grass lands and rivers without bridges to cross.
We were loving every single second of driving this stretch and it wasn’t a punishment that it took 4 full driving days for 600km. Not only the driving during the day was interesting, also the small villages we passed on our way. Our second stop was in some larger village, called Manja. The hostel we stayed was apparently run by children and after they checked us in, we asked if we could have some laundry done. They were almost fighting to get the honour to do our laundry. In the end they decided to do it all together. Our laundry couldn’t be in better hands. It must have been the first time however they did laundry for strangers as we got all clothes back wet in a closed plastic bag. But when we asked them if there would be a possibility to hang them to dry somewhere, they happily ran off to add this part of their new service.
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Traveled route: Antanarivo, Antsirabe, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Andrambovato, Parc d'Anja, Parc National d'Andringitra, Isalo National Park, Toilara, Anakao, Ifaty, Mangily, Salary Avaratra, Ambohitsabo, Andavadoaka, Morombe, Manja, Belo sur Mer, Morondava, Allée des Baobabs, Relais du Kirindy, Belo-Tsiribihina, Tsingy de Bemaraha
× Stepping up our game: 4WD time!
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That evening we were wandering around town to find some restaurant. As both our intestinal systems had been put to the test before, we tried to go for a safe option, not an easy task in Manja where meat was displayed in the outdoor markets the entire
Madagascar
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