Masoala is the biggest national park in Madagascar, a huge peninsula of rainforest, mangrove and coral reef in the north-east of the island, and it is listed by UNESCO as part of the Rainforests of the Atsinanana, a group of eastern reserves that hold some of the richest wildlife on earth. Rain falls here all year, and the forest is thick, dark and loud with life. Red ruffed lemurs, found nowhere else, move high in the canopy, and the aye-aye, the strange nocturnal lemur with long fingers, lives in the trees. Chameleons, tomato frogs, leaf-tailed geckos and a dazzling collection of birds fill the undergrowth.
The park meets the sea in a coastline of white beaches, rocky headlands and fringing reef, and in winter humpback whales come to calve in the Bay of Antongil to the west. Much of the land beyond the coastal fringe is only reached by boat or on foot, so Masoala is not a place for riding a motorbike inside the park. The ride here is to the edge of the forest, and the adventure belongs to the trails.
Antalaha, a port town of about thirty-four thousand people, is the capital of the vanilla coast. The vanilla orchid was brought to Madagascar from Mexico, and its pods are cured by hand in the sun, a long process that makes the sweet smell of the air around the town in the season. The surrounding area produces a large share of the world's vanilla, and the economy rises and falls with its price, as does the safety of the crop, which is sometimes guarded by farmers against thieves.
The road conditions in this region are tough. The national roads in the north-east are partly paved and partly broken, with deep potholes, washed out sections and fords, and cyclones between January and March can cut them off entirely. The dry season, roughly from September to December, is the best time, though rain can fall at any moment. A rider here should be self-sufficient, with spare parts, a good tool kit and patience. Fuel is available in Antalaha but is not reliable outside the larger towns, so fill up whenever possible. Local meals are simple: rice, fish and zebu meat with tomato and chilli sauce, often served with fresh tropical fruit.