Madagascar's north-east corner is a great green thumb pushed into the Indian Ocean, and the Masoala peninsula is the wildest part of it. The national park covers a vast area of lowland rainforest, mangroves, and coast, and it holds the largest protected tract of the island's eastern rainforest, which is why it is bundled into the Rainforests of the Atsinanana World Heritage listing. Behind the beaches, the forest runs up steep hills in layer after layer of palms, vines, orchids and giant trees.
I have to be straight with the rider here: there is no road riding in Masoala itself. The peninsula has essentially no road network, and the usual gateway is the small town of Maroantsetra, on the bay of Antongil to the north-west, reached by small plane or by long, rough overland journeys on tracks that turn to mud in the rains. From there, boats carry visitors along the coast or across the bay. Any motorcycle story in this region is one of rough tracks, river crossings by pirogue, and plenty of time. The drier months, roughly September to December, are the most forgiving, while the cyclone season from January to March can cut access altogether.
What the place gives in exchange is a sense of living nature. Masoala is home to the red ruffed lemur, found only on this peninsula, whose loud, rolling calls carry through the canopy at dawn. There are also aye-ayes, fossas, chameleons ranging from tiny leaf species to the big panther chameleon, and a startling variety of frogs, geckos and birds. Humpback whales pass through the bay between July and September, coming to breed and calve. The forest smells of wet earth and leaf, and the sound at night is a chorus of frogs and insects.
Practical matters are few, and they are firm. Bring waterproofs, insect repellent, sturdy boots, and cash in Malagasy ariary, since cards are rarely accepted. The people along this coast are mostly Betsimisaraka, and their villages of palm-thatch and plank houses are friendly places, where a polite greeting goes a long way.