Parc National de Masoala and Parc National de Masoala · 639 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Parc National de Masoala

   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.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Parc National de Masoala is where the day begins. Next is Parc National de Masoala.

2. 2. Parc National de Masoala

   Masoala is the great green thumb of Madagascar, a peninsula pushing into the Indian Ocean in the northeast of the island, and the national park that fills it is the biggest protected area in the country. The rainforest here comes down to the beach, and the border between trees and sea is almost nonexistent, so you can stand on white sand with palms behind you and coral in front. Antongil Bay, on the western side, is deep and wide, and humpback whales come there to breed between about July and September.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Parc National de Masoala comes up about 115 km into the recorded legs. Next is Parc National de Masoala.

3. 3. Parc National de Masoala

   At the northern tip of the Masoala peninsula, the land swings toward Cap Est, the eastern point of Madagascar, and the landscape changes. The rainforest here meets the Indian Ocean directly, with white beaches, coral reefs and rocky headlands, and in places the trees reach almost to the waterline. This is the exposed side of Masoala, battered by cyclones and strong swells, and it is a wilder coast than the sheltered bay on the west.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 195 km into the recorded legs you reach Parc National de Masoala.

4. 4. Parc National de Masoala

   Deeper into the Masoala peninsula, away from the bay, the land climbs into steep ridges covered in wet forest, and here the sense of remoteness grows. The park has no real roads through this interior, and rivers and footpaths are the arteries. Heavy rain, which can exceed five or six meters a year, feeds streams that rush down the slopes, and the forest is thick with tree ferns, climbing bamboo and epiphytes. It is a hot, humid world where leaves drip all night and the ground is covered in moss.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Parc National de Masoala, about halfway. Next is back through Parc National de Masoala.

5. 5. back through Parc National de Masoala

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Parc National de Masoala sits at 427 km, about halfway. Next is back through Parc National de Masoala.

6. 6. back through Parc National de Masoala

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Parc National de Masoala comes up about 524 km into the recorded legs.

7. 7. Parc National de Masoala

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Parc National de Masoala write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Parc National de Masoala closes the day.