Parc National de Masoala and Rainforests of the Atsinanana

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Parc National de Masoala

   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.

   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 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 comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rainforests of the Atsinanana.

3. 3. Rainforests of the Atsinanana

   Atsinanana is Malagasy for east, and it is the name given to a string of six rainforest parks along Madagascar's eastern escarpment, listed together by UNESCO in 2007. These forests hold an enormous share of Madagascar's wildlife, including lemurs, chameleons, tiny frogs and orchids found nowhere else, and they have been placed on the list of World Heritage in Danger since 2010 because of illegal logging of rosewood.

   Read the complete Rainforests of the Atsinanana write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 203 km into the recorded legs you reach Rainforests of the Atsinanana. Next is back through Parc National de Masoala.

4. 4. 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, late in the day. Next is Parc National de Masoala.

5. 5. 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 at Parc National de Masoala. That is the ride.