Welcome to the island paradise that is Madagascar. Over the next few days, we’ll be cycling on one of the worst national highways in the world, the Route Nationale 5 or RN5.
We were inspired to ride here after seeing an episode of The Grand Tour, where the hosts wrestled their wildly unsuitable cars up one of Madagascar’s most notorious roads.
Jeremy Clarkson, who has completed trips like this in 68 countries, even went as far as to say it’s the “worst road in the world”.
TV, of course, always brings the drama, so we wondered, how bad could it really be?
In this short series of seven episodes, we’ll tackle the roughest stretch of the RN5 by bicycle. We’ll then set out across the ocean in a boat that breaks down mid-journey, get hauled to safety by a passing fishing crew, and then ride along a coastline so wild that no car can make it through.
This is going to be an epic adventure!
Location & Lemurs
The truth is, while the RN5 may have been a brutal road, it was leading us into places nothing short of magical. The island of Madagascar has been drifting on its own for nearly 90 million years, and the result is astonishing – around 90% of all plant and animal species exist nowhere else on Earth.
This island is perhaps best known for its 120 species of lemurs. They look like monkeys, but fill so many environmental niches.
It’s possible to hear the haunting, wailing songcalls of Indri, a lemur species that can be heard for kilometres. It’s almost deafening to be caught underneath them.
If we’re lucky, we can also spot sifakas bounding through the tree tops. The way they move through the trees is unbelievably precise and powerful. They are some of the most animated lemurs, too, if you can catch them close up. Sifakas also bound along the ground rather than walk, which is a sight to see.
We’ve also seen the Yoda-like Woolly lemurs, and the ultra-rare red ruffed lemurs, of which there are just 1000 in the wild. A more common species to find is the brown lemurs, which are much more inquisitive and likely to hang out around humans.
That said, two-thirds of lemur species are nocturnal, which means we need to get a torch out to see the tiny mouse lemurs jumping through the trees and the drunken-looking sportive lemurs hanging out.
4×4 Travel
To drive these muddy tracks, you need serious off-road vehicles.
Lifted Toyota Hiluxes from the 1990s were the only vehicles transporting people and goods along this treacherous road. Let’s just say it doesn’t look like the most comfortable way to traverse this road!
River Crossings
Every few kilometres, you find river crossings on this route.
The rafts out here are very simple and are usually human-powered. Sometimes it’s just a bunch of bamboo all roped together.
Summary
With a pretty cosy bungalow by the beach, we were happy to be inside.
We were told a big storm was coming through and was bringing wild weather along with it, so in the next episode, we will see just how much worse this road will get in proper bad conditions.