Difference between revisions of "Vohemar to Mazava by bike"

Revision as of 11:41, 4 February 2020

Vohemar to Mazava is a part of a best bike routes with indescribably beautiful scenery along the whole way. With the exception of a few hills, it's mostly flat and straight biking on tarred road in excellent condition with the odd potholes which are more a nuisance for cars than bikes. Every few kilometres there's a small village with friendly locals greeting bypassers.

The traffic is minimal especially especially during the rainy season from December until June with only a few crowded taxi-brousses and freight trucks throughout the day making it relatively safe for reptiles to cross the road without being flattened.

There are no tourists, although this will likely change in coming years once the infamous and often impassable RN5 between Ambilobe and Vohemar becomes completed. Meanwhile, the area and main road remains relatively isolated without tourist buses or wastefully half-empty 4x4 cars chauffeur-driven cards.

Mazava is an unknown and so-far unmapped village located four kilometres south of Ampanefena halfway between Vohemar and Sambava. However, as none of the four hotels in Ampanefena offer particularly good value accommodation the best option is to stay at Maison Zaza in Mazava where vanilla farmers Mr and Mrs Zaza offers five bungalows on their property, two of them with a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape (still in construction in 2020).

The adjacent restaurant and bar serves zebu brochette and specially ordered meals if requested in advance. Maison Zaza is a regular meeting place for locals with karaoke events on weekends and sporting events being shown on a large TV screen in the restaurant area.

File:Vohemar-Mazava by bike map 002.jpg

Tour data
Distance: 48.5 miles
Duration: 8 hours, 1 minutes, and 12 seconds
Average Speed: 6.0 mph
Minimum Elevation: 32 feet
Maximum Elevation: 237 feet
Total climb: 845 feet
Total descent: 961 feet

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