Masoala Peninsula Hike to Cap Este

Just last week, I hiked with three other Peace Corps Volunteers across the Masoala Peninsula of Madagascar, through some of the most pristine rainforest left on the island.

Our hike started in the town of Maroantsetra, on the northern coast of the Bay of Antongil. We brought along one guide, one cook, and one porter. We spent a total of 6 days hiking and arrived at our destination of Cap Este on the 7th day. Cap Este, a lovely little laid back beach town on the Indian Ocean, is the eastern-most point of Madagascar.

Day 1: The adventure begins! Leave Maroantsetra for a short “boat ride” to Andranofotsy. This is where the fun began… first of all, the water level wasn’t high enough for the boat to float, so we ended up pushing our boat upriver about 10 km with all of our gear. We probably would have been better off walking along the road (you know what they say about hindsight). From Andranofotsy, we start the actual hiking. Not far up the road, our porter’s bike breaks in half, beyond repair. So now he’s not only carrying all the food and equipment, but also a bike. We have lunch in a nice little town, Navana, on the beach, where we can see all the way across the Bay of Antongil to Mananara (home sweet home). Then we continue hiking until dinner where we stop for the night in Mahalevona. We stayed with a nice family at the Hotel Sylvana (4000 Ariary/night; 2000 Ariary/meal). If anyone reading this blog decides to stop through Mahalevona, would you pick up my headlamp? (17km)

Day 2: Early in the morning, we start hiking from Mahalevona, finally into an area that feels like the forest. This was the day for repairs… Sean’s shoes were bothering him so he started cutting and burning holes in them. My poorly repaired Chacos finally broke in half… and our poor porter got a huge tear in his backpack (he had already dumped off the broken bike in Mahalevona). We had a pitiful lunch of bananas, oranges, stale bread, and peanuts covered in honey. Somehow back in Maroantsetra we agreed to not pick up our pots for cooking until we reached Ampokafo on Day 3… which actually wasn’t a big deal because we borrowed pots along the way. After lunch we continue our hike to Ambatolaodama. Somehow Sean and I arrived ahead of everyone else. This was the only time our guide got lost… supposedly looking for us. We sleep in tents for the first time under a roof in the backyard of a local family. (12km)

Day 3: We wake up in the morning to the eerie sound of red ruffed lemurs howling in the surrounding forests. After an unsatisfying breakfast of infested cornmeal topped with fresh honey, we start our hike up the hill to Ampokafo. This is the day we come across two Adventist nuns who have apparently kidnapped a child and are escaping to sell the bones of a relative which they’re carrying in a duffel bag. Don’t ask me. Sean, Tom, and Faith are planning to notify authorities. We hiked for about 4 hours until we reach Ampokafo, a remote junction town on the edge of the forest. Here we spent the day bathing in the river behind our hotel, catching up on laundry, and relaxing before the big hike on Day 4. We also picked up a new porter to go with us for the rest of the trip. This is also where we bought the majority of our rice for the trip. (40 kapoakas for all 8 of us for all of our meals for the next 3 days). Rice is heavy. (15km)

Day 4: Intense hike to start out the day, straight uphill from Ampokafo. See, the trails are made for people who are trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible… not for people who want to meander through the forest checking out lemurs. Therefore, a hike over a mountain goes straight up, and then straight down. You’ll find no winding switchback paths on these trails. Once we reached the summit of the mountain (about an hour and a half hike), then we started straight down a path of thick vegetation and inevitably billions of LEECHES!!! Leeches were literally everywhere. We would take breaks to pick leeches off of each other. Not just one or two… sometimes 10 or 15… on your ankles, in your shirt sleeves, up your pant legs, biting through your socks. Nasty little fuckers. Then the rain… we kept on hiking, trying to get into some open air somewhere, away from the blood sucking little bastards… and we finally stop for lunch at a nice spot on the river. Our porters had arrived ahead of us and were already cooking lunch. The rain broke just long enough for us to eat before it was time to start hiking again. We hiked on for another 2 hours, and the rain never stopped. The leeches were in full force on Day 4. Arrival at camp could not have been more satisfying. Into our warm “dry” clothes, a cozy dinner, and a miserable night of sleep on a slanted floor. But at least there were no roosters…. (10km)

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Day 5: On to the waterfall! The day we’ve all been waiting for. The rain let up, and the hike begins! We climb out of our campsite, and start our hike, right into the river. Nothing like wet feet first thing in the morning. We hike for an hour or so up a steep path where we come out on top of a gorgeous waterfall overlooking the heart of the Masoala rainforest. The view was incredible and worth all the leeches the day before. The hike continued and was probably the most difficult part of the trail, up and down steep cliffs, hanging on to branches, sliding down on our butts, across and over rushing rivers with big slippery rocks to navigate around. I managed to survive jumping over one particular ravine, which my guide, in an effort to “help,” pulled me over before I had my bearings. “I think you are angry”, says Dona. (I wonder what gave it away.) Earlier in the afternoon we stopped to check out a group of lemurs (red ruffs) hanging out in the trees. Gorgeous animals with amazing colors. That was about the extent of our wildlife viewings in the forest unfortunately. Other than the birds and a few reptiles, our guide wasn’t real prepared with wildlife information, but at least he didn’t get us lost. We didn’t actually make it to the campsite we had planned on this day… so we slept in a dirty little hut on the river, which was a step up from the chicken coop our guides spent the night in. Mampahinikinika! (“That makes me sad.”- our favorite word on the trip) (12km

Day 6: By Day 6, we’re all a little beat up in one way or another. Sean and Tom are both dealing with blisters and/or bites which have turned into infections and are causing them to both limp down the path. I’ve had a pain in my back for the last two days, which painkillers can no longer disguise, and may have caused me to sprain an ankle (or maybe both), although I’m not sure how or when. Faith is doing fine, and of course our guides could all probably run the rest of the way in a matter of hours. I’m not sure I’ll even make it to our destination on Day 6. Most of the day we’re in the river, back and forth from one side to the other, sometimes we’re in water up to our waists practically swimming. Then at last we make it to Antanandavahely, where a nice comfortable piece of foam is waiting for us, along with a feast of all the beans and rice we have left. This might be the first night I actually sleep on the trip. I made the mistake of not bringing my warm sleeping bag. (12km)



Day 7: From Antanandavahely, we take a boat down the Onive River (50,000 Ariary) to our final destination of Cap Este where we find a great hotel with friendly staff and big fans of the Peace Corps. Definitely stay at Chez Justin if you’re ever in Cap Este. Justin hooked us up with amazing freshly caught calamari, lobster, and fish. Oh, it’s good to be near the ocean!





Costs for the trip:Guide: 18,000 Ariary/day
Cook/Porter: 10,000 Ariary/day
Porter from Maroantsetra: 10,000 Ariary/day
Hotel/Food in Mahavelona: 4000 Ariary/room 2000Ariary/meal
Hotel/Food in Ampokafo: 3000 Ariary/room 2000 Ariary/meal
Extra porter from Ampokafo: 5000 Ariary/day
Hotel in Antanandavahely: 3000 Ariary/room
Entrance fee to park from ANGAP (1000 Ariary –residents/Peace Corps Volunteers or 10,000 Ariary- non-residents/tourists)
+ food (rice, beans, oil, salt, pepper, onions, peanuts, honey, bread, fruit, etc)
Boat ride from Antanandavahely: 50,000 Ariary

In US Dollars… split amongst the four of us volunteers, it probably cost around $100/person, quite a deal!

It was a great experience, and I’m glad I made it back in one piece. While the distance in kilometers is not in actuality all that great, the terrain is rough and difficult to navigate. I would rate this as a very difficult trail… there’s no “trail maintenance” per say, the path is sometimes not visible at all, there are countless steep slippery inclines, declines, and water crossings with strong currents. Rain is inevitable at least part of the trip, and during wetter seasons, the river crossings are probably more than a little dangerous. Be sure to bring good shoes and a warm sleeping bag (words of advice from someone who had neither). The view from the waterfall and nights in the forest under the stars make the experience worthwhile. Swimming in crystal clear rivers, meeting the sweet people who live in these remote villages in the rainforest, checking out forest animals not found anywhere else in the world, and seeing what’s left of a rainforest that is visibly and rapidly vanishing is all part of the attraction. The more I see of Madagascar, the more I love it!