Madagascar – Where The Wild Things were.

In a lifetime of sleeping in cramped, miserable, sweaty locations this one probably takes the biscuit.
As I settle onto my Thermarest I get that sinking feeling which surely means it’s going flat. As I sink to the ground, a stubbly rice paddy, it becomes obvious that I’m not in a flat section of it. It’s intolerably hot in the tent but to open it up would let in Malarial Mosquitoes. And now the impending evening storm is sending the humidity right up. Just when I think I’ve hit the bottom the rain finds a gap and starts dripping on my face. It’s going to be a long night.
It doesn’t get much more off the beaten track than Madagascar. There are no direct flights from Europe, only flights via Africa or in our case Mauritius which means it’s not a regularly visited destination. So I feel privileged to travel there with Brad Ludden, Rush Sturges and Josh Bechtel.



And now we’re just over mid way through (125km) our first decent of The Betsiboka river in Madagascar, a trip master minded by Brad. Ludden runs ‘First Descents’ a Kayaking camp for young adults with cancer in Colorado. His aim while in Madagascar is to create a film documenting the trials and tribulations of a real first descent. So for this project we chose The Betsiboka River, Madagascar’s longest drainage, which starts just north of the capitol Antananarivo and heads off into the heart of The Island and is discharged into the Ocean off The North East Coast.



The Myth of Madagascar is a pristine, unique, unspoilt ecosystem. The truth is that the Country has been ravaged by over population, poverty and a devastating slash and burn farming practice that has deforested huge parts of the island.
Nowhere is this more obvious than along the Betsiboka catchment where every hill without exception is scarred by deep erosion gulley’s carrying precious top soil through to the ocean. And it is this that defines the river with the distinct Orange colour of heavy sediment load. A silt load that so high that normal river features are stained with sediment making it harder to read.




But that’s just another of the variables when you chose to explore, no guarantees and no cushy nights sleep. Having spent so many nights in grotty places you’d have thought I ‘d have gotten used to it by now. But I know that The Betsiboka river will soften up the aches, clear the fog from my head and make my spirits soar. The river, the only reason for all the masochism.
And it’s a cracker. After the initial 5 days of flat water the river has begun to gain momentum in its drop towards the Indian Ocean. It’s getting powerful too, the volume ramping up from around 2000 cfs at the put in to somewhere around 15000 cfs here over mid way and providing regular long Class 5 rapids.
In the end the trip becomes a real adventure when we realise somewhere along the way we’ve mislaid the last two maps and aren’t sure where the take out is…
Two edgy days after the end of the map and 280kms downstream from the put in we reach the last bridge before the ocean and call it a day as the river plummets over a 100m cataract. Seems as good a place as any to call it a day.

Thanks to Dan Armstrong for the Photos.