Today was all about getting to Bekopaka, our starting point for exploring the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park. A jeep trip of roughly 210 km was ahead of us – with most of the route consisting of unpaved tracks. Two ferry river crossings added to the adventure.

About an hour into the drive we had a first quick stop at the Avenue of the Baobabs – a short stop for a daytime opportunity to take photos of these impressive trees. The famous sunset experience had to wait for later in the trip.

Around midday we reached the Tsiribihina River for our first ferry experience – vehicles are driven onto fairly basic floating platforms, which then make their way across the river. On the other shore the town of Belo-Tsiribihina was waiting with a surprisingly good lunch at the Mad Zebu restaurant. Odd name for a restaurant (would you go for a Mad Cow restaurant in the UK?) – the food, though, was almost at fine-dining level. A vegetarian dish featuring a poached egg on vegetables was certainly not what I expected halfway through a long day on dusty tracks in western Madagascar. A welcome interruption to the journey!

After lunch it was back to the road – and by the time we reached the second crossing, dusk was already setting in. We reached our hotel just after dark and after a full day on the road.