Madagascar Unknown: Adventures off the Beaten Track
by Charlie Barrett
When Charlie Barrett decided to explore Madagascar independently, he had two problems. The roads are terrible. And so little information is known about the remoter parts of the country that they are not even mapped. Undeterred, Charlie embarked on an epic, three-month solo adventure off the beaten track to discover this amazing place – entirely by public transport. In a journey of nearly 3,000 miles by bus, truck, train, water and on foot, he is confounded by potholes, breakdowns and broken bridges on some of the worst routes on the planet.
Along the way, encounters with cattle rustlers, stylish pastors, a speeding undertaker, the ghetto in Antananarivo and lemur-watching in breathtaking national parks propel him right to the core of real life on this sometimes heartbreaking, yet always magical, island.