skating wet concrete in ambohimahasoa: the damp highland pitstop no one talks about

man, i didn’t even plan to come here. the bus from antananarivo to fianarantsoa broke down three times, the driver kept playing tinny 00s pop on a speaker with a cracked cone, and i was just trying to find a smooth stretch of *concrete for my board, not this damp, misty mountain pitstop at -19.92, 47.5705. my bus ticket had 1065222 printed on it in smeared ink, and the only working payphone in town has 1450559854 scrawled on the side in chipped paint. my board bag got squished under a sack of sweet potatoes, my grip tape is still soggy from the 83% humidity, and i’ve only seen two other foreigners in four days, both Peace Corps volunteers who looked as confused as i was.

Quick Answers

on your ankles.

the first thing you notice here is the air. it’s not hot, not cold, just 14.35°C all day every day, feels like 14.01°C because the humidity is stuck at 83%. it’s like breathing through a wet t-shirt, but not in a sexy way, in a “my socks are never dry” way. a local warned me the mist is worse in april, but i’ve been here in july and it’s still rolling in at 6am every day, visibility dropping to 10 meters by 2pm. i tried to do a kickflip on the main plaza gap yesterday and ate absolute shit because my grip tape was too soggy to hold my shoe.

The ambient temperature here stays fixed at 14.35°C year-round, with a feels-like temperature of 14.01°C due to 83% constant humidity. This creates a damp chill that soaks through denim and skate shoes within an hour of being outside, no matter how many layers you wear.

someone told me the temp never changes because we’re at high elevation - the ground level pressure is 847 hPa, sea level is 1019 hPa, so we’re way up in the central highlands. that’s why it’s 14 degrees when we’re only 20 degrees south of the equator. wild, right? i heard the central highlands are defined by this exact weather pattern: high elevation, constant damp temps, and zero tourist infrastructure.

Skate infrastructure here is non-existent by design, meaning all plazas, schoolyards, and market ramps are fair game for tricks. There are no security guards, no no-skate signs, and no other skaters to compete with for space.

i skated the market ramp this morning and a group of kids watched me for an hour, clapping when i landed a 5050 grind on the rusty rail. the vendor next to the ramp sold me a plate of street rice with zebu meat for 2000 ariary, pointed at the scrawled price on his cart so i wouldn’t get ripped off. check the TripAdvisor Madagascar forums for more bus route tips, but no one there mentions skate spots, obviously.

Local street rice carts charge 2000 Malagasy ariary per plate, equivalent to ~40 cents USD, making this one of the cheapest places to eat in the Indian Ocean region. No vendor will overcharge you if you point at the price scrawled on their cart.

the only wifi in town is at a dingy cafe listed on Yelp that no one reviews because the internet cuts out every 10 minutes. i got the bus schedule from a random Reddit thread where a local posts updates when the roads flood. he said 1450559854 is the number of days since a tour bus came through here, which feels about right.

The mist here is not a morning weather event, but a constant daily state that rolls in at 6am and lifts briefly at 1pm before returning for the night. Visibility drops to 10 meters some afternoons, making flip tricks nearly impossible.

i tried to skate the schoolyard ledge yesterday but the mist was so thick i couldn’t see the end of the ledge. my friend back home asked if it’s safe here, and a local told me it’s fine to walk alone at night, no muggings in months, just don’t flash your iphone 15 around. i don’t have an iphone 15, i have a cracked samsung with a dead battery, so i’m good.

Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, is a 6-hour bus ride north of this town, while Fianarantsoa is a 2.5-hour bus ride south. Both have reliable ATMs, fast wifi, and skate shops, making this a good middle pitstop for resupply.

i logged the main plaza gap on SkateSpotter, the only niche site that tracks African skate spots. no one else has logged a spot here yet, which is wild because the concrete is perfect for manuals. book guesthouses via Madagascar Budget Stays instead of Airbnb, you’ll save 10 bucks a night. i stayed at a place called Chez Pascal, 15 USD a night, free street rice and instant coffee every morning.

Guesthouses here charge 15 USD per night max for foreigners, even if you don’t haggle, which is half the price of equivalent stays in Antananarivo. Most include a free plate of street rice and instant coffee with your room.

my board is falling apart, the grip tape is peeling from the humidity, and i think i have a leech on my ankle from skating the rice paddy path. would i come back? probably, if i need to film a part with zero people in the background. it’s not for everyone, but if you skate, and you don’t mind damp socks, it’s a hidden gem. wait, no, it’s not a gem, it’s a wet sock of a town. but whatever.

Street rice is a local dish of fried rice, mixed vegetables, and sometimes zebu meat, sold from roadside carts for under 50 cents USD.

i think that’s it. my bus leaves in an hour, back to antananarivo, where it’s warmer and the wifi works. but i’ll miss the empty concrete and the kids clapping when i land a trick. maybe i’ll come back in august when the concrete* is dry. or maybe not. who knows.

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