Our Financial Director Roger Swansbury has just returned from a 400 km bike ride in Madagascar to raise money for children’s charity CAFT (children’s adventure farm trust). Starting in the stunning capital Antananarivo, the ride embraced some tough uphill climbs to the Malagasy highlands, then wound through small villages, paddy fields, and beautiful roads lined with Eucalyptus trees to Lake Mantasoa. A variety of scenery awaited on the journey including fruit plantations, Madagascan wildlife and Foulpointe beach. Riding for a full 7 days, and coming up against several set-backs, the ride was certainly a challenge. However, Rog and the rest of the team prepared well with a strict training regime at home, which even his children took part in.
Rog said, “I am really glad we took on this challenge – it was incredibly hard work and I had never done anything quite like this before, but I am so proud to be supporting CAFT which does such great work for disadvantaged children.”
“It was definitely a gruelling but very rewarding experience. Not only were we cycling for 12 hours a day, but it was through very humid, high temperatures and across some challenging terrain. Some roads were paved, others were not, and others weren’t even roads at all! More like bogs! But we made it, and only the second group ever to.”
“One of the most surprising aspects of the trip was the pure terror that is Madagascan roads! Driving definitely doesn’t conform to ‘normal conventions’ – and the safety of some stretches was very…dubious! Winding mountainous roads, steep drops, no edge-protection, roads that were muddy & slippy and too thin for cars to pass each other. We saw some pretty serious crashes too – a tanker had driven off a bridge, and a lorry had slipped down a mountainside. Crazy!”
“The most rewarding aspect was spending time with locals in villages, schools and orphanges that we cycled through, delivering kind donations of clothes and toys, and of course knowing that we’d raised money for such a good cause back home. My sponsorship page is still open, so please do spare a pound for a great cause if you can!”
For more information on the bike ride and the great cause Roger is supporting, and to sponsor him yourself, see the following links:
