Unlikely Rides: Skateboarding in Madagascar

Madagascar. Hardly the first destination that comes to mind when planning an overseas skate trip. In fact, it wouldn’t even make the top 100, let alone top 10, but perhaps that’s what made it worth exploring. A crew of international skaters, from the US, Germany, Russia and the UK decided to take the trip to this west African island and see what they could find to skate. Visiting skaters like Brian Dolle, Denny Pham, Barney Page, Nestor Judkins, Kirrill Korobkov, Gosha Konyshev and Wilko Grüning ride in the video, along with a whole bunch of local shredders who happily show them to the best spots.

The Local Scene

You might be surprised to know that there is a solid skateboarding scene in Madagascar, concentrated in the capital city of Antananarivo, or Tana for short. As for visiting skaters, the local crew had never seen other skaters come to the city before the guys in this video. It just goes to show how overlooked Madagascar is as a skateboarding destination, but that shouldn’t come as a big surprise. For skaters who are used to smooth skateparks, perfect rails and sweet street spots, attempting to skate seriously in Madagascar requires you to look at your options in a different light. A set of stairs that wouldn’t even make you look twice back home could end up being somewhere to session for an hour or two in Madagascar. The skating is hard here, but it makes it all that more satisfying when nailing tricks. Check out part one of the video next:

Antananarivo Skate Spots

Rough around the edges is one way to describe the skate spots in the Madagascan capital, and certifiably crusty is another. Smooth gravel-free roads aren’t the norm here, and the crazy traffic makes things even more difficult. But that is not putting off the local skaters here, and to find out more about the skate spots in the city head over to the Akama Skate blog, all about Malagasy skateboarding. Here you can check out local videos, photos and articles about what is going on in Madagascar’s skateboarding scene.

Making the Video

It’s thanks to filmmaker and producer Patrik Wallner that we have this awesome documentation of what could well be the first pro skate trip to Madagascar. Lev Maslov was the photographer on location, and of course there would be no skating to watch without the riders. To see the guys skating down the Avenue of the Baobabs check out part two of ‘Melodies for the Lemurs’ next: