Introducing Pepette
However, when we got there, the guy who runs the hotel was not expecting us. He said he did have availability for the first night, but not for the second. It was such a shame as his hotel looked brand new, it was small and intimate (8 rooms only), had a very clear swimming pool and ... a mini zoo with a pair of adult lemurs (on an island, in the middle of a small pool – they are afraid of water and cannot jump more than 3 meters so will not risk getting wet to ‘escape’) and, far more precious, a young ring-tailed female from the South. She was only a few months old and looked just adorable. She was so soft (as soft as alpaca fur really) and tried to pur and talk like a kitten. She was very affectionate too and I fell in love with her there and then.
The ring tailed lemurs are my favourite and the main reason why I originally wanted to include the Berenty Private Reserve (way South - as they are quite tame there) but doing such a ‘detour’ on this massive island would have cost an extra £700 and an extra 4 days (which I didn’t have). So, to be able to not just ‘see’ but actually hold a baby ring-tailed lemur at no extra cost was amazing for me. Truly the highlight of my trip. I live across the road from London Zoo and they charge £100 or so to be ‘zoo keeper’ for a day and for the chance to feed and pat the ring tailed lemur !!! I just refuse to give out that kind of money for one day.
Needless to say, I was absolutely heart-broken when I realised that we had to go to another hotel due to lack of availability for the 2nd night. I could have spent all evening with Pepette on my lap and I’d have been the one purring... she was just TOO cute to be true.
Les Boucaniers, the next hotel, was definitely past its peak. High up on a hill = no beach nearby. The pool was very small and a bit cold. There were huge gaps in the windows (perfect entrance for mosquitoes) and it smelt of damp. We were so disappointed. We felt that one night at the Nosy Lodge would have been better than none, if it wasn’t for all the extra packing & unpacking involved and the fact that it was too short notice to cancel Les Boucaniers. You live & learn. The crazy thing is that there are far more mosquitoes on Nosy Be than on the mainland and that they have dengue, chikungugnya (still) and malaria. In fact, biggest killer in Madagascar today is still malaria as people can’t afford the medication, only herbal remedies. So, to put us in a room with easy mossie access seemed seriously mad by my books. Needless to say, I wrote a note to NF on my return to ask why !
On a sadder note, Nosy Be is the capital for ‘sexual tourism’ and everywhere we went, when we tried to find a nice place to eat, we’d find couples made of white men (30-60) with young black women (16-28 at a guess). Some of these ‘women’ looked very young. Some of the blokes definitely looked 60+. We tried not to be ‘too’ cynical and hoped that some couples were ‘genuine’ but the girls did look pretty bored and there was no obvious tenderness between them. The girls actually looked very elegant, with sexy (but not trashy) dresses that showed off their stunning figures. In French we have an expression that would have suited this situation perfeclty: “it was like giving chocolate to a pig”... total mismatch as some of the guys were fat & bald. The white guys were also smoking quite a bit in the restaurant – something you no longer see in Europe.
We had been warned not to take any purse with us, just a few bank notes in our pocket not to attract unwanted attention. We ended up Chez Teresa, run by an Italian couple. It took a while to be served as it was so popular but they were very friendly and it was good for me to actually stay up till 10.30pm instead of hitting the sack at 9pm as I usually do when I travel alone ! (but when travelling alone eating out is never fun - if you can get past that, you’re all right).
However, when we got there, the guy who runs the hotel was not expecting us. He said he did have availability for the first night, but not for the second. It was such a shame as his hotel looked brand new, it was small and intimate (8 rooms only), had a very clear swimming pool and ... a mini zoo with a pair of adult lemurs (on an island, in the middle of a small pool – they are afraid of water and cannot jump more than 3 meters so will not risk getting wet to ‘escape’) and, far more precious, a young ring-tailed female from the South. She was only a few months old and looked just adorable. She was so soft (as soft as alpaca fur really) and tried to pur and talk like a kitten. She was very affectionate too and I fell in love with her there and then.
The ring tailed lemurs are my favourite and the main reason why I originally wanted to include the Berenty Private Reserve (way South - as they are quite tame there) but doing such a ‘detour’ on this massive island would have cost an extra £700 and an extra 4 days (which I didn’t have). So, to be able to not just ‘see’ but actually hold a baby ring-tailed lemur at no extra cost was amazing for me. Truly the highlight of my trip. I live across the road from London Zoo and they charge £100 or so to be ‘zoo keeper’ for a day and for the chance to feed and pat the ring tailed lemur !!! I just refuse to give out that kind of money for one day.
Needless to say, I was absolutely heart-broken when I realised that we had to go to another hotel due to lack of availability for the 2nd night. I could have spent all evening with Pepette on my lap and I’d have been the one purring... she was just TOO cute to be true.
Les Boucaniers, the next hotel, was definitely past its peak. High up on a hill = no beach nearby. The pool was very small and a bit cold. There were huge gaps in the windows (perfect entrance for mosquitoes) and it smelt of damp. We were so disappointed. We felt that one night at the Nosy Lodge would have been better than none, if it wasn’t for all the extra packing & unpacking involved and the fact that it was too short notice to cancel Les Boucaniers. You live & learn. The crazy thing is that there are far more mosquitoes on Nosy Be than on the mainland and that they have dengue, chikungugnya (still) and malaria. In fact, biggest killer in Madagascar today is still malaria as people can’t afford the medication, only herbal remedies. So, to put us in a room with easy mossie access seemed seriously mad by my books. Needless to say, I wrote a note to NF on my return to ask why !
On a sadder note, Nosy Be is the capital for ‘sexual tourism’ and everywhere we went, when we tried to find a nice place to eat, we’d find couples made of white men (30-60) with young black women (16-28 at a guess). Some of these ‘women’ looked very young. Some of the blokes definitely looked 60+. We tried not to be ‘too’ cynical and hoped that some couples were ‘genuine’ but the girls did look pretty bored and there was no obvious tenderness between them. The girls actually looked very elegant, with sexy (but not trashy) dresses that showed off their stunning figures. In French we have an expression that would have suited this situation perfeclty: “it was like giving chocolate to a pig”... total mismatch as some of the guys were fat & bald. The white guys were also smoking quite a bit in the restaurant – something you no longer see in Europe.
We had been warned not to take any purse with us, just a few bank notes in our pocket not to attract unwanted attention. We ended up Chez Teresa, run by an Italian couple. It took a while to be served as it was so popular but they were very friendly and it was good for me to actually stay up till 10.30pm instead of hitting the sack at 9pm as I usually do when I travel alone ! (but when travelling alone eating out is never fun - if you can get past that, you’re all right).
posted by Sylvie at 10:02 PM
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