Nosy Be, N. Madagascar
When we landed in Nosy Be, I was SO excited. It looked so lush already, very very pretty airport, tiny, but you could smell the humidity in the air and the trees were covered with yellow flowers. I re-kindled my connection with Africa instantly. It always amazes me to see how much I feel like I ‘belong’ there – it’s almost bordering on euphoria. The good thing too was that we were just one hour ahead of Paris time so there was no jet-lag. This can make such a huge difference after a 9 hour flight.
Everything is written in French in Madagascar so in some ways, I also felt instantly ‘at ease’... all the documents you have to fill in on arrival (Visas are now free for 30 day stays, they were 65 euros last year but people complained too much and stopped coming and tourism gives jobs to 95% of people in Nosy Be so the government had to scrap it), all the signs... and people’s French is just as good as mine, not ‘broken’ or ‘creole’. Just perfect: good grammar, good accent. My parents would have had NO problem there... such a pity 9 hours is a bit far.
Our guide was there and took us to their office so that we’d have a chance to change clothes before ‘hitting the road’ as we had a long day ahead. We’d been living in our clothes for 72 hours by then and I desperately needed a strip-wash in the bathroom. It was so hot that we were sweating doing nothing. We also needed to get to a cash point as it is forbidden to take money out of the country so no banks outside Madgascar can supply the much needed Aviary. Thankfully, my Visa card worked fine and I could withdraw cash easily.
‘Nosy’ means ‘Island’ in Malagasy, so there were lots of ‘Nosy’ something in the area. Having landed on an island, we needed to get to the mainland to continue our trip. This therefore meant a compulsory boat transfer for about 30 mins. From that moment on, it really felt as if the adventure had begun ! After an hour driving we stopped in a nice restaurant where the food was excellent even though it lacked a terrace or some ‘green’ area. Still, they served some beautiful avocados that were the biggest I’d ever seen, more like a mango than an avocado. It was beautifully ripe and I really enjoyed it. Sylvie number 2 was really keen on prawns and she got to eat plenty of those throughout the trip. They gave us far too much food, we couldn’t finish it all, including a whole tuna each (complete with head & tail !!!) when one for three would have been too much. Dessert was fresh fruit (every time).
We then drove for a further 2h30 to get to the Tsingy of Ankarana. It was a true case of ‘the journey was more beautiful than the destination’. The landscape was just stunning, with so many paddy fields that were a vivid green and patches of red earth and yellow-ish grass that made it look like a constant rainbow was sweeping across the land. It was just picture-perfect and I asked to stop quite a few times to capture this and remember it forever. I always think that my photos will be my memory one day... and I hope that, even if I get Alzheilmers and can’t remember I took the photos, I will hopefully still enjoy browsing through these lovely photo albums that celebrate God’s genius. I was enthralled... I am SO visual that I really really appreciate anything that is post-card like.
We also saw plenty of beautiful red birds (probably no bigger than a blackbird but poppy red). Extra splashes of colours in a very colourful land.
Madagascar doesn’t have cows (it’s too hot for them) and so there were zebus everywhere. All dairy products are made from zebu milk and except for butter that tastes about as good as in Europe, the cheese and ice-cream were quite a bit different and ice-creams in particular, seriously “lacked something”, sadly.
I didn’t really know what to expect with the Tsingy but I realised that they were pretty similar to what I’d already seen in China in the Stone Forest. Same grey weird formations. If I’d been alone I’d have turned round pretty quickly and cut the walk short but as Sylvie was really keen to see more shapes we carried on until it got too dark to see much so I had to borrow our guide’s torch otherwise I’d have been really uneasy. I was also getting very tired as the walks were quite difficult and it was our first day and not one of the easiest.
We left in pitch dark to drive to our ‘kivouac’ for the night. I had no idea what a ‘kivouac’ was but our driver said the location was really beautiful, “in the heart of nature”. However, as we had set off so late due to our having re-scheduled the whole itinerary we never saw the landscape driving in. But I remember it felt like we would never get there. The roads were quite bumpy and we all had a sore back by the time we got to the lodge, esp. Patrick who had a weakness there.
Upon arriving at the recently finished Iharana Lodge (the most comfortable ‘bivouac’ in the area) we were taken straight to dinner but the generator was down so we were given lanterns to help us see our food. The candles, however, would often be blown off by the wind. The food was pretty basic for me, as a vegetarian, mainly vegs & rice, but Sylvie was given some zebu meat and found it really chewy. She couldn’t eat ¾ of it. These poor zebus work so hard during their lifetime that if they only kill them at the end (my humble guess), there must be a lot of tough muscles in there.
I then asked for the key to my door and was told ‘there’s no key... there’s no door’. I looked so puzzled that the guy at the desk laughed and said ‘this lodge is meant to be like a typical Malagasy home and we have no doors, just curtains’. We were also told that the generator would be down all night as they’d run out of fuel. This was a pain as it was really dark in there. There were only 2 lanterns that burnt all night, mainly in the bathroom. They’d also made up the bed with the mosquitoe net on the top floor and one needed to climb some pretty steep steps to get there (with no handrail). In fact, considering it was so dim, it was pretty impossible to negotiate without a torch (thankfully I always have one on me as I’m used to power-cuts being common all over Africa).
I really wasn’t happy with having no door for privacy (I took my passport, money and camera to bed just for peace of mind ! I mean... wouldn’t you ?) and there were also big gaps in the walls upstairs for the air to circulate but I was worried about the bats... not to mention the mosquitoes! Yes, they had put a mosquitoe net over the bed but that’s pretty useless when you have to undress or have a shower (I had mine in a flash it was icy water – no hot water available). I could see by moonlight that we were near the water (the moon reflecting on a mirror) but not much else, I couldn’t wait to see the place by day though !
Well, as we had been pretty tired from all the driving on the bumpy roads, I ended up sleeping like a log regardless, i.e. didn’t have time to worry about someone coming in, or bats flying in, or anything... my head just touched the pillow & off to dreamland I went.
The next day was a real treat though. We had asked not to get up too early (though we had to make up for ‘lost time’) because we really wanted to see the place by day. It got dark at 5.45pm which is WAY too early by my books and the sun rose at 6am. At 6.30am, the light was perfect. We had to be up by then and it was a true ‘wow’ moment. Beautiful peaceful lake with a little ‘mountain’ as a backdrop, and lovely furniture carved in wood, everything all open, a big wooden desk to observe birdlife... and a playful dog for company. I really loved this place and was sad to leave so soon... I took as many pix as I could to remember it as vividly as I could (my photos being my memory). Patrick had a sore back and I gave him some of my Chinese oil to try and relieve the pain. I was seated at the front to enjoy the better view and take lots of photos (they were not as fussed about photos as I was) but it was still bumpy.
When we landed in Nosy Be, I was SO excited. It looked so lush already, very very pretty airport, tiny, but you could smell the humidity in the air and the trees were covered with yellow flowers. I re-kindled my connection with Africa instantly. It always amazes me to see how much I feel like I ‘belong’ there – it’s almost bordering on euphoria. The good thing too was that we were just one hour ahead of Paris time so there was no jet-lag. This can make such a huge difference after a 9 hour flight.
Everything is written in French in Madagascar so in some ways, I also felt instantly ‘at ease’... all the documents you have to fill in on arrival (Visas are now free for 30 day stays, they were 65 euros last year but people complained too much and stopped coming and tourism gives jobs to 95% of people in Nosy Be so the government had to scrap it), all the signs... and people’s French is just as good as mine, not ‘broken’ or ‘creole’. Just perfect: good grammar, good accent. My parents would have had NO problem there... such a pity 9 hours is a bit far.
Our guide was there and took us to their office so that we’d have a chance to change clothes before ‘hitting the road’ as we had a long day ahead. We’d been living in our clothes for 72 hours by then and I desperately needed a strip-wash in the bathroom. It was so hot that we were sweating doing nothing. We also needed to get to a cash point as it is forbidden to take money out of the country so no banks outside Madgascar can supply the much needed Aviary. Thankfully, my Visa card worked fine and I could withdraw cash easily.
‘Nosy’ means ‘Island’ in Malagasy, so there were lots of ‘Nosy’ something in the area. Having landed on an island, we needed to get to the mainland to continue our trip. This therefore meant a compulsory boat transfer for about 30 mins. From that moment on, it really felt as if the adventure had begun ! After an hour driving we stopped in a nice restaurant where the food was excellent even though it lacked a terrace or some ‘green’ area. Still, they served some beautiful avocados that were the biggest I’d ever seen, more like a mango than an avocado. It was beautifully ripe and I really enjoyed it. Sylvie number 2 was really keen on prawns and she got to eat plenty of those throughout the trip. They gave us far too much food, we couldn’t finish it all, including a whole tuna each (complete with head & tail !!!) when one for three would have been too much. Dessert was fresh fruit (every time).
We then drove for a further 2h30 to get to the Tsingy of Ankarana. It was a true case of ‘the journey was more beautiful than the destination’. The landscape was just stunning, with so many paddy fields that were a vivid green and patches of red earth and yellow-ish grass that made it look like a constant rainbow was sweeping across the land. It was just picture-perfect and I asked to stop quite a few times to capture this and remember it forever. I always think that my photos will be my memory one day... and I hope that, even if I get Alzheilmers and can’t remember I took the photos, I will hopefully still enjoy browsing through these lovely photo albums that celebrate God’s genius. I was enthralled... I am SO visual that I really really appreciate anything that is post-card like.
We also saw plenty of beautiful red birds (probably no bigger than a blackbird but poppy red). Extra splashes of colours in a very colourful land.
Madagascar doesn’t have cows (it’s too hot for them) and so there were zebus everywhere. All dairy products are made from zebu milk and except for butter that tastes about as good as in Europe, the cheese and ice-cream were quite a bit different and ice-creams in particular, seriously “lacked something”, sadly.
I didn’t really know what to expect with the Tsingy but I realised that they were pretty similar to what I’d already seen in China in the Stone Forest. Same grey weird formations. If I’d been alone I’d have turned round pretty quickly and cut the walk short but as Sylvie was really keen to see more shapes we carried on until it got too dark to see much so I had to borrow our guide’s torch otherwise I’d have been really uneasy. I was also getting very tired as the walks were quite difficult and it was our first day and not one of the easiest.
We left in pitch dark to drive to our ‘kivouac’ for the night. I had no idea what a ‘kivouac’ was but our driver said the location was really beautiful, “in the heart of nature”. However, as we had set off so late due to our having re-scheduled the whole itinerary we never saw the landscape driving in. But I remember it felt like we would never get there. The roads were quite bumpy and we all had a sore back by the time we got to the lodge, esp. Patrick who had a weakness there.
Upon arriving at the recently finished Iharana Lodge (the most comfortable ‘bivouac’ in the area) we were taken straight to dinner but the generator was down so we were given lanterns to help us see our food. The candles, however, would often be blown off by the wind. The food was pretty basic for me, as a vegetarian, mainly vegs & rice, but Sylvie was given some zebu meat and found it really chewy. She couldn’t eat ¾ of it. These poor zebus work so hard during their lifetime that if they only kill them at the end (my humble guess), there must be a lot of tough muscles in there.
I then asked for the key to my door and was told ‘there’s no key... there’s no door’. I looked so puzzled that the guy at the desk laughed and said ‘this lodge is meant to be like a typical Malagasy home and we have no doors, just curtains’. We were also told that the generator would be down all night as they’d run out of fuel. This was a pain as it was really dark in there. There were only 2 lanterns that burnt all night, mainly in the bathroom. They’d also made up the bed with the mosquitoe net on the top floor and one needed to climb some pretty steep steps to get there (with no handrail). In fact, considering it was so dim, it was pretty impossible to negotiate without a torch (thankfully I always have one on me as I’m used to power-cuts being common all over Africa).
I really wasn’t happy with having no door for privacy (I took my passport, money and camera to bed just for peace of mind ! I mean... wouldn’t you ?) and there were also big gaps in the walls upstairs for the air to circulate but I was worried about the bats... not to mention the mosquitoes! Yes, they had put a mosquitoe net over the bed but that’s pretty useless when you have to undress or have a shower (I had mine in a flash it was icy water – no hot water available). I could see by moonlight that we were near the water (the moon reflecting on a mirror) but not much else, I couldn’t wait to see the place by day though !
Well, as we had been pretty tired from all the driving on the bumpy roads, I ended up sleeping like a log regardless, i.e. didn’t have time to worry about someone coming in, or bats flying in, or anything... my head just touched the pillow & off to dreamland I went.
The next day was a real treat though. We had asked not to get up too early (though we had to make up for ‘lost time’) because we really wanted to see the place by day. It got dark at 5.45pm which is WAY too early by my books and the sun rose at 6am. At 6.30am, the light was perfect. We had to be up by then and it was a true ‘wow’ moment. Beautiful peaceful lake with a little ‘mountain’ as a backdrop, and lovely furniture carved in wood, everything all open, a big wooden desk to observe birdlife... and a playful dog for company. I really loved this place and was sad to leave so soon... I took as many pix as I could to remember it as vividly as I could (my photos being my memory). Patrick had a sore back and I gave him some of my Chinese oil to try and relieve the pain. I was seated at the front to enjoy the better view and take lots of photos (they were not as fussed about photos as I was) but it was still bumpy.
posted by Sylvie at 9:54 PM
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