This past Tuesday we spotlighted the first portion of the itinerary for our recent trip to Madagascar. Today, we will be spotlighting the second part of our trip, which took us to the island of Nosy Be, which lays right off the northwest coast of Madagascar.
If you missed part I of this post, click here.
Day 4: Nosy Be
This morning we took a 25-minute flight on Air Madagascar from Diego Suarez to Nosy Be (an island that is often referred to as Nosy Perfume or Island of Perfume, because perfumes are produced here using the local flowers). One of the first things we noticed about Nosy Be is that the terrain is very different from the northern part of the mainland.
Upon arrival to Nosy Be, we met our guide, Ernest, and traveled to a local restaurant for some lunch, overlooking a bay speckled with traditional fishing boats and dhows.
After lunch we were escorted to our hotel, Amarina Hotel, which was perfectly situated along an unspoiled beach. The design of the hotel incorporated many traditional Malagasy elements, including wooden furniture and fixtures made locally.
Each of the bungalows (except for the top floor suites, which each have a private balcony, overlooking the ocean) opens up to the beach, where chairs span across the entire length of the white sand. The resort also has a beautiful pool, round bar area, and an open-plan restaurant (covered only on the top, which allowed us to take in the warm air and soft sounds of the ebbing ocean).
After enjoying a little down time in our rooms we enjoyed a delightful buffet-style dinner in the resort restaurant, which consisted of everything from fresh baked breads to seafood dishes, and zebu steak skewers to lasagna.
Day 5: Nosy Be, Nosy Komba, Nosy Tanikely
Today was an absolute blast! We began our day with breakfast—most of us enjoyed some crepes with Nutella, bread with locally made jams, pastries, and more.
Our guide, Ernest, picked us up this morning and we headed to the marina for our island excursions. On our way we saw gorgeous chameleons along the road, which prompted us to stop and take pictures. As you can see in the pictures below, the male was vibrantly colored and the female was a burnt red hue with black spots.
After our fill of the chameleons, we continued our journey through local villages until we arrived at the marina where we hopped aboard our powerboat for a trip to Nosy Komba (also known as The Island of Lemurs).
As we pulled up to the shore of Nosy Komba, the beach was lined with stunning handmade tablecloths, hanging from clotheslines. After exiting the boat we walked up a stone walkway where children with vibrantly painted faces were singing a song about Madagascar while one created the rhythm using her hands and a plastic bottle.
We arrived at a tree where nearly a dozen Ankomba lemurs were enjoying their morning snack! Each of us had a banana in our hands and the lemurs jumped onto our shoulders and ate the bananas from our hands. It was truly amazing!
After sometime with the lemurs we saw a boa constrictor, tortoise, and chameleons. We then walked through a little market area with shops that sold hand-carved wooden masks, colorful paintings, woven bags, stitched tablecloths, and so much more.
Afterwards, we took the boat to another island, Nosy Tanikely (no inhabitants live on this island), where we enjoyed some swimming before sitting down to a picnic lunch cooked by the locals. The lunch was amazing, featuring a variety of dishes, including coconut rice, potato salad (Malagasy-style), grilled king fish, crab in a red curry sauce, pineapple, and skewers of shrimp, crayfish, and zebu.
Once stuffed, we relaxed on the beach for a few minutes before putting on our snorkeling gear and heading into an underwater wonderland. Not only was the reef full of dazzling colors, but we also saw a huge variety of fish, including parrot fish, butterfly fish, clown fish, and zebra fish (just to name a VERY few), as well as a sea turtle, lobster, and sea urchins.
After about an hour, we finished our snorkeling session and relaxed on the beach (mostly ranting and raving about how absolutely brilliant the snorkeling was!) before heading back to the dock.
Once we exited the boat, we drove to the city market where everyone on Nosy Be purchases food for the day. The market was extremely colorful, showcasing a wide variety of spices, meats, fish, vegetables, and, of course, vanilla (one of Madagascar’s most famous exports).
We then headed back to the Amarina Hotel where we enjoyed some refreshing sundowners as we watched the sunset on beach. Heaven.
Our adventures in Madagascar haven’t finished yet! Stay tuned for our next post, which spotlights the southern portion of Madagascar.