Le Crique Ile Sainte-Marie (Nosy Boraha)

... out I wasnt going to risk my cameras while we were out on the boat - far too much water - so the pix here were taken by one of the volunteers the day after I left.... the sea looks much calmer.

The whole Madagascar adventure was something I would recommend and readily repeat... but maybe I'd do it just a few weeks later (end August?) to have likelihood of more sun less rain.

... He also showed us how to strip a rafia palm leaf to make rafia - used in so many different ways for clothing and building. It became clear how the travellers palm got its name when he showed us how the leaves are used for umbrella or dinner plate, or spoon or drinking vessel



Island life is still pretty primitive ...

Ile Sainte Marie (or as its called in Malagasi Nosy Boraha) is a small island off the north east coast of Madagascar and it is one of the places humpback whales choose to spend July to September. They come north in hundreds to warmer seas for the breeding season and the purpose of my visit was to whale watch, snorkel and generally chill.

Ile Sainte Marie, Toamasina, Madagascar awayfromitall2

... taxi who took us into town to check out options re flights/transfers. Tamatave is the second biggest town and Madagascar's main port. Its a curious meeting of 1st and 3rd world - huge petroleum storage tanks alongside the roads populated by bullock carts - but its struggling (still not a lot of tarmac!).

Recent political ...

... so succelent and beautiful Shimmering and dirty Wonderful and hot time On your telephone line And God and everything On your telephone And in walks an angel Look at me mum Squatting ****** in the tube hole At Tottenham Court Road I just come out of the Ship Talking to the most blonde I ever met Shouting lager lager lager lager Shouting lager lager lager lager Shouting lager ...

"Né quelque part" - Maxime Leforestier On choisit pas ses parents, on choisit pas sa famille On choisit pas non plus les trottoirs de Manille De Paris ou d'Alger Pour apprendre à marcher Etre né quelque part Etre né quelque part Pour celui qui est né C'est toujours un hasard Nom'inqwando yes qxag iqwahasa [2x] Y a des oiseaux de basse cour et des oiseaux de passage Ils savent ...

La grisaille de Tamatave laisse la place au bleu de l'eau qui encercle l'île de Sainte-Marie. Ce bleu nous émerveille alors que nous survolons l'Océan Indien. Et quelques minutes plus tard, nous avons atterri sur ce petit bout de terre au milieu de l'Océan. Nous sommes ...

... who'd got his PhD in Jersey and who csaid he could help us with Isalo and Kirindy. Back from the zoo, lots of sitting around, trying to decide where to eat - most of us didn't really have that much opinion, as long as it was not too expensive. Chose La Petite Verdot - ridiculous taxi ride there. Driver took us first to the Raphia Hotel (!) with Phil shouting random French words out the window (he'd had a reasonable amount of beer...) Then our ...

... adventure I got out of the room for a bit and we managed to see a bit of the life of Tamatave, which is predominantly a resort town on the east coast, frequented by wealthy Malagasy. Matt didn't know that it was a holidaying town and so was a little confused when he saw so many families walking about together and people on ATVs and scooters obviously joy riding. We made it down to the seashore, where all sorts of little fair games were set up, like some ...

... island, so I didn't get to explore up there too much, which I would like to do more of someday! When I arrived back to Tamatave, it was June 25, which is the eve of Independence Day in Madagascar. It was spectacular to watch the fireworks over the ocean, and to feel the joy of the people as they celebrated. It has only been 45 years, so many people still remember colonization and gaining their freedom....something we take so much for granted.