Nosy Be, Madagascar (Friday, February 19)

After two full days at sea, this morning we sighted Madagascar on approach to Nosy Be.  “Nosy” is “island” in the Malagasy language.  A local dialect of French is commonly spoken on the island.

Our first day at sea after leaving Maputo, Mozambique, Pam banged the sliding door to our balcony on her thumb, instantly painful and causing the thumb to swell and turn purple over a period of hours.  The next morning a quick visit to the ship’s doctor to relieve some of the internal pressure made her considerably more comfortable.  The thumb has remained tender and purple, but the doctor predicts no lingering problem. Other than Pam’s accident, the passage was uneventful with calm seas. 

Accident re-enactment by ship's security

We are now well north of the Tropic of Capricorn (~13.5^o south x 47.8^o east).  The weather is hot and humid, challenging the ship’s air conditioning system, but it has so far handled the load reasonably well. 

Our port of call on the island had the dubious name of Hell-Ville, “ville” being the word for town in French. 

As we arrived in the harbor, the weather looked a bit ominous.  Fortunately, this proved not to be a problem, although being rained on might have been refreshing.

As soon as the ship anchored, small boats started gathering around offering bananas, scarves, fish, etc.  I never figured out exactly how they thought they were going to sell things to us way up high with them way down low, but this logistical dilemma did not seem to dampen their enthusiasm.

INSIGNIA could not dock, necessitating the use of the ship’s tenders to go ashore.  Given the aforementioned hot, humid conditions, being packed in like sardines for the ride was warm. 

Once ashore, we met our guide – Solange.  Although warm enough that she was perspiring even though she had lived there all her life, it turned out that the ‘Hell” in Hell-Ville was in honor of a French general.  I meant to ask her if his first name was Lucifer?

Loaded into a 19-passenger mini-bus cooled(?) by open windows, we headed out. 

Our first stop was the municipal market.  We wandered the aisles checking out the fruits, vegetables, spices, fish, poultry and meats available.  We saw crabs caught in mangrove swamps.  They were covered in mud, which our guide assured us meant they could go up to a week without refrigeration.  The meat was not refrigerated nor covered with mud, although there were quite a few flies on it, so one assumed a shorter shelf-life.  As of poultry, it was so fresh it was still alive.

We stopped in a grove of deformed trees.  We were told that these were ylang-ylang trees, the flower of which was a major ingredient of high-end perfumes such as Chanel #5. 

It takes a huge number of flowers to make a small amount of the liquid.  The trees are pruned and shaped into their grotesque configuration to make it easier for the flowers to be picked.

ylang-ylang trees and their yellow flowers

Disembarking the ship’s tender and every time we stepped off the bus, we were greeted by people selling things.  At one stop this included having one’s picture taken with a lemur.  Pam could not resist.

Our next stop was a typical Madagasy house.  It was certainly a typical tourist trap house, but interesting nevertheless.  It was very simple, but had two bedrooms, a common area and a small kitchen that consisted solely of a cooking hearth that no doubt came in handy for incinerating meat until it was, relatively speaking, safe to eat.   Thankfully the typical house did not include samples of a typical meal.

on the back or on the head

atypically typical house

defunct sugar refinery

The bus followed the road up Mont Passot which peaks at about 1,000 feet.  From there we could see the coast and several of the eleven sacred crater lakes.  We were told that water was always in abundance on Nosy Be, flowing from the sacred lakes that were filled by rain.  The people respected the lakes by never going in them.  Not doing so was a combination of religion, superstition and tradition.  For those who needed more a tangible motivation to stay out of the water, the deterrent was that the lakes were full of crocodiles. 

As we rolled back down the mountain, our driver spotted a goggle-eyed chameleon sunning itself on a leave by the side of the road. 

We drove to a nice hotel for refreshments.  Pam could not resist putting her feet in the water of the Indian Ocean.  She was surprise at the warmth of the water. 

After leaving the hotel, followed by a predictable stop for souvenir shopping, we returned to the pier and then to ship.

Although the heat and humidity were uncomfortable, as we sat in our air conditioned stateroom we agreed it was a good tour.