Madagascar - Part One - Nosy Be

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3

 

Arrived after a 25 plus hour journey to Antananarivo, Madagascar - I’m starting to realize my old body can’t handle the red eye nearly as well as it used to - but we got such an incredible deal on the flights I won't complain.

The flights were relatively dull until we reached our final destination about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday when one of our bags failed to arrive on the conveyor belt with the others.  Fortunately, there were about thirty other people awaiting bags as well - turns out it just took an hour for them to make it inside.  This was our first taste of “Malagasy time” - nothing happens quickly - and this will be a recurring theme throughout our trip.

My friend Steve Bremner was there to pick us up and take us back to his house.  Steve and I went to BYU together and performed in “110 in the Shade” my junior year.  GREAT memories.  We met up about a year ago when he was passing through Washington DC between work assignments and he and his wife Micah invited us to visit them in Madagascar - so I kept my eyes on flights and now here we are! 

 

As we drove through the mostly quiet streets, we passed the occasional hand pulled cart with goods and hundreds of stray dogs all along the roadside.  Many of the people we passed were barefoot and those not pulling carts carried their goods balanced expertly on their heads.  Steve had returned from the U.S. only the night before, so he was as jet lagged as we were - and thoughtfully led us straight to the guest room for a glorious night of sleep. But not before sneaking the 48 bags of chocolate chips we brought for our hosts into the kitchen - apparently that’s one of the only things you can’t get via APO mail so we brought a whole suitcase full!

 Although there isn’t a huge risk of malaria in Tana, he suggested we still sleep under the mosquito netting because they tend to buzz around your ear and interrupt your sleep - which is exactly what we did.  He also told us not to drink the water and to brush our teeth with bottled water - advice we also followed.

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

 

After MUCH NEEDED sleep we got our first taste of the city heading back to the airport for our flight to Nosy Be. The streets were absolutely OVERFLOWING with life.  People walking everywhere completely unbothered by traffic - handcarts - tuk tuk taxis - scooters and bicycles - women with enormous parcels on their head and a baby on their hip - feral chickens and dogs - little roadside stands all along the road with people selling their wares (be it food or fruit or car parts….)  Everyone seemed super laid back and unhurried - and I was struck with the fact that I didn’t see a single white face the entire drive from Steve’s villa to the airport. 

 

There is lots of honking, and though the traffic wasn’t quite as chaotic as India, it came close. There seemed to be a language to the honks - a quick honk to let someone know you were passing on their left - a little longer honk to say hello to a fellow traveler you know - a long honk to indicate irritation in someone not following the rules.

 

We passed houses that were framed with sticks rather than lumber, and tons of tin huts along the river - poverty is everywhere, and as a result they do have issues with crime and homelessness - but for the most part, the people are kind and hardworking.  All the hustle and bustle meant that the taxi barely moved and it took eons to get to the National terminal - but it made sense why Steve says nothing happens quickly in Madagascar.

 

After checking in for our flight, we sat down in the terminal to relax until boarding.  Shortly after, the airport power went out and thrust the room into partial darkness.  Nobody gasped.  Nobody even blinked.  It was so bizarre - as if this is something that happens all the time so why worry about it.  Flights continued to board without delay and the power returned about 20 minutes later.

 

When it was our time to board we exited the terminal and I swear to you, we had to walk about a half mile to get to the airplane - it was a beautiful night so it wasn’t a bother.  The flight to Nosy Be took about an hour and forty five minutes but once again my bag was the last one to appear after everyone else had collected theirs and left.  (Starting to get a complex about this…)  We were met at the airport by our pre-booked taxi who took us to our hotel on Ambrondrona Beach.  

 On the drive from the airport Damian got violently sick and we had to pull over - I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that ill, actually.  Fortunately I brought some ginger chews and some dramamine, but he was absolutely miserable.  We believe it was the anti-malarial drugs that simply messed up his stomach combined with the crazy roads and the driver weaving around tuk tuks and scooters - but whatever it was, it was NOT pretty.

 

Our hostess, Angeline, met us and walked us through the apartment and the rules.  She spoke no English - we spoke no French - but thanks to Google translate, we were able to sort it out.  Damian got straight into bed and I went out on the beach in search of some dinner and found a really lovely restaurant  just a few hundred feet from our back porch.  I grabbed a quick bite, went back to the room and fell into a deep sleep.

 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th

Friday morning it was obvious that Damian was still far too sick to head out on a dive boat, so I cancelled the reservation with Scuba Nosy Be (conveniently located 50 feet from our back porch) and tried to change our flights back to Antananarivo to Sunday so we’d have another chance on Saturday, but ZERO luck there.  While Damian spent the day recovering in bed, I walked out along the beach, sauntered up to the main road to buy water and biscuits, and spent the day feeding the stray dogs along the beach.  There were ALOT of them and over the next two days they began to follow me around like the pied piper of Hamlin - one in particular “Stumpy” had obviously broken his back leg and it had healed badly, but he was still able to run on three legs. Then there was Mama Red - skin and bones, but with swollen teats.  “Chill” who was content to wait his turn, and “Snappy” who wasn’t.  It was a wonderful way to spend the day, but at the end of the day I was COVERED in what turned out to be sand fly bites - my legs looked like I had smallpox.

 

Sitting on the back porch watching the waves and waiting for Damian to wake up, two women with baskets on their head walked by selling fresh fruit - so I bought a mango just because they were so charming. This caused everyone else within viewing distance trying to sell something to run up to the deck - fruits, fish, trinkets, souvenirs...

 

When Damian finally arose after noon, he wasn’t in the mood to eat so I walked back down to the beach bar for a club sandwich (with seven dogs in tow) then watched Project Runway on the beach.  Knowing we weren’t able to change the flights, we booked a snorkel trip for tomorrow so we’d be able to get in the water, then grabbed an early dinner and went to sleep.

 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th

 

Damian was feeling MUCH better on Saturday when our guide Julien picked us up at the hotel.  There was nobody else on the tour, so along with our driver and Julien’s daughter Julienna we headed north about twenty minutes and caught a boat to Sakatia Island.  To say this was a snorkel CRUISE (as outlined in the flyer) is QUITE a stretch - it was a tiny little dinghy with an outbound motor that looked about as old as I am.  Nonetheless, it got us to the island and our first stop where we jumped in the crystal clear water with giant sea turtles.  Honestly, the reefs were beautiful but the turtles were just magnificent.  We spent about half an hour there then got back in the boat and tottled over to another reef where there were tons of little fish and sea life - pretty, but disappointing after the turtles.

 

From there, we took the boat to shore and visited Sakatia village - an obvious tourist trap with little booths set up along the beach selling souvenirs and trinkets.  We weren’t interested in shopping, so Julien took us on a little tour and told us a bit about the island.

 

For a start, there is no electricity on the island whatsoever - 300 people live there full time and a handful of makeshift houses have solar panels to run lights in the evening.  Julien showed us pretty much every plant we walked by and talked about it’s uses - i.e. Jackfruit cures constipation, lemongrass tea puts you to sleep, boiled guava leaves will alleviate a stomach ache, and so on.  It was quite primitive with people washing clothes in the sea and hanging them on thatched roofs - and the oddest looking chickens I’ve seen.

 Julien invited us to relax on the beach while he went out and bought fish from the local fishermen and then we headed back to the mainland and home to Nosy Be.

 

After a shower, Damian decided on a nap (still recovering) and I treated myself to a massage on the beach.  There was literally a woman with a little beach lounge - she said, “take off your pants” (which I did) then “take off your shirt” (which I did) then “take this off” (my bra) and there I am all laid out face down in my underwear on a public beach.  Anyone who knows me at all knows that I’m not shy and I don’t give a whit about nudity, but it gave me a good chuckle to think about the people at the beach bar just a few feet away getting an unexpected show.  When it was over, I paid her double her asking price which made her exceptionally happy (before you think I’m being irresponsible, the massage was 30,000 ariary or about $8 USD) and bought some packaged Madagascan vanilla from her to take home.  I wish I’d known she was there earlier cause I’d have gone yesterday for a massage as well.

 

After the massage, I walked back up to the store for more biscuits and a final round of feeding the dogs.  I begged Damian to let me take Stumpy home - even though I know it’s not possible - I just want to rescue every one of them and bring them back to live on a dog ranch for the rest of their days.

 

Out of cash, I then took my first Tuk Tuk up the road to the ATM so I’d have enough money to pay the taxi taking us back to the airport.  I paid Angeline for the room (we reserved three nights so we could stay until evening) and we headed back to the airport for our flight to Tana.

 

Steve was again kind enough to pick us up and we shared the stories of our adventures on the drive back to his villa.