Day 255, Year 5 A Love Affair
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010
Weather: 19th Gorgeous Day; Cloudy Evenings, Clear Nights
Location: Nosy Sakatia, NW Madagascar
Slowly and quietly we have fallen in love with Madagascar. We have had just wonderful experiences every where we have been. It was certainly windy far up north, but we loved seeing our first baobabs in bloom. We moved south to Andranoaombi Bay and had our first trading experiences with the local villagers. The best trade was a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for two of the best mud crabs we have every eaten. Our visit to the upscale Tsara Banjina resort was lovely. Our time in Nosy Mitsio was very special, especially our walk across the island visiting various villages and seeing how the local people live their everyday lives. And buying four beautiful spiny lobsters for $6 US wasn’t a bad deal. Anchoring here at Nosy Sakatia is so comfortable. We can go ashore to Sakatia Towers, sit on the deck with a beautiful view of the anchorage and on across to Nosy Be, and talk with John Sheppard, the owner, who is just brimming with information on Madagascar and Africa. Nosy Komba was the highlight to date, however, because we got to play with the lemurs. We will see lemurs in the wild in various locations, but only on Nosy Komba are the lemurs so acclimated to humans that they will actively play with you. Add to all this the chameleons, the birds, the fantastic weather, and the gracious people, and it adds up to a love affair.
Tomorrow we will be picked up at 7:15 am by a little speed boat that will take us across to Nosy Be. There we will be met by John Sheppard’s driver, Anatole, who will take us into Hellville for a four hour shopping spree. We are going to purchase propane cooking gas, fresh food for the next month, canned and packaged goods to supplement what we already have, beer, wine, and a few boat supplies. We will then spend the weekend here getting ready for a month’s cruise south of here. We will then return here in mid-August, do our inland travel, and head back up north to try and see the mother and baby humpbacks. By mid-September we will be back in this area to visit Nosy Komba and the newly born lemurs. Our three-month visa will be up the end of September and that is when we will check-out and head south once again on our way to Richard’s Bay in South Africa. At least this is today’s plan.
