Trip to Madagascar - Nosy Iranja (a secluded island) - April 2004
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This portion of our adventure in Madagascar picks up as we leave the secluded island of Iranja. 

We return to Nosy Be via boat shuttle and get a taxi ride up 
the coast to the Vanila hotel.

The only real city on island 
is called Hellville (really!) and 
is located on the south side.  
The other main place of 
interest is the Lemur Park,
 which is on the Eastern side,
next to the airport.



On the boat ride back we 
passed very close to this 
strangely shaped Island.

We also passed a sailboat which was catching the wind home. 

These fisherman were quite a ways out and had to paddle.

  

As we rounded the corner we couldn't tell which island was Nosy Be.
There were so many land masses that it would be easy to get lost.  That is why the pirates used to like to hang out in these areas.  Finally we saw the beach where we would land.


A taxi met us and took us on 
a short ride to the hotel. This humped Zebu cow posed nicely.

These deformed trees, called the
 Ylang-ylang, are cut like this to
grow close to the ground.

The flowers have a nice smelling 
oil which is used in perfumes. 

We arrived at the Vanila hotel; which has an open-air setup. Our room was in the new section; the end on the bottom. We had a big patio and a nice view facing west (for sunsets).

The pool area was one of the best we have seen. It almost looked like the pool dropped off into te ocean. The beach wasn't that great, 
but the view was very nice.

We walked along the beach and could see a lot of damage ... ... from the cyclone that hit three weeks before we came. Cyclones are just a different name for a hurricanes.

Hmmm, where's the roof ? This once was a nice yacht ! Thatching is quite complicated!


On our way to a Nature Reserve we went through Hellville!

Even though it really looked like "hell", especially the roads, this major trading town was nice.

The people here have more of an African heritage and are darker and wear colorful clothes.

To get to the reserve we had to hike through mangroves ... ... to get access to the water 
and to the "water taxi".
The little outrigger was our transportation; we had to paddle!

After 30 minutes of hard paddling we got to a little village. At this village we had to 
take a mandatory break ... 
... so the guide could pay the "chief" and we could shop.


In the jungle we saw some vanilla beans and other spices.

Our main purpose for coming to the Lokobe Reserve, though,
 was to see more Lemurs.

We were lucky to see these ... ... Black Lemurs at two ... ... different places.

The female is really ... ... colored brown...  ... and is quite cute!

The male is colored black ... ... which made them harder ...  ... to photograph.

Overall we were awestruck by the Lemurs that we were able to see on this trip.  We can only hope that the protected areas will help them survive. With their gentle demeanor, they will not be able 
to survive in the "real" world.  Luckily the local people understand how few of the animals are left, 
so they are no longer hunted or used as pets... but their habitat continues to be cut away.


As we headed back to the village the guide suddenly pointed up.

At first we didn't see anything ... but after our eyes adjusted 
to the light we could see the gigantic Boa Constrictor.  

This one was sunning himself and presented no threat to us,
but we still left the area quickly.

We then returned to the village for lunch, which was included as part of our tour.  We expected 
a simple salad or sandwich.   What we got was a feast ... which included gigantic crab claws, 
skewers of Zebu (beef) and fish.   I was so busy eating that I forgot to take any pictures!


After the meal we felt great and walked through the village to 
buy some spices & souvenirs.

The hut above was quite comfortable and a lady was outside pounding rice into flour.

We left the reserve and returned to the hotel, again via the water taxi and then a normal taxi.  The next morning we got up at 4am to get a ride to the airport and then flew back to South Africa.

This concludes the Nosy Be page and our Madagascar Trip ... a nice place to visit!



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