After our extreme chicken bus adventure getting from the capital to the East coast, we were really ready to relax at the beach. We headed from Tamatave to Ile Ste Marie (Saint Marie island), and from Ste Marie, we took a boat to the tiny neighboring island of Ile aux Nattes.
Let me tell you, if you are looking for relaxation, this is your place. The island is tiny, and doesn’t have any roads or cars. We stayed in a tiny bungalow by the sea, and while it was rustic (bucket showers and no electricity at night), it was incredibly beautiful and relaxing.
Initially, one of our main motives for coming to this island was to go diving. Chris has been looking for a place to do his PADI dive course, and I wanted to do a few dives in Madagascar…but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. A combination of the language barrier and dive-shop drama (we had a little run-in with a particularly cantankerous French dive instructor) made us change our minds. We also tried to arrange a snorkel-boat trip through the hotel, but after several unsuccessful attempts to coordinate with the hotel staff, we were finally told that it is culturally taboo/bad luck to make organized snorkel trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays…at which point we gave up trying to organize activities, and decided to just relax and enjoy exploring the island on our own.
Even with diving out of the question, we still had a fantastic time. We filled our days with snorkeling off the dock, swimming, kayaking and wandering around the island. Naturally, there was also a lot of book and hammock time too. J
Ile aux Natte was also the first place in Madagascar where we saw more than a scant handful of fellow travelers. We met two awesome sisters from South Africa, Melody and Melanie. When Melanie came to the rescue with her language skills and translated a French menu for us, narrowly saving Chris from ordering a heaping plate of rabbit giblets (no, I’m not kidding, he almost ordered that on accident), I knew we’d hit it off. We spent a couple of days exploring the island with them, and it was great to hear their tips about living in South Africa.
We ended up staying on Ile aux Nattes for a week. After all of the hustle and bustle of packing up our apartment in San Francisco, moving across the world, surviving the taxi brousses of Madagascar, we were ready for a break, and this little piece of paradise provided us with an opportunity to relax, unwind and shift gears.
-Julia
 |
| From 06-13-10 St. Marie web |
Paradise found!
 |
| From 06-13-10 St. Marie web |
I thought this little critter living under the floor boards of our bathroom was a tarantula...and I totally freaked out. Turns out it was just our resident bungalow crab.
No comments:
Post a Comment