46th post - Nosy Be by TukTuk

On Sunday morning we got ready, packed up the last of our things and went looking for the bus boat. This turned out to be easier than we thought, because a man came up to us right outside the door of our hotel and led us to the boat. There we went on board and drove from right to left for about half an hour to pick up other people. Then we finally headed towards Nosy Be , with beer crates under our feet and chickens on the roof.

[Picture coming soon]

When we arrived at the port of Nosy Be, we were surrounded by tuktuk drivers and had to hold on to our suitcase because they all wanted to take us to the AirBnB.

We then decided on one of the many based on our gut feeling and set off in the direction of " Croisière Coco, Espace la Banane ", which was what our host had told us. From there we followed his instructions and walked along a long dirt road and across the beach until we arrived at around 8am.

We spoke briefly with Franck, our host, and then decided to go on a discovery tour after checking into our room and sharing breakfast. We first went to the Scuba Nosy Be diving school and arranged two dives for the following day. Then we took a tuk-tuk to a waterfall. The driver also became our guide and accompanied us to the waterfall and back again.

In the evening we ate a very tasty and very expensive fish at Franck's, our host's, and then went to sleep.

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The next day was all about diving. After breakfast we went straight to the diving school and met lots of nice people, including several from La Réunion. We took a boat to the island of Nosy Tanikely and did our first dive in this national park.

It looked completely different to La Réunion, more fish and really huge mussels covering the ground. After about 70 minutes we got back on the boat and drove to the island. There we went on a little tour of the island with our diving instructor (who is only a diving instructor because he smoked weed and lost his license and consequently his job). We saw lemurs and climbed an old lighthouse.

After about an hour we went back on the boat and the second dive began. This one was even better than the first and it was unbelievably fun. We arrived back on Nosy Be around 2 p.m. We were pretty tired from the long dives so we just ate pizza and then went to bed.

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We spent Tuesday evening at the beach and shopping and got a good tan. On the way to the Big Bazar supermarket we met a parrot.

At around 5pm we went out for pizza (it's the cheapest thing you can get here and we always share one anyway :D), because we were meeting at the diving club for a night dive at 6pm. We arrived there and met the first German since we'd been in Madagascar. Laura and I wanted to do the night dive with special goggles and UV lamps to see the corals glow, which Michel had recommended to us at the diving camp on La Réunion. We paid the extra 10€ and were looking forward to it.

The dive was actually incredibly chaotic and I was soooo glad that I had some experience. It started with our diving instructor being a total slob and everything started off a bit chaotic. Then, just before we went into the water, I noticed that my barometer was losing air. So we quickly swapped it and jumped into the dark water. Things continued to be chaotic there: We were actually all supposed to dive together at the buoy, but only Laura and I were there and the rest were about 3 meters away from us, which is not a small distance in the dark.

Once underwater, everything was in disarray again. There were far too many divers (6 divers, a diving instructor and an assistant), which meant that I couldn't find Laura at first and started to panic a bit. But when we found our way back, it was a case of just avoiding all the fins and hands that were scurrying around us. And to top it all off, I noticed that my new barometer was also losing air, and not a little. I was really glad that I could now estimate these risks and knew exactly when it could become dangerous and what to do. Despite the hustle and bustle and the stress, it was a really nice dive and the effect of the corals and the light was pretty cool. But when we were out of the water again, I wasn't angry either :D

In the evening, as always, I went to bed completely exhausted.

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On Wednesday we finally went on a hike, which I had been missing a bit from La Réunion. The most famous (and perhaps highest) mountain on Nosy Be is Mont Passot . It is surrounded by 9 lakes that you can see. It wasn't that far from our accommodation, about 45 minutes by tuk-tuk heading north. Our plan was to combine the three possible tours, each lasting 1-3 hours, into one big one. Unfortunately, when we arrived we discovered that a guide was obligatory (and expensive) and that you had to pay per tour. We therefore decided to only do one of the tours, namely the one where there was a chance of seeing crocodiles.

While we waited for our forced guide from the village to drive up the mountain to us, we went to the lookout point and ate some baguette and jam that we had brought with us. We didn't have breakfast at the accommodation because it was incredibly expensive (25,000 Ariary, instead of 15,000 Ariary on Nosy Komba).

When our guide arrived, we were delighted to find that he was really super nice and knew his way around really well. During the "hike", which was more of a walk, he showed us a variety of plants. For example, a leaf whose juice could be used to dye furniture (or our hands, for example) red and at the same time protect them from ants. But also a plant that you could use to get a small tattoo.

Otherwise, we were shown plants and roots for diarrhea, fever and even Covid-19, it was really exciting and I wish I could have remembered everything. Even though La Réunion is known for sugar cane, I have never eaten it there just like that. During the tour, our guide gave us a cane of sugar cane and showed us how to "eat" it. It was really delicious, you basically suck the juice out and it tastes like very sweet lemonade or something. Very exciting and a great snack for on the go.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the lake, we didn't see any crocodiles, but I was kind of glad about that, because I don't think I would have felt so safe without a barrier between me and them. There's a legend behind the many crocodiles on Mont Passot: A witch who came to the village and asked for water was refused it. She then put a curse on the whole village. A week later, the villagers started to cry bitterly and flooded their village. Then they turned into crocodiles, which is why it is said that some of them still wear bracelets.

Well, we only came across chameleons and snakes, but that's enough :D

We arrived back at our accommodation in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day at the beach. In the evening we went out for another pizza (again we shared one, because saving money is everything).

Slightly weakened by the lack of nutrients of the last few days, we went back to bed.

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Thursday started out quite comfortably and ended in a near-death experience. An adventure holiday, after all. In the morning we went shopping for our breakfast again, namely baguette, jam and, for once, pakopako, which are super tasty flatbreads that you can buy in the local supermarket bakery.

Afterwards we wanted to withdraw money because we wanted to go to Nosy Iranja at the weekend and it's really expensive. We went to the ATM and found out that it wasn't working. Apparently it was supposed to be repaired in 30 minutes, so we sat next to the machine and had breakfast (more or less leisurely). At some point some men actually came and did something to the machine so that it worked again. In the meantime, however, a tourist informed us that the machine had swallowed his credit card and that he had been trying to get it back for three weeks.

Since we needed the money, we put my credit card in the slot despite the warning and were lucky: both the money and my card found their way out of the machine!

Back at our AirBnB, we borrowed our host's kayak and decided to paddle to Nosy Sakatia , an island that we could see from our accommodation. It didn't look that far away and it was only 10 o'clock, so we had 7.5 hours until it would be dark. We packed our belongings, including cell phones and snacks, into two garbage bags and put on plenty of sunscreen.

We happily set off paddling shortly afterwards and, thanks to the low tide, were able to navigate through fairly calm waters. The water was super clear and you could see corals, fish and even turtles - beautiful! After about 2 hours I noticed that our kayak was bubbling. After about 2 hours and a few seconds I noticed that a bubbling kayak is also a sinking kayak. Unfortunately the island was still quite far away, which meant that speed paddling was suddenly the order of the day. Despite the kayak sinking deeper and deeper, we reached our destination after about 3 hours. First we ate and then sunbathed for a while, leaving the kayak upside down on the beach in the hope that the water would find its way out of the hole.

The island was really beautiful, there was very little on it, I think only 2-3 houses. According to Google Maps there were a few hotels on the other side, but we didn't see any. The water was totally clear, the sandy beach was deserted and fine-grained and there was even a small forest on the edge of the water. So far the trip had been really worth it, even if the last hour was a bit stressful.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked because the tide was starting to make the beach disappear. So when we had no more room for the towels on the beach, we decided to paddle home. This time, however, we didn't just paddle across the open sea, but along the coast so that we could stop and empty the kayak if necessary. So we headed more or less at a right angle towards the beach of Nosy Be, where we noticed that the waves had gotten much stronger and the tide was no fun. After a while, we reached the beach anyway and took another short break, but only for about 30 minutes. Since we hadn't checked the distance to the island, the weather, the position of the sun or the tides, we didn't know that every minute of rest would be our downfall.

We continued along the beach towards AirBnB, and it became increasingly difficult to fight against the strong waves, especially since our kayak was so deep in the water due to the leak. The closer we were to the beach, the worse it got, but the further away we were, the more the waves pulled us out into the open sea. We struggled forward for about 2.5 hours, constantly afraid that we would capsize or lose our sacred garbage bag.

And then at some point we realised that we would never, ever arrive. The sunset had started, the waves were high and the water was very rough. We didn't know exactly how far we were, but getting to our AirBnB before dark was out of the question. And we really didn't want to paddle in the dark in the rough sea. So we went back into speed mode and hoped to at least get to the beach of our AirBnB so that we could pull the boat home if necessary. The sun was getting lower and lower, we were still a long way away. The sun was setting and we paddled with the last of our strength and with the last rays of light. Actually, we just wanted to dock at the next beach, but the tide was too high, there was no beach. There were just walls everywhere that the waves were crashing against and we did everything we could to avoid being thrown into the wall with the kayak. After a total of 7-8 hours of paddling, we finally saw the beach and docked immediately. We were lucky, it was the beach where our accommodation was, but we were still at least half an hour's walk away - without a kayak. We tried to pull the boat in the water, but the waves were too strong and simply overturned the boat and Laura several times. I think we hadn't even gone five meters when the boat was overturned again. And suddenly we heard someone speaking to us and asking if we needed help. It was an employee of the AirBnB who was on his way home. What a coincidence, because he told us that he doesn't actually go home via the beach but across the street. And he was in the right place at exactly the right time. He really was our savior. He helped us empty the kayak, because it was so heavy that even the three of us could hardly set it up. Then he asked a nearby hotel if we could leave the kayak there, because it was still almost impossible to carry it to us. Fortunately, this was possible, and the three of us only carried the kayak for about 10 minutes.

I had never been so happy to have land under my feet and to see an actual man - I had already seen us smashing against walls in the pitch-black ocean.

The lovely employee then took us to the accommodation and invited us to go and celebrate with him. Laura and I were both soooo exhausted and knocked out, but we wanted to thank him somehow and so we said yes. After a fit of laughter and tears and a lot of adrenaline, we quickly showered and then met up with him at Espace La Banane. After a walk of about 30 minutes we arrived at a bar and had a beer with him. But since we were really exhausted, we headed back home at around 10:30 p.m.

The day was extremely exhausting and I was really scared at times.

We also made the whole day based on a baguette, peanuts and biscuits :D

But it's a good story nonetheless (and now that it's over, a funny one too). I swore that evening that I wouldn't go kayaking again that holiday.

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On Friday I had to break this vow again. After a lot of sleep and a hearty breakfast of biscuits and jam, we rented the kayak with a hole in it again.

This time we didn't go far, just to Nosy Tanga , an island that was directly opposite our beach and can even be reached by swimming at low tide. Laura really wanted to go there and so did I, but neither of us had much motivation to paddle again :D

We set off at low tide and I think we could have stayed there the whole time. But the water was crystal clear and there were corals and lots of fish, really fantastic. After about 30 minutes we arrived and went on a little exploration tour of the island. There wasn't much going on here either, I think there was only one house. But there were really beautiful and huge shells all along the beach. We took a closer look at some of them and then sat down on the beach to get a little tan. After 1-2 hours we started our journey home, it was still low tide so it was no problem to get back (thank God).

After we had showered, we went to another beach on Nosy Be and treated ourselves to a massage. We really needed it, because our backs and shoulders were really sore from the day before, to put it bluntly. After twenty minutes of massage per person for a total of 30,000 Ariary (about €6), we definitely felt better, I felt halfway like a human again.

We did some more shopping because we were going to Nosy Iranja at the weekend (actually all inclusive, but we don't trust anyone here and still bring water and snacks with us).

After that, we ate properly for the first and last time at our accommodation, because it was always too expensive for us and there was only fish. The food is really good though, so we wanted to treat ourselves to it once. Unfortunately, we had to enjoy it in the dark because the power had gone out again, like every evening. But no matter, here you learn to live with what you have.

In the evening we packed up for the weekend and went to sleep. Our 5 days with Franck had been really nice, but now it was over...