Madagascar Day 8 , Nosy Komba, Island Tour Mamoko and Kisimany, Thursday, April 11, WTRD 26 of 36
Our breakfast table this morning is crawling with 4 or more emerald green Geckos with blue eyebrows. These Geckos all named George because they all the look the same, have learned that fruit juices, jams, and honey are a delightful way to start the day.
They are very friendly and their tiny tongues will lick the honey right off your finger, a delightful way to start our morning too.
At 8:15 Our first activity excursion begins. Tseky (Teak) is our snorkel and naturalist guide. We are fit with mask, snorkel, and fins. Celan is our boat skipper.
Stop. 1: Nosy (Island) Mamoka Village is home to friendly black lemurs, at least the males are all black. The females are brown and the leaders of the clan.
Fittingly in this village, a queen, not a chief is also the leader of the village. She makes sure their law and cultural standards are adhered too. This is where the queen lives...it is not Buckingham Palace.
We take photos of the Lemurs, and a young boy repairing a fishing net in the island village, while the presbyopic older fishermen sit around and chat.
We are enchanted by a large friendly land tortoise well over 100 years old,
and visit a large baobab tree which is considered sacred and channel to the ancestors.
When making a prayer, a wish, or penitence, locals bring offerings of fruit, flowers, or rum to the tree. The rum magically disappears.
Stop 2: We cruise by an island(s) that is all one during low tide and two during high tide. A supply and people taxi is picking up residents.
TAXI!
Stop 3: We snorkel in the water across from this island on another island where the water is easily 80 degrees and it is like swimming in soup. There is some coral but the water is too warm and it looks unhealthy. The tidal flow is stirring up sediment and the water is not clear. We see a few fish, but their colors are clouded by the water.
Stop 4. Pique Nique on Kisimany. We come to a private cove with nice buildings, and covered table. The owners of the property visit every two years, and in the meantime there is a local care taker who oversees the property and opens it to guests for picnics. As we approach the beach landing, the boat motor wraps itself in some underwater fishing net.
It takes Celan a good half hour to cut away at the entangled mess and to free up the motor, then looks around to find the soon to be unhappy fisherman.
A gentle rain falls as we sit down for lunch. Tsiky has set the table with a white cloth, chilled wine, curried fish kebabs, couscous, shredded cabbage, pasta-smoked fish salad, chocolate brownies. It’s quite upscale from our usual peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and raw vegetables.
We eat first, then our guide, skipper, and grounds keeper, eat after us. We would have enjoyed their company if we had all eaten together. While the crew eats, Russ and I wander along the beach combing and collecting trash.
We visit the local baobab, tree and return to Tsara Kombo by 3:00 pm.
Our clothes are heavy with humidity. We leave them in the sun to dry and they are still damp.
We shower and spend a lazy afternoon hanging out on our terrace. For dinner we have lamb shoulder in light pastry. The sky lights up our evening with thunder and lightning storm. But we have only a few minutes of hard rain late night, early am.
All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Nosy Komba, Madagascar
Our breakfast table this morning is crawling with 4 or more emerald green Geckos with blue eyebrows. These Geckos all named George because they all the look the same, have learned that fruit juices, jams, and honey are a delightful way to start the day.
They are very friendly and their tiny tongues will lick the honey right off your finger, a delightful way to start our morning too.
They are very friendly and their tiny tongues will lick the honey right off your finger, a delightful way to start our morning too.
At 8:15 Our first activity excursion begins. Tseky (Teak) is our snorkel and naturalist guide. We are fit with mask, snorkel, and fins. Celan is our boat skipper.
Stop. 1: Nosy (Island) Mamoka Village is home to friendly black lemurs, at least the males are all black. The females are brown and the leaders of the clan.
Fittingly in this village, a queen, not a chief is also the leader of the village. She makes sure their law and cultural standards are adhered too. This is where the queen lives...it is not Buckingham Palace.
We are enchanted by a large friendly land tortoise well over 100 years old,
and visit a large baobab tree which is considered sacred and channel to the ancestors.
When making a prayer, a wish, or penitence, locals bring offerings of fruit, flowers, or rum to the tree. The rum magically disappears.
Stop 2: We cruise by an island(s) that is all one during low tide and two during high tide. A supply and people taxi is picking up residents.
 |
| TAXI! |
Stop 3: We snorkel in the water across from this island on another island where the water is easily 80 degrees and it is like swimming in soup. There is some coral but the water is too warm and it looks unhealthy. The tidal flow is stirring up sediment and the water is not clear. We see a few fish, but their colors are clouded by the water.
Stop 4. Pique Nique on Kisimany. We come to a private cove with nice buildings, and covered table. The owners of the property visit every two years, and in the meantime there is a local care taker who oversees the property and opens it to guests for picnics. As we approach the beach landing, the boat motor wraps itself in some underwater fishing net.
It takes Celan a good half hour to cut away at the entangled mess and to free up the motor, then looks around to find the soon to be unhappy fisherman.
A gentle rain falls as we sit down for lunch. Tsiky has set the table with a white cloth, chilled wine, curried fish kebabs, couscous, shredded cabbage, pasta-smoked fish salad, chocolate brownies. It’s quite upscale from our usual peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and raw vegetables.
We eat first, then our guide, skipper, and grounds keeper, eat after us. We would have enjoyed their company if we had all eaten together. While the crew eats, Russ and I wander along the beach combing and collecting trash.
We visit the local baobab, tree and return to Tsara Kombo by 3:00 pm.
Our clothes are heavy with humidity. We leave them in the sun to dry and they are still damp.
It takes Celan a good half hour to cut away at the entangled mess and to free up the motor, then looks around to find the soon to be unhappy fisherman.
We eat first, then our guide, skipper, and grounds keeper, eat after us. We would have enjoyed their company if we had all eaten together. While the crew eats, Russ and I wander along the beach combing and collecting trash.
We visit the local baobab, tree and return to Tsara Kombo by 3:00 pm.
We shower and spend a lazy afternoon hanging out on our terrace. For dinner we have lamb shoulder in light pastry. The sky lights up our evening with thunder and lightning storm. But we have only a few minutes of hard rain late night, early am.
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