Madagascar Day 8 , Nosy Komba,Geckos,Lemurs, and Ancient Land Tortoise.

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

Madagascar Day 7 Poverty to Privilege, Wednesday April 10, WTRD 25 of 36

We Meet Up with a Peace Corp Volunteer.

Madagascar Day 7  Iharana Bush Camp - Nosy Komba, Wednesday April 10, WTRD 25 of 36

We leave early today as we have a very long day of driving to get to Tsara Komba, a designated National Geographic unique lodge on Nosy Komba, in the Nosy B archipelago off the north-western coast of Madagascar.  We are up and packing at 4:30.  The temperature is warm, still, and wringing wet.  Our clothes are heavy and damp.  

We eat breakfast by 6:30 am, say goodbye to staff, and leave gratuity in the tip box.  It’s the last of the MGA, Madagascar currency that we have.  Russ gives them our credit card, and it doesn’t work.  After two more credit cards, it appears either our credit has been totally shut down or the machine is not sending and receiving properly.  We think it is the latter.  We have US dollars with us, but the lodge will only take Euros of which we have none.  

Floris bails us out with local currency, about $37. 00 to pay for our wine and sparkling water bill.  Relatively speaking our drinks cost about 1/3 of an average Malagasy monthly income. Most people cannot even buy clean water to drink because they just don’t have the income.  

It is very sobering and reminds us of how privileged we are to have discretionary funds for goods and services beyond the basic necessities, that make our lives easier, healthier, and gives us free time to create and innovate.  Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it certainly facilitates an easier life.  For those who are everyday survivors in an economy that does not favor them, the people learn to make a meaningful life for themselves within the context of their environment and  still find happiness in their friends and families.

As we travel away from the village, we give away our last pair of reading glasses. Last night’s rain replenished the puddles and some of them are worse than when we came 3 days ago.  

We bounced and skid through the mud and sand rivaling Indiana Jones 4x4 adventure. Floris hacked some tree limbs with a machete so the car could squeak between tree branches forming and alternate around the small lakes.  What should have taken us less than an hour takes us almost 2, but what a wild ride.

Somewhere along the way, the front license plate has been stripped off the car and Soulo paints the license number on the front window with something white, maybe paint or mud mix.  The care is a dirty mess.

When we reach a small town of 24,000 people, we stop at Bank of Madagascar ATM for some cash. The little town is packed with people and vehicles going about their daily business.

This is the first time we have gone to an ATM since we had our debit card stolen in South Africa.  We need about $200 US in MGA for the next few days so that we can tip staff and pay for incidentals.  The ATM refuses to give us what we need in one lump sum, so we  have to make two separate transactions with two separate credit cards to get enough money for our trip to Nosy  Komba and to reimburse Floris for paying our bill at Iharana bush camp.  Successful with our transaction and a walk around town, we continue on our way to the Port, but we have another stop  before we get to the port.

Through his network of teachers and volunteers in Atsiranana, Floris has met some Peace Crop volunteers.  He has made arrangements for us to meet one of them during a short visit along the way.  

We meet Melanie S.  from Tennessee.  She has been working as a teacher in a small ,village for almost 2 years. She teaches English at the High School.  Her  small house is about the size of a storage shed, with no running water or electricity.  She thinks it might be cooler inside the house than out, but one step inside was enough to know that it was cooler on the front porch. 

We only have about 15 minutes to chat.  I ask her what her biggest challenge has been in Madagascar.  She is quick to respond that it is wide-scale corruption. Funds for the school and village are being syphoned off, and the locals never see any improvement.  Melanie’s sister lives in SF.  She will call us when she is next in  California.

Before we reach the sea port where we will catch a ride to Tsara Komba, we stop in an area where various crops are grown, plantation, coconut, cocoa, vanilla, etc.

It has been a long trip without a bathroom break, and I am disappointed that the plantation doesn’t have a toilet.  We wait until we get to the port. Finding suitable toilet facilities for women is one of the big inconveniences so far on this trip.  Men can make easier bush calls than women.  

When we reach the port, Floris pulls out a harmonica an plays California here I come.  He and Soulo have been delightful travel mates.  We will miss them, but will keep in touch with Floris as we plan to send him more glasses from the Lions Club.    

We thank them and wave a heartfelt goodbye as we speed off in a private boat to Tsara Komba.  It is long past lunch by the time we arrive.  We were expected by 11:00 in the morning.  Instead we arrived at 2:30 and the camp managers Charlotte and Isbjorn have been  worried about us.   Charlotte was very solicitous in helping us relax, cool down, have a late lunch and get settled.  Tsara Komba is a Uniquely Recognized National Geographic Lodge.  This is an incredible contrast to the lives of the villagers on the mainland.  Almost mind boggling.

Our National Geographic expedition came with an activities package, one of which was a short trek upon arrival followed by Rum tasting.  We declined any activity for the day.  We had had enough for one day and just wanted to rest.

Tsara Kombo is a small luxury accommodation of 6 total lodges.  Our lodge overlooks the bay and has a very large sun deck and separate covered veranda. 

Counting the chaise lounges, sling back chairs on the sun deck, dining table chairs, sofa and side chairs, and a double day bed on the covered veranda,  there are enough sitting, laying space for 14 people.  There is a large king bed with mosquito nets, double sink bathroom, and and a shower with a louvered sliding door that slides open to the sun deck with complete privacy.  

Thick flowering vegetation surrounds our lodge.  The overhead fan has broken, but a portable stand fan has been brought to our room.  We stand it inside the mosquito nettring and set it to oscillation so that a cool breeze flows over us during the night.  It is perfect.

We meet Eric, the founding owner on our first evening.  He and his two daughters are visiting during a school holiday. and he tells us his story of establishing Tsara Komba.  Eric is a retired real estate entrepreneur and has the financial wherewithal to fund a large dream. His dream was to create a a socially responsible green place in Madagascar beneficial and symbiotic for tourists and locals,  He holds large social events in Paris as fund raisers to help support and sustain what he started.  Our travel dollars here also contribute to the cause.

Eric first established a working and trusting relationship with the local village next door to the property.  His first order of business was to refurbish the village, individual homes and a kindergarten school, with a primary school on the island.  The homes each have a solar panel for charging their cell phones and lighting their homes at night.  Two bath and toilet facilities, one for men and one for women,  have been built.  The lodge provides employment in all different capacities for the lodge.  The pay is good compared to what locals usually earn, so they are not constantly having to be in survival mode, and all of the children go to school, and employees with a specific career goal are provided with training. The lodge does not make a profit, it makes a difference in people’s lives.  He is in love with the Malagasy people.  And we enjoy being here.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Madagascar