Nosy Be, and Os-Lokobe Nature Reserve, Madagascar

 We arrived in Madagascar after several days at sea. Our port stop at Maputo was cancelled due to a hurricane in the area that we had to go around. Luckily the seas were not too rough. We tendered outside the island of Nosey Be which is about 5 miles off the northwest shore of the mainland of Madagascar.  It is a volcanic island about 9 miles long, and is very lush and green.  We did not visit the main town of Hell-Ville (no kidding) , but instead went to the jungle nature reserve.  Hell-Ville was named after Admiral de Hell who was the Commander in Chief of  a French warship named the Colibri which arrived in 1840 and claimed the island for the French. 

The native population of Madagascar is most closely related to the people of Indonesia, although the French colonial rule also brought many people from the French speaking colonies in West Africa.

The animal life on Madagascar is quite unique, since evolution in Madagascar was quite isolated. It is well known for its large variety of lemurs. There are also many varieties of snakes, and chameleons. Luckily none of the snakes are poisonous.

The Os-Lokobe Nature Reserve is very authentic, with narrow dirt and leaf covered paths through the dense rainforest. Our local guides were barefoot, and very helpful with finding the well camouflaged animals. There is no signage or directions on the pathways, so a guide is a necessity.






The pristine bay where our small boat landed to visit the nature reserve. The jungle is very thick and lush throughout the island. The island has an annual rainfall of 78-118 inches.



The lemurs are very high up in the trees. They were quite curious about the visitors.


The female lemur is reddish and the male is black.


One of the many species of chameleon that we saw. This one looked just like a leaf until it was pointed out to us. Another tiny one looked like a little twig on the ground. They are very well disguised! 

Another variety of chameleon.



This pretty chameleon was emerald green.



A python curled up right beside the path. We saw several snakes on the side of the path where we were walking. 

The location where our tour ended on the isolated beach. Colorful sarongs and tablecloths for sale were blowing in the wind.



The local women gave a singing performance that sounded quite a lot like the African performances that we have seen.

After leaving Madagascar and sailing for one  day at sea, we are now at Mahe, the largest island in the Seychelles. We visited Mahe and the capital city Victoria, and enjoyed a catamaran trip here several weeks ago. It is a grey rainy day here today, and I have a unfortunately contracted the stomach bug that has been circling the ship, so I opted to stay onboard this afternoon while Ray tours the island again. We will now have three days at sea before we arrive again in Male in the Maldives, then another two days at sea before reaching Mumbai, India. 












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