We’ve always wanted to visit Nosy Be, an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar.
Nosy Be Beach 3 at the Andilana Resort,
Madagascar is an island-country in the Indian Ocean located off of the southeastern coast of Africa.
Nosy Be is a popular port on World Cruises, and is one of our “bucket list” destinations. We are thrilled to share this guest post by Italo Rizzo, a blogger who visited Madagascar.
Why is the number of people who choose to visit Madagascar increasing?
This is the question I asked to myself before leaving for the magical island.
My answer is that there is always something true in a legend.
Marco Polo, in his travelogue Il Milione, describes Madagascar (reporting others sources) as an extraordinary place populated by fantastic creatures.
While I didn’t find anything scary in Madagascar, the presence of uncommon animals and plants contributes to attract curious travelers.
Since this is a very big area (think of Spain and Portugal together and you have an idea of the extent), I preferred to follow the advice of others travelers and I opted for Nosy Be, a 120 square mile island about 5 miles from the main island of Madagascar.
Nosy Be offers nice tourist accommodations, while at the same time being preserved from pollution and crowding. Nosy Be is ideal for leisure holidays and active vacations (is possible to do hiking, snorkeling and excursions by dugout).
Mont Passot and the unforgettable sunsets in Nosy Be.
While in Nosy Be, I stayed at the Andilana Beach Resort which overlooks the Andilana white beach. The Andilana Beach Resort team helped me arrange guided tours around Madagascar.
My first memory of my vacation is the emotional impact of the landscape: here the horizon looks like a painting on a canvas made by a whimsical painter and the colors are too deep to be real.
Yet it’s all true, the sky changes its shade just before it gets dark, it becomes pink, red, orange, and even blue, a wonderful prism that I recommend to admire from the summit of Mont Passot, the highest viewpoint of Nosy Be.
Around Mont Passot there are seven sacred volcanic lakes, according to the legend the crocodiles that inhabit these lakes would be the reincarnations of the Malagasy ancestors; I was struck by the intense blue of the lakes, a view that I’ve never seen anywhere else in the world.
One of the features of the island is the fauna.
Black Lemur in Nosy Be, Madagascar
I knew that I would meet many rare animals, but watching them closely is really an ineffable feeling.
Pictures don’t convey the beauty of the lemur (which is the symbol of Madagascar, due to the famous series of animated movies by DreamWorks).
There are 30 different species but the ring-tailed lemur the most widespread in Nosy Be. These lemurs are very sociable and they are used to interaction with tourists. On this island I realized how is important to respect the environment and take care of all its inhabitants, the nature always returns beauty and exclusiveness to the mankind.
The yellow Ylang Ylang flower the essence of Nosy Be.
In my journey I have learned that this island is perfumed by the Ylang-ylang tree with its greenish-yellow flowers. Ylang-ylang extract is a highly-valued essence that is refreshing, antiseptic and offers many health-enhancing properties.
You can buy Ylang-ylang oil in the local shops of the island; it is used in the production of famous perfumes such as Chanel No. 5.
Excursion to Lokobe
With the expert guides of Andilana Beach Resort, I booked an excursion to Lokobe, the nature reserve in the heart of Madagascar.
The tour begins with a trip by dugout towards the village of Ampasipohy, inhabited by fishermen: here I had the opportunity to speak with Malagasy people and discover their way of life. Ampasipohy is one of the main entrances of Lokobe.
In the forest I saw many kinds of lemurs, colorful birds and chameleons. While at Lokobe I realized how much happiness one can get from being in nature; during my holiday in Madagascar I forgot the stress of living in the city and the hectic rhythm of my life.
I suggest a Madagascar travel experience to who wishes an escape from the everyday life and wants to enjoy an adventure holiday.
What is your favorite getaway destination? Are you thinking about an exotic place? Please share it in comments!
Italo Rizzo is a blogger who helps businesses to improve their relationships with customers through social media and digital marketing strategies. He likes travel, listening to music, reading books and comics. He also collaborated with Andilana Beach Resort in Madagascar.
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