After the walk around the part where the animals were kept within a private reserve-distillery close to town Hell Ville on island Nosy Be, we also went to the section where ylang-ylang oil, as well as many others are produced.
A section of the ylang-ylang oil distillery
Namely, the ylang-ylang tree was brought here from the Philippines at one point in time and as it turned out it grew here quite well. With time, people formed plantations, bigger or smaller, and thus they also came up with the distillery. It is interesting that the ylang-ylang tree or more correctly the cananga tree (Cananga odorata) grows very straight and very high – up to 20-30 metres in height. This is a little confusing since here on the island one mostly sees low trees with very unusual trunk shape, almost as if broken. What we learned at this distillery though was that at some point the ylang-ylang trees are pruned by cutting their tops off and then the branches start to “fall” themselves towards the earth, i.e., they continue to grow but more in the direction of the ground. In this way, the harvesting of the blossoms which have a divine scent even when fully fresh is greatly facilitated and here at the distillery oil is produced from them using a special process. The result is a very pleasantly fragrant oil.
Ylang-ylang tree when growing freely
Ylang-ylang tree with the branches that have grown after the pruning
Ylang-ylang flower
Once we had finished with the tour, we returned to the auto rickshaw and then headed back towards our hotel and Andilana beach which were in the northwest of the island. Along the way, the driver stopped by a green market where I bought some passion fruit and mango that we ate with happiness and content in our room later in the evening.
We also stopped by a restaurant where we wanted to have lunch, but we were late in fact, so we just continued directly to the beach where we went straight to the restaurant in which we had had a meal the day before and luckily the kitchen was still operating there and we could enjoy great food once again.
Lunch in a restaurant on Andilana beach
Lunch in a restaurant on Andilana beach
Following the lunch we also enjoyed the afternoon sun and primarily the warm air and the incredibly warm water. I think that during all of these days we were here the water by this beach was the warmest water in a sea or an ocean in which I had ever swum. It was as if I had filled a bathtub with very warm water in which I planned to lie for at least an hour. Every time I went in it seemed warmer than the air outside.
A “selfie” in the late afternoon on Andilana beach
Late afternoon on Andilana beach
Late afternoon on Andilana beach
Still, regardless of the comprehensive feeling of pleasantness while being on the beach, we tried again to return to our hotel before dark and this was again in time to enjoy yet another fabulous view that could be seen from the terrace of our room.
View from our terrace on island Nosy Be
We decided to spend the entire last day on Nosy Be on the beach. This decision was supported by very fine weather, so that the lying on the beach and enjoying the nice views was complete.
Andilana beach on island Nosy Be
The only exception to this relaxed enjoyment on the beach was when we went for lunch to the restaurant that had been closed the day before when we got there. Since we had recommendations for this restaurant run by an elderly Frenchman who was the chef, we gladly stopped an auto rickshaw on the main road and soon we were sitting at a table beside a beautiful garden. There we enjoyed stuffed crab and swordfish carpaccio as starters, followed by stuffed squid and grouper fillet as the main course. As usual, we shared the food, meaning that we both tried it all and it was all very tasty.
The garden of the restaurant in which we had lunch
Afterwards when with full stomachs and content we returned to Andilana beach nothing had changed – the beach was still very beautiful, there were almost no people on it, while the sky, despite the forecast, was wonderfully blue with a cloud or two in the distance.
Andilana beach on island Nosy Be
Here, somewhere in the shade, there are our beds, too
When the Sun was already close to setting behind some hillocks, we packed up our things and headed back to the room. Of course, again I had to take photos of the landscapes and places we passed by, as if I saw them for the first time, as well as of people that we met along the way.
Agricultural land close to Andilana beach
Parts of households beside the main road – in addition to cooking and washing dishes here, these can also be used for selling fruits that grow nearby
When we turned from the main road towards our hotel, it was necessary to follow a dirt road that passes by some small houses, as well as a primary school. The Malagasy are a very young nation – they have a lot of children and young people – and we could perceive this when walking along that road every day, since the children from the “neighbourhood” kept waving at us, greeted us and possibly asked for candies. This was by no account an isolated case. It happened across the entire island wherever we went and later also throughout Madagascar and it is my general impression that the Malagasy are very nice and kind people.
A woman who lives near the hotel at which we were staying
Family resting in front of their house after the hottest part of the day was over
And then we returned to our room again in time for me to enjoy the magnificent visual performance which the nature held around the sunset time. When I was choosing the photographs to include in my story, I had a serious problem to select the smallest reasonable number, since each one of some 20 photographs seemed spectacular and sufficiently beautiful for me to want to share it with others. In the end, with difficulties I settled “only” for those...
Sunset at island Nosy Be
Sunset at island Nosy Be
Sunset at island Nosy Be
Sunset at island Nosy Be
By the end of our stay in Nosy Be we were very content. On the last day on the island, right after the breakfast and before going to the beach, we paid for the hotel and we also booked a transfer to the airport. Although the hotel offers a very expensive version of the transportation we thought this was not a situation in which ones becomes thrifty and saves too much. Namely, our flight was scheduled for 8:10 am and the airline company insisted that passengers should be at the airport two hours earlier despite this concerning a national flight, which meant that we agreed the transportation to the airport for 5:30 am.
In the evening, after my intensive enjoyment in the firmament and the nature, we packed up nicely and set our mobiles to ring at 5 o’clock in the morning. During the night I woke up at some point and wanted to see what the time was and thus I saw that I had received a message. Drowsy from my sleep I was a bit confused as to who could write anything to me during a night, but my curiosity was stronger and I did look at the message. The airline company was informing us that the flight was rescheduled for 4:45 pm. I tried to fall asleep again, but I found it difficult since all kinds of thoughts started to fly through my head, doubt and worry, plus my brain started to work on the combinations. At some point I looked at the message again, but there was no change there. Finally, I did fall asleep, but of course the alarm went on at 5. I told Sneža what the situation was and then we both started to consider this new situation and what it meant for our journey. Then I also checked my emails and saw that the airline company had also sent a direct mail containing the same information I had received through my mobile phone. Even if I had any reservations about the SMS and was slightly mistrustful, with this there was no uncertainly since the email came from the same address from which I had received the tickets and it carried the same header.
For this reason I sent immediately a mail (after all it was 5 am, far too early to call anyone) to Mikaia (the agent with whom we had booked the car and the driver) in which I informed him we would arrive later than planned. I also took the opportunity to ask him if it would be possible for us to transfer directly after the arrival in Antananarivo to town Antsirabe where we had a hotel booked. Namely, all the agents had told us and this was also written in the guidebook and on the internet that one should not travel in Madagascar at night. At the time of our stay, the Sun was setting around 6:30 pm and according to the new plan we were supposed to land at 6:20 pm. It was clear that we might have to improvise and to sleep in some other place. But, this was left to be sorted out by itself and later during the day.
Sneža kept checking times through the flight departure information for Nosy Be and the arrivals in Antananarivo, but that was rather unsuccessful since the sites with the information were not reliable at all and certainly provided rather confusing data.
Meanwhile, I went to the reception and where the vehicles were parked in order to tell the driver that we would not go to the airport as originally planned after all, but at 5:30 am there was nobody there. Behind a building, I saw a young man who was rinsing his legs from sand using a hose, so I called him and asked him where the transportation was. He had absolutely no clue about it and told me to go back to the beach (in the direction of our rooms) since apparently there was supposed to be somebody there who did have an idea about our transportation. Thus I found the night guard and two other fellows who were keeping him company. I explained the situation to him, but the result was the same. It was obvious that the hotel did not actually arrange the transportation to the airport although we had paid for the service in advance. So, I went back to our room to inform Sneža about the situation and then I even returned once again “just in case” to the reception area (the reception itself was closed from afternoon to morning). No, there was no driver there. Only the guy who had his legs free of sand by then was sitting on a low wall.
The first good thing in all of this was that I can speak French. Not proficiently, but enough that I could do all of this, since after the Malagasy language, French is the second most spoken language in Madagascar. Another good thing was that the airline company did us in fact a favour, since we would not be able to transfer to the airport that early, bearing in mind that the hotel was located on the periphery of a very small dispersed village. But, apart from this, nothing else seemed reassuring. I tried to fall asleep, but it was very difficult, so eventually I got up around 7 am and went to the breakfast area in order to have coffee and type a little on my computer. At some point I got an email from Mikaia and he said that the road to Antsirabe was safe at night, so it would be better to stick to the plan. However, he said, I should advise the hotel to expect us late. Well, that was a speck of light at the end of our tunnel of the day. At that moment it seemed feeble, but better something than nothing.
While I was sitting there, the woman who functioned as the right hand of the “Madame” – the landlady – appeared. It was the two of them who charged us the day before for the room and the airport transfer. As she noticed me sitting in the breakfast area while she was walking towards me, she was visibly confused, but I waved at her and she waved me back. Already from the entrance into the area she asked the waiter on duty what was going on (I do not speak Malagasy, but I’m not a fantastic interpreter for nothing) and he told her that our flight had been moved, since I explained that to him when I came for the coffee. She approached me and I started to explain to her as well what had happened. At that point the “Madame” came as well. They asked me until what time the flight was delayed, which I told them, but then I also added that there had been nobody that morning to take us to the airport. As the woman of experience, the “Madame” swiftly said that they had also been notified, so apparently she and her “right hand” knew all along the transfer would not be required in the morning, while the latter just repeated that with the broadest of smiles you could imagine and just for a good measure, they both reiterated the same story once again hoping, I guess, that I would really believe them. It was not the case, for it was clear to me that they were lying and that they had simply forgotten to organise any transfer for us, but I simply could not be bothered with arguing with the two of them. The things actually turned out fine for Sneža and me, since now I agreed the transfer for 2 pm and then I returned to our room. I did not even ask them if we could stay in the room, fully convinced that the least they could do now for us was to let us be. And so they did. By the way, this was the only tricky situation during our entire stay in Madagascar which lasted for three and a half weeks. Everything else functioned perfectly and even this eventually turned out alright, so this was indeed a perfect journey. Well done for me!
This time before departing for the airport I used to snooze a little and that really felt very good, but I also took some more photos from our terrace. Already early that morning, when I kept running around the sleepy property belonging to the hotel (these were actually two pavilions with rooms, plus several other buildings for different purposes, with vegetation in-between), a local fishing boat appeared in the shallows in front of our terrace. In the morning the water was completely still, like oil and the sights with the reflections were truly beautiful. By the time I finished snoozing and got out to the terrace, the water had receded completely, the boat was on the dry and a little askew, while the low tide revealed the earlier invisible pieces of the bottom of the ocean like never before in the previous five days. In the distance I could see some people walking over these sandbanks, so by going along the boardwalk I went to the end of the mangrove forest and used wooden stairs there to get down to the sandbank. There I walked a little and could see that these people I had seen were women who were in groups and with nets catching something, probably fish, octopus or some other sea creatures which the low tide trapped in several “ponds.”
With exception of a few breaks, I spent that entire morning with the photo-camera in my hands and I think I have never made more beautiful photos, while I was actually only capturing visually what was right there in front of me. Like in the case of those photos from the night before, here, too, I had a serious problem in coming up with a “shortlist.” What you are about to see is the least I could show...
Early morning on Nosy Be
Early morning on Nosy Be
Morning on Nosy Be
Morning on Nosy Be
Morning on Nosy Be
Morning on Nosy Be
Morning on Nosy Be
Morning on Nosy Be, the time of the low tide
Morning on Nosy Be, the ocean had retreated even more in comparison to the previous photo
Morning on Nosy Be, the time of the low tide
Morning on Nosy Be, the time of the low tide
Morning on Nosy Be, the time of the low tide
The hunt along with a baby on the back is about to start
Catching sea animals trapped by the retreating of the ocean
Catching sea animals trapped by the retreating of the ocean
Catching sea animals trapped by the retreating of the ocean
Along the way I also saw some interesting animals, birds primarily, but also from the boardwalk I noticed something moving over the now open sandbank. I looked a little better and could see that this was an amphibious fish called mudskipper from family Oxudercidae. I was absolutely delighted, since I had only heard of them many years ago back in school, and now I could see one live.
Crested drongo (Dicrurus forficatus)
Eurasian whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Striated heron (Butorides striata)
Can you see me? – the mudskipper
I was extremely content after this way. Once again I looked back towards the sandbanks revealed by the receding ocean and then I could go back to my room and continue to be bored and to snooze.
Sandbanks during the time of the low tide
At 2 pm we were ready. This time, we took another road going across the north section of the island and this was actually very nice since we could see some new, pretty and interesting parts of Nosy Be.
After the rescheduling of the flight from the early morning to the afternoon one, everything else functioned perfectly and thus in line with the agreement at the airport in Antananarivo we were greeted by Rija.
Plane for the return to Antananarivo