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8 may 2004
Madagascar 2004: Ile Aux Nattes (day 20)
DylanL2006-04-25 19:52:48
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The wind has settled, but strong rain has taken it's place which lasts the whole night and morning. Today we visit île Aux Nattes, a small island south of île Sainte Marie. A cheerful boy named Bienvenue (welcome) will take us there in his Pirogue and show us around. So again we find ourselves in a hollow trunk in the water, but fortunately this time the see is very calm and shallow. After an hour of floating we arrive at the island.
Around 700 people inhabit île Aux Nattes. It's a paradise island but it too suffered heavy from the cyclone. We see destroyed bungalows and vegetation. We walk a while around the island and see vanilla, cinnamon, clove and lemon. We walk on beautiful beaches where people bring in their catch of fish. We see some exclusive villas, private property of rich frenchmen. A large piece of ground costs not more than 500 euro, according to Bienvenue.
It's fady to enter a certain sacrified beach so we cross the island, and we have a gigantic piece of grilled squid for lunch. The wind is starting to blow again and tide is high. We thank Bienvenue for the boattrip back to the hotel, instead we jump in a Taxi Brousse that brings us back to Lakana.
It turns out 2 more tourists have arrived. It's a young couple and we see them apparently exhausted sleeping in front of their bungalow. I can guess what type of transportation they took to the island.
See photographs from:
Madagascar Gallery
