EC-Rider Travels

Today was our first proper adventure day. With an early start and laden with a long list of things we had to take, from snorkels and fins to life-jackets and the all important, Ships ID card. This had to be swiped every time we left or arrived on the boat and very easy to leave behind with the room key!

Island Sky had sailed into Antongil Bay, under cover of darkness, and spectacularly approached the island of Nosy Mangabe as the sun rose behind its 332-metre summit and anchored some way off this uninhabited island, covered in pristine rainforest.

We reached the island by a convoy of Zodiacs expertly driven by members of the Expedition Team with others waiting to catch us as we approached the shore. There was a choice of three different walks of varying lengths. Lucinda and Flavia voted for the long and Mum, Flee and I went on the shorter bird walk, with blue-eyed Tom!

Nosy Mangabe is only accessible by boat, it is 520 hectares in size and part of the 230,000 hectare Masaola National Park. Its tropical rainforest is a sanctuary for the endangered Aye Aye lemur which has ever-growing rodent-like teeth and a special long thin middle finger. Sadly it is nocturnal, so we did not see it but as we landed we did see a couple of white fronted brown lemur, who took up residence with us at the botanists’ campsite where they thought they might get lucky with a banana or two. Sadly for them, we were under strict instruction not to bring any food with us.

The jungle was buzzing with life and the sound of the frogs was quite deafening with tree frogs and green-backed mantellas – Madagascar’s version of a poison dart frogs – hopping around in the leaf litter on the forest floor.

Perhaps most extraordinary were the fimbriated leaf-tailed geckos resting head-down on thin tree-trunks. They were so well camouflaged you could barely see them and some were big – up to 25cm.

As we came to the end of the walk, we had a rare siting of a little orange Madagascar pygmy kingfisher and perhaps even topping that, we then saw a female panther chameleon digging a hole in the sand to lay her eggs, totally unfazed by us all watching her at work.

Mum, Flee and I were guided by local guide Pascale who was very knowledgable and together with Tom, pointed out the following to us:

• Barringtonia flower – lands on water making fish drunk and easy to catch
• Many medicinal trees / plants
• Eugenia Makoba – water apple
• Tree crab

• Green backed mantella
• Tree frog – which made the most amazing noise
• Praying mantis
• Giant fimbriated leaf tailed gecko – perfectly camouflaged
• Panther chameleon

• Paradise fly catcher
• Malachite kingfisher
• Pigmy kingfisher – very rare
• Madagascar bulbul 
• Madagascan turtle doves
• Black and white ruffed lemur
• White fronted brown lemur

We arrived back about the same time as Flavia and Lucinda and we all went for a lovely swim in the crystal clear and wonderfully warm sea and tried our our snorkels.

We returned to Island Sky for lunch and for her to raise anchor and sail a little way south, towards the mouth of Antongil Bay, to the small village of Ambodiforha. Time for a quick visit to Deck 6 and then it was back in the Zodiac to visit the village.

This little community of about 140 is supported by Noble Caledonia and they were very excited to see us – I am sure for all reasons, but there was no doubt they found us very curious and several families came out in their little dug-out boats, one with a ‘bed-spread’ sail, to view us on Island Sky and the whole village seemed to be on the shore as we arrived.

Again we had a lovely, smiley local guide who showed us around the village, passing fishermen mending their nets and into a small house where fish was being smoked.

The poverty was indescribable – houses made of palm on stilts, again with nothing in them, just an empty floor. No electricity or running water. A few chickens, ducks, one goat, a calf and a pig. They live of fruit and fish, but they didn’t seem to be growing anything except a little rice. It was however, surprisingly clean and there was a primary school.

Along our way we saw the most wonderful chameleon and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, to see a bacon bug which was quite rare and most unusual looking.

We ended our tour in a clearing, where lots of the villagers were selling their wares, including the infamous vanilla and quite a number of other things which looked as though they had a Chinese label! Very inflated prices and no change – but it was great to support them.

The children were enchanting and completely fascinated by us all. We were then presented with the most ‘lovely’ singing and dancing display. It was the most dreadful noise, something about mangos and hollandaise we think, with ladies taking to the floor (a narrow plank of wood) as and when they ‘got the calling’. Pascale and a friend then got ‘the call’ and performed the most hilarious stamping fest. It was not the Royal Ballet, but we luckily managed to hold it together and headed back to boat in time for a recap and briefing, supper and bed – another early start tomorrow.