Madagascar – First Week on the NW Coast
23 July 2015 | Andraponaomby Bay, Nosy Mitsio, Nosy Be
Steve
Our first anchorage at Andraponaomby Bay was a peaceful welcoming to this country - a pretty bay, majestic hills after an arduous sail from cap d'Ambre. In the first afternoon a few young people came out to the boat in their pirogues (dugout canoes with an outrigger) requesting to trade and inviting us to their village. This is rural Madagascar and it was a good experience to take out time to visit a few of these villages. There are four villages in this bay, population of about 20-30 each of which most are less than 30yrs old and very young ladies with 1-2 children. It's a subsistence way of life with thatched houses held up with sticks, basic farming with goats, chickens and fishing, simple foods from their gardens, basic hygiene. Yet there is good vibes here with smiles all around - they are happy folks. The femme's and garcon's dress cool, colorful, caps at a slant, artistic fingernail painting, big smiles, piercings, listening to Salegy - dance rhythms of Sakalava tribe ... attitude. We visited, talked in broken French and Malagasy and traded goods and then mentioned music and dance - and their eyes lit up and laughs abounded - it was Saturday night after all and they were going out - to where, I'm not sure, but it was their event. The youth and its spirit, as in any nation, is alive and well. We traded away reading glasses, aspirins, flip-flops, fishing line/hooks and food items. And we handed over to the ladies rather than the men (you know why!). They need much more but just didn't have it available. And in return we received eggs (very tasty), squid, bananas.
And then there is the ambiance of this location. The land is dry, hilly, grassy, raw and stunning. Ragged bays and coves, whales, dolphins. Madagascar, a millennium ago was hip to hip with Africa, and now separated, is very much its own unique land and nation unlike any other. They are not 'African' and will remind you of this should you mention it. Its wildlife is also unique and we still have to explore this. I love the large baobabs. Funny, my first good hike and the first animal I meet is a goat! More to come.
Marine wise, this bay is spacious, protected but breezy. The winds abound from the Indian Ocean trades and come in over the hills and occasionally from the Mozzie channel. Pretty much omni-directional. I have a lot to learn of the weather patterns of this area. We had blows up to 25kts in the bay at night, little to no swell and our Rocna held us solid. I keep three alarms On: drift, high TWS and depth. Call me 'paranoid'!
During a village visit our dingy must of hit something sharp as it put a rip in the rubber bottom while coming ashore. We then removed the outboard and lifted the dingy onto the bow of Emerald to do the repair.
On the morning of 20the July we sailed 35Nm SW to Nosy Mitsio. I thought it a good day to leave: the forecast didn't show any strong winds, there was a light breeze outside. But then I should know that offshore forecasts are rarely accurate for coastal waters. When we were only a few miles outside the bay the 20kts winds from the SE came in. Then 30kts, then 35kts. It was a reach with little swell as they didn't have the fetch. We reefed and made a hasty journey toward Mitsio arriving some 3hrs later.
Nosy Mitsio with its proud hills, beaches and protected coves and bays is pretty and will make a nice stop for a few days before we head to Be. We'll come back and spend more time here shortly. There is one other sailboat here and a number of villages. We were visited by an older gentleman in his pirogue with a speech impediment but with hand gestures we worked out that he wanted some fishing line; which we had. But not before my request of a languiste or lobster! So off he went and returned a few hours later with squid only - OK....deal done. Later other villagers came out to trade. Here we traded for lobster, langouste, eggs, bananas and gave away a wood saw, swim fins, fishing line, hooks and food items. And that night Rose prepared a seafood feast...I added the wine.
July 22 we sailed to Nosy Be and the wind gods were kind to us on this trip. We had excellent sailing conditions - 10-15kts on the beam and blue blue skies. While not making great speed it was sailing bliss along Madagascar's scenic north west coast in such great conditions. It would have been 18:30 before we reached Hellville (main town, clearances, immigration) and as that was getting late we pulled into Crater Bay for the night.
The next day we took a taxi into Hellville and cleared in. Immigration went OK until he demanded a 'bride' for not bringing our boat directly into Hellville harbour. OK, guilty, I paid this. Next we were directed to the Customs office where he wanted a AR50,000 bride which he blatantly wrote on the back of a paper and presented to me. After some discussion I refused to pay yet he still stamped our crew and pax lists. I later learned that we didn't have to make this Customs stop. Next stop was the Port Captain's office for the cruising permit which was a documented cost paid up fair and square. Later we had a walk around, a good lunch, picked up a 3G card at Orange and we were done.