Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and a relative absence of unsightly tourist development. Most travellers love it: 'As soon
as we saw the island from the air, we were ready to ditch our travel plans and spend the
rest of our trip nestled in paradise. Everything about the island is intoxicating: the smell of
cloves drying in the sun, the taste of coco rum and the warmth of the sea.' In addition to
thisheady,holidayatmosphere, IleSainte Marieisthebestplace inMadagascar forwhale-
watching.
The island, due east of Soanierana-Ivongo, is 50km long and 7km at its widest point.
The only significant town is
Ambodifotatra
; other small villages comprise bamboo and
palm huts. The island is almost universally known as Sainte Marie - few use its Malagasy
name:NosyBoraha.SainteMarieunfortunately-orperhapsfortunately,giventhedangers
of overdevelopment - has a far less settled weather pattern than its island rival, Nosy Be.
Cyclones strike regularly, although not usually with the ferocity of Cyclone Ivan which
destroyed three-quarters of the island's buildings in 2008. At any time of year expect sev-
eral days of rain and wind, but interspersed with calm sunny weather. The best months for
a visit tend to be June and mid-August to December, but good weather is possible anytime.
Note that on Sainte Marie, in addition to the daily
vignette touristique
, there is a
one-off tax of 10,000Ar per person (payable at your first hotel).
HISTORY
TheoriginoftheMalagasy nameisobscure.Itmeans either 'island ofAbraham' or'island
of Ibrahim', with probable reference to an early Semitic culture. It was named Ile Sainte
Marie byEuropean sailors when the island became the major hideout ofpirates in the Indi-
an Ocean. From the 1680s to around 1720 these pirates dominated the seas around Africa.
There was a Welshman (David Williams), Englishmen (Thomas White, John Every and
William Kidd) and an American (Thomas Tew) among a Madagascar pirate population
which, in its heyday, numbered nearly one thousand.
LateraFrenchman,Jean-OnésimeFilet('LaBigorne'),wasshipwreckedonSainteMar-
ie while escaping the wrath of a jealous husband in Réunion. La Bigorne turned his amor-
ous attentions with remarkable success to Princess Bety, daughter of King Ratsimilaho.
Upon their marriage the happy couple received Nosy Boraha as a gift from the king, and
the island was in turn presented to the mother country by La Bigorne (or rather, put under
the protection of France by Princess Bety). Thus France gained its first piece of Madagas-
car in 1750.
