Nosy Be - Madagascar - page 606

Sakatia Lodge (8 bungalows) 86 615 14; m 032 07 126 75; e sakatia-
[e-mail] ; www.sakatia.co.za . Smart bungalows & a larger villa; family-style
dining. Excellent dive centre. €€€€
Delphino Villa (4 bungalows) 86 060 68; m 032 04 844 05/032 02 323 84; e del-
[e-mail] . Right at the water's edge with good snorkelling ( m ask & fins
provided). €€€
NOSY TANIKELY This marine reserve (visit fee 5,000Ar) lures snorkellers and bird en-
thusiasts. Although now much visited, indeed sometimes overcrowded, it is still a lovely
little island. In clear water you can see an amazing variety of marine life: coral, starfish,
anemones, every colour and shape of fish, turtles, lobsters… (With this captivating world
beneath your gaze there is a real danger of forgetting the passing of time and becoming
seriously sunburnt, so wear a T-shirt and shorts.)
Don't think you have finished with Nosy Tanikely when you come out of the water; at
low tide it is possible to walk right round the island. During the 1.5km circumambulation
you will see, going anticlockwise, a broad beach of white sand covered in shells and
bleached pieces ofcoral, acouple oftrees fullofflyingfoxesand-inthespring-graceful
white-tailedtropic-birdsflyinginandoutoftheirnestsinthehighcliffs.Thewalkinvolves
some scrambling round rock pools, but nothing too challenging. Then there is the short
climb up to the lighthouse at the top of the island for the view.
LEMURS ARE WILD ANIMALS
Alison Jolly
Be careful when feeding lemurs. They may scratch you with their fingernails in their
eagerness, or give you an accidental nip while trying to get the food. Much more im-
portant: never try to catch a lemur with your hands, just let it jump on you as it wants.
If you constrain it, it will react as though a hawk has grabbed it and give you a slash
with its razor-sharp canines. Especially do not let children feed lemurs unless they are
warned never to hold on. These are wild animals, not pets.
NOSYVORONA(BIRDISLAND) This speck of an island northeast of Nosy Komba of-
fers you the chance to live out your desert island fantasy. Barely covering 1ha, and com-
plete with a hammock slung between palm trees on a sandy beach, it comes as close to
the remote desert island cliché as you'll get. The single four-room bungalow (accommod-
ating up to eight people) shares the island only with an old lighthouse and costs around
€100 per person per night on a full-board basis ( m 032 02 367 03/032 46 590 97; e nosy-
[e-mail] ; www.nosy-vorona.com ; €€€€€ ).