Torries

10 º N

10 º S

Equator

january/february 2017

cruisingworld.com

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stark contrast to the lineup of Yamahas we’d seen in Mexico. We

didn’t hear boats vroom-vrooming or tuk-tuking by; instead they

sailed in and out of the crowded anchorages at all hours of the

morning and night. If the late-night breeze petered out, they

dropped anchor until morning. Many nights I watched a dhow

ghost past our hull, close enough to reach out and touch, before

pulling quietly into the shallows.

Some of the dhows we saw fi shed locally in and around Hell-

Ville and returned each day. Others fi shed around their villages

and dried the catch on large wooden racks, bringing their goods

to the city for sale. Some larger boats sailed around the main

anchorages of Nosy Be with tourists on board, ferrying them to

nearby island resorts. All of the boats we saw relied on the wind

and the wind alone.

In the mornings, we sat on our bow with our coff ee, watch-

ing the line of boats sail out; in the evenings, we did the same,

watching the line of boats sail in. It was easy to feel the breath

and rhythm of the place from the glassy anchorage. Nosy Be

inhaled and exhaled with the off shore and onshore breeze.

D

uring the fi rst few days of our stay in Hell-Ville, a music

festival got riotously underway. The festival kicked off

with a parade that noisily marched by a bar where we were

lunching with a few other visiting cruisers. We followed the

crowd along the waterfront road to a very large fi eld with a

main stage and a perimeter lined with makeshift bars and

restaurants. Women prepared food in the back; children played

out front. A girl selling cupcakes made her rounds; a boy bal-

ancing a plate of bread smiled sweetly. The parade participants

were called to the stage to perform again and receive congrat-

ulations or possibly awards; we couldn’t tell because no one in

our group spoke Malagasy. We learned quickly how to go with

the fl ow. We drank local beer and a soda that tasted like bub-

ble gum; then, over the ensuing days, we drank more beer and

avoided the bubble-gum soda. Some of us even danced.

We were met by an outwardly open attitude during those fes-

tival days. A light celebratory feeling permeated the air. In cafes,

people chatted with us from the next table over, reaching out to

shake hands with our children. “I’m playing in the bar two doors

down,” an elegant and commanding woman we met told us one

afternoon. “Here’s my number!” Didia, it turned out, is from

Nosy Be but now lives in Paris; she was back in town for the big

music festival.

We never did make it to see Didia sing, but the music raged

on for four days and nights. Some nights we just enjoyed the

Clockwise from top: Baie des Russes, or Russian

Bay, became one of our favorite anchorages — only

a few hours but a world away from the bustle of

Nosy Be. Our introduction to Madagascar included

a street parade with dancers and drummers. En-

gines were scarce even on land, where we saw just

as many people traveling by foot or zebu-drawn cart

as by motorbike or car. Busy markets had tropical

fruits and vegetables as well as Madagascar vanilla,

cinnamon, anise, poivre sauvage (wild peppercorns)

and piri piri (a type of cayenne pepper).

20 º S

30 º S

30 º E 40 º E 50 º E 60 º E 70 º E 80 º E

SOUTH

AFRICA

TANZANIA

KENYA

MOZAMBIQUE

MADAGASCAR

M

oz

am

biq

ue

Ch

an

ne

l

INDIAN OCEAN

Rodrigues

0 600 1200

Nautical Miles

Mozambique

Channel

INDIAN

OCEAN

MADAGASCAR

Nosy Be

Crater Hell-Ville

Bay

Cap d'Ambre

Nosy Mitsio

Nosy Komba

Nosy Tanikely

Nosy Sakatia

Nosy

Iranja Honey River Baie des Russes

NORTHERN MADAGASCAR

MAP BY SHANNON CAIN TUMINO

CW0217_FEA2_madagascar.indd 60 11/23/16 10:42 AM