28 August Nosy Mitsio

From our first stop on the west coast, Nosy Hao, we continued the short distance to Nosy Hara seeking better protection from the strong south easterlies to be able to drop the main sail and put up the old (spare) we carry. This was easy to do and I went for a snorkel with the Red Herrings – this is probably the healthiest coral I've seen since Raja Ampat! Mostly hard corals, some soft, and not as many fish as the Maldives, but not bleached. The water temperature is 27c.

What we didn't realise is that Nosy Hara and all the coast and islands to the north and south to Ponte Marulexa headland is national park and there is a fee of 55,000Ar (£14) per person per day, with a day running from midnight to midnight, to be within the park boundaries. The park rangers visited all the yachts to explain this. It was a short visit.

Further down the coast is Nosy Mitsio which has complimentary anchoring in a wide and sheltered bay. We had looked at the possibility of spending a night at Nosy Lava to snorkel or dive the next day. However, there was a strong swell seeping in from the west so we continued on

With Alba and Red Herring we spent four very quiet nights in Maribe bay. Inspiration Lady arrived from Mauritius on the second day and we had ourselves a party.

Polly meets a lobster

You can visit the new resort being built by a Frenchman, visit the small village and walk across the island or along the beach to the washing troughs which catch fresh water. The village ladies come here to do laundry and their zebu for a thirsty drink before sleeping it off on the beach.

Nosy Ankarea

One day we motored out to Nosy Ankarea, three miles west of the anchorage, for the day to snorkel. It was quite nice on the east side with lots of healthy corals. We anchored on a sand spit and returned to the safety of Maribe Bay for the night.

While we were in Maribe villagers visited in their pirogues to trade. We had two good size lobsters in exchange for t-shirt, shorts, fishing line and hooks, plantains for fishing line and paracetamol, coconuts for peaked caps and a pretty shell for two books. Our last visitor spoke English and asked for a dictionary. Unfortunately ours are electronic so I couldn't help out. However, he was happy with the guide books which had words add photos. For his young brother we had crayons and paper.