Author Archives: yachtcamomile
Madagascar to South Africa day 2
Camomile’s position at 10.00 Sunday 16th October
16 37S
041 47E
We had a good day yesterday sailing all day with speeds between 3.5kts to 7kts. After our bad first day it was good to be sailing in the right direction on a course of 260 to 270 degrees. We both had sleeps during the day and felt refreshed. No more fishing. The winds became lighter in the afternoon and we thought we were going to have to put the engine on but we seemed to have picked up a knot of current which is helping our speed so continued sailing. At midnight the wind suddenly dropped so the engine went on and we motor sailed through the night. At 5am this morning it dropped completely so Bill took the sails down otherwise they flap noisily which damages them. This morning the sea is glassy smooth with a light swell so we’ve been able to start heading south west on a course of 230 degrees. According to the grib files it looks like a day of motoring and possibly some northerlies starting up this evening. Still 907 miles to Richards bay, a lot can happen in those miles. I’m baking bread today and maybe some muesli cookies.
Banana bread, muesli cookies and fresh bread, yummy.
On an admin note for the followers of my net I’m going to go straight to 8110 at 09.00 local time from now on so that the boats still in the Nosy Be area can hear the boats on passage. Please pass it along and could someone put a note to that effect on the Indian Ocean facebook page. Thank you.
Bye for now.
Madagascar toSouth Africa day 1
A beautiful sunrise at 05.30
The village still slept as we slipped passed
Camomile and Tintin left Baly bay yesterday at 05.30 with a beautiful sunrise in our wake.
We followed Tintin out of the calm lagoon.
The plan was to head north to get off the shallows and avoid the fishing boats overnight – the wind had other ideas. The sails were hoisted as soon as we got clear of the bay and motor sailed until about 16.00 when the wind strengthened and we were able to turn the engine off. Unfortunately when we turned to the west the wind was right on the nose – why does it always do that???
We persevered for an hour or so but then had to tack which had us heading south again. The wind was forecast to back later and after one more tack we were going roughly in the right direction but that wasn’t until the early hours of this morning. Therefore we had a difficult night with disrupted sleep. This morning at 10.00 our position was
15 53S
043 36E
We had traveled only 110 miles in 24 hours but only 85 miles towards the waypoint – frustrating.
We caught a fish
The good news, WE CAUGHT A FISH. In fact we caught 2 as we had 2 lines out. One got away along with one of Bill’s best lures but we landed the other one. The first fish we’ve caught this side of Australia so that’s over 3 years. It was a blue fin tuna and I managed to cut 4 nice fillets off of it. They turned out quite expensive though because as Bill was reeling in the trolling line the plastic handle, which has sat out in the sun for the last seven years, broke. I handed him the gaff which had been stored under the solar panel but had obviously rotted and broke and fell in the water when he tried to lift the fish with it. It was gutted using my scissors but they were accidentally thrown over the side with the contents of the bucket full of guts. Not sure if we are going to bother again!
Heading south
Monday 26th September we started to head south with Tintin. Unfortunately Norsa had to go back to Crater bay because they had problems with their gearbox, Solstice were in no hurry so decided to go back with them.
We are now further south than Darwin so this is the furthest south we’ve been for over 3 years. We didn’t have any wind so decided to stop at Nosy Iranja and anchored at 13 36.353S
047 49.715E
The little island is private but the bigger island has a village on it. Similar to Komba it had beautiful embroidered tablecloths hanging everywhere and the ladies were encouraging us to buy. After wandering around for about an hour we decided to have a swim off of the beautiful sandy beach, Jacqui found some turtles and we swam with those for a while. The water was lovely and warm and the sand soft under our feet. This will be the last swim in the sea until the Caribbean!
We went back to the boats for a spot of lunch then continued south to the Baramahamay river (honey river). There’s a bit of a bar at the entrance but we didn’t have less than 6M of water at low tide. We anchored at 13 42.792S
047 54.074E
Tuesday morning I awoke early and sat out on deck. A truly magical place, strikingly quiet. No phones ringing because there’s no signal. No television, power tools or music because there’s no electricity. There aren’t any outboards or noisy Thailand long tails here just a paddle or a sail on their outrigger canoes that are made from trees. So quiet. I could hear birds tweeting in the trees 200M away, a cock crowing,a local boat builder hammering now and again. Their houses are made from the materials that surround them. The locals get up at dawn and go to sleep soon after sunset. There was very little sound of children’s laughter or playing which probably means many of them have gone away to school and the ones left behind the parents can’t afford to send them. As the sun came up I got some stunning photos of the reflections of the mountains behind us before the wind started blowing. Unfortunately we didn’t get to do very much there because I had had my cold for 3 weeks now and also had a very bad cough, (it sounded like I smoked 40 a day when I coughed.) I felt so tired all the time. Jacqui had also picked up a bit of a bug so we spent the day just resting. The Turkish boat Keyif came in later that day and soon after some local canoes come out to us to sell some honey but I didn’t buy any. Jacqui did and said it was delicious.
Wednesday morning Keyif left early so we and Tintin decided to go to. It was a shame not to go ashore at Honey river because there are supposed to be some nice walks there but I didn’t have the energy. We had a lovely sail down to Berangomania point and anchored at 14 05.761S
047 54.435E
Keyif and Tintin joined us in the anchorage as well and I went to visit Nadire on Keyif who was a doctor. She gave me some strong antibiotics and advised me to rest because she felt my cough was going on too long and complications could develop. As we are now in a very remote part of the world it’s not worth taking any chances with our health. Within a few days I felt a lot better. Thank you Nadire.
We also heard that Norsa’s gearbox was fixed and they were able to continue on their journey.
As I still didn’t have the energy to go walking it was decided to move south again the next day.
Leaving at 4.45 we motored, and later sailed all day past the islands of Saba and Lava and arrived at Moramba bay at 17.00 along with Tintin, Keyif and also Antares. Sadly when we got there we were hoping to meet up with Tom and Susie on Adina but they had moved on the day before. We anchored at 14 53.432S
047 20.532E
Finally having had no wifi signal since Hellville we had a wifi signal and would be able to catch up with emails, facebook, etc. As I was feeling a bit better Bill took us out in the dinghy to admire the Baobab trees on the beach. There were several beautiful species there. We had a gentle stroll along the beach.
Keyif and Antares left on the Saturday morning and, after an assessment of the weather, Tintin and Camomile left on Sunday morning. It was a shame we didn’t stay longer because Moramba bay was beautiful but we all wanted to get to South Africa so we plodded on.
The Sunday evening we stopped overnight in Mahajamba bay (not to be confused with Mahajanga bay)anchoring at 15 15.755S
046 58.345E
I wouldn’t recommend this anchorage because both boats had a very rolly night and the following morning when we were ready to leave Tintin got their anchor chain jammed around a rock or something. They spent over an hour trying every thing they could to free it, the water was the colour of red oxtail soup; the visibility was zero. Kevin considered swimming down to it but he wouldn’t have been able to see it plus there was a very strong current running passed the boats,it would have been too dangerous. Sadly there was no option but to drop it along with about 30M of chain, Kevin sawed it off and we continued on our journey.
Despite sailing all day there wasn’t time to get to Boing bay where Adina was before nightfall. We couldn’t go into Mahajanga because we’d already checked out so we went over to Katsepe which is on the western side of the bay opposite Mahajanga. We anchored at 15 46.19S
046 14.71E
The next morning, Tuesday, we heard on the net that Antares and Keyif had left Baly bay further west and were going for South Africa. They both had difficult starts to their passage with strong winds and rolly seas. They are both much bigger than us and we decided to wait for a few days for the west winds to drop. Adina made it to Baly bay.
On the Wednesday we went ashore with Tintin to look around the village of Katsepe. There wasn’t much there although we had watched a landing craft style ferry arriving each morning that had come from Mahajanga with an assortment of vehicles and leaving with an equal amount of goods and passengers including a huge container lorry almost as big as the ferry and a herd of zebu’s. I managed to get a few tomatoes and little peppers from one of the little market stalls and some bread. As we walked along the beach we found a bar serving cold beers so we sat down for a few hours and enjoyed a beer with the locals.
Thursday the wind was still blowing hard on the nose, there was no chance of leaving. We’d heard that Adina had attempted to leave Baly bay the evening before but had to turn back. The wind was still blowing hard from the west, we were pinned into the bay. The anchorage was still quite calm even though the wind was blowing overhead but it was coming across land.
Friday after long discussions about the weather Bill and Kevin decided it wasn’t good to go. Adina had managed to get out and leave but had a very bumpy ride but for us it would mean a day of sailing into the wind that was blowing 15 – 20kts on the nose. We would make another attempt the next day.
Saturday we didn’t go – I was totally gutted because it meant I wouldn’t get to south Africa in time to fly home for my niece’s wedding. It was always going to be a long shot but really a very sad day for me. Although the wind had dropped the forecast was now showing our window to get south was blocked by a deep low forming over the west coast of Madagascar which was giving building southerlies – something you don’t want in this area. It also meant it would be possibly a week before the window opened again. A very quiet down in the dumps day. I went through so many emotions, sad, angry, regret but it still wouldn’t get me to the wedding. I felt a bit better at the end of the day when I was resigned to it.
Sunday we had had enough of Mahajanga and it’s muddy waters and decided to head towards Baly bay. It was too late to leave now but as the wind had dropped it would be good to get in position for the next window. Tintin stayed behind because they wanted to get fuel. They went ashore at Katsepe and managed to fill their jerry cans at a fuel station about 100 meters down the road. We had a wonderful sail along the coast which was now calm and the strong winds have dropped. Camomile was joined by dozens of local dhows. At one point I counted 71 including several that were quite big but all hand made of wood. It was an impressive sight (photos when we get to South Africa). We sailed all day passing 045 east which means we are now seven eighths of the way around the world. At 5pm we crept into the lagoon anchorage at Baly bay and anchored at 16 02.04S
045 23.448E with 4M under our keel. It’s a bit of a way in but as we were going to be there for a few days we decided it was worth it. The anchorage was very calm. The dinghy is all wrapped up ready for the passage so we can’t go ashore
And that’s where we stayed for 4 nights. There’s a very very remote village in front of us and we’ve had a steady stream of canoes coming over with a few bits to trade with like mangos and bananas. I’ve been through our cupboards and sorted out as much as I can to give away including raiding Bill’s old ‘working’ t-shirts which have seen better days but compared to what they are wearing they are much better. Tintin arrived on Tuesday and it’s been decided we will leave tomorrow – Friday 14th October but I’m not posting this until we are out to sea. I don’t want to jinx it again.
We left at 05.30 this morning. Camomile and Tintin ghosted out on the outgoing tide past the sleepy village and are on our way. There’s no wind at the moment so we are motoring. I will try and send reports each day after 10.00 log reading. Pray for us if that’s your thing or fingers crossed if it isn’t.
More Madagascar
The yachts in Russian bay
This is the same blog but I’ve added the photos
After a great dive with the divemaster at Sakatia lodge on Monday 12th September, Norsa and Camomile along with Tintin and Solstice sailed across to Russian bay on Tuesday 13th .
Paul’s Dhow
Bill helped me in then climbed the ladder too.
While there a group of us went for a sail with a local guy called Paul in his traditional dhow to the other side of the bay for a wonderful walk.
Paul punted his dhow into deeper water
Then raised his sail
Fairly second hand but Paul still managed to sail his dhow pretty efficiently
Norman looks happy
It was very basic and just held together with bits of wood and string but felt very secure
After about an hour the sail was taken down, wrapped up and Paul paddled the last bit
While we went for our walk the dhow just sat waiting for us with a large rock as an anchor.
The dhow waiting
We came across a group of houses but everyone was out leaving just their herd of zebu’s behind
We continued on up the hill
We came across another little house on the top of the hill
Despite being at the top of the hill the guy was building himself a canoe
Ug and Ugg offered to get some coconuts for us
so we followed them
Once in the coconut plantation one of them climbed a tree and cut down coconuts for everyone
The tops were cut off the coconuts so we could drink the delicious liquid inside
Very refreshing
A collection of feet. We all just perched on the side and across the branches laid across the outrigger.
We walked back to the dhow and sailed back to the anchorage for lunch cooked by Paul’s wife. A really great day.
Camomile sailing along
The beautiful lemurs
On the Saturday Camomile and Norsa sailed to Nosy Komba for Norman and Sara to see the little village there. Sara and I went up into the lemur forest to see the lemurs again.
Sunday we headed back to Hellville to meet up with Solstice and Tintin ready for our day trip around the island of nosy Be.
Monday 19th saw the 8 of us going ashore and getting into a reasonable 10 seater minibus with air-conditioning for our day trip. It had been arranged through Roland, the guy who runs the chandlery in Crater bay.
A beautiful Sifaka
More Sifakas
First we went to Lemuria land where we saw several types of Lemur such as ring tailed lemurs, crowned, and black and white ruffed lemurs.
Ring tailed lemurs
Such beautiful faces
A Crocodile
There were also crocodiles, chameleons, iguanas, tortoises, to name but a few.
A Chameleon
Another chameleon
A leaf-tailed gecko
and this horrid spider which was about the size of my palm
The girls waiting to have their bags weighed
The group continued on to the ylang ylang distillery where girls had picked sacks full of the flowers to be weighed and registered to their name. They are expected to pick in the region of 20kgs a day, which is a lot of flowers, and they would be paid the princely sum of the equivalent of $5! It would take them most of the day to do this so very low wages. The flowers are distilled into essential oils and of course there was the obligatory shop where we were offered a juice and some little tidbits while we looked around. The prices were very reasonable so I treated myself to a few things.
A 20kg bag of petals
The group covered up to visit the sacred tree
Back on the bus and on to the ancient sacred banyan tree. It was necessary to be covered for the visit and we were all ceremoniously wrapped in sarongs before we could enter the grounds. The tree covered a vast area, it was difficult to find the original trunk. Many of the branches had sent out shoots which hang down towards the ground and take root forming branches of their own. It was eerily quiet as we walked around the path in between the many branches with our guide.
After that we drove north to see more of the island before stopping for lunch at the north of the island in the tourist area which also had tourist prices.
Looking down on the rice paddy fields
The last item on our itinerary for the day was Mont Passot, the islands highest point. On the way up we passed a series of deep blue crater lakes said to be the homes of the spirits of the Sakalava and Antakrana princes and some rice paddy fields. We stopped to take photos but sadly the area had been taken over by tourist stalls.
Continuing to the summit of 326m which gave us the most amazing views. The last section was walked and led to a series of platforms so that you could get clear views in all directions. (Although the photos didn’t come out very clear) There was a bit of an afternoon heat haze but it was possible to see all the way north to Nosy Mitsio and south west to Russian bay and beyond. Stunning views.
During the drive back our guide was able to give us lots of information about the Malagasy people, it was a great day out. The average life expectancy is 62 for men and 65 for women. 1 in 5 children die before the age of 5. There’s no welfare state and school in not compulsory. Many families can’t afford to send their children to school and there’s a 35% illiteracy rate. It was a interesting day.
The whole trip for 8 of us including the van and driver, English speaking guide, and entrances fees but not the lunch cost 210 euros which was 53E per couple plus some tips which we all agreed was good value. Roland’s details are adventuretoursmada@yahoo.com (photos for all this when we get to south Africa)
Bill and I spent Tuesday getting fuel and provisions enough to last us to south Africa because there wouldn’t be any where else to stock up further down the coast. On Wednesday 21st we checked out. The options are domestic check out in Hellville then full check out in Mahajanga or full check out in Hellville. We chose the latter mostly because a lot has been said about Mahajanga, some of which may or may not be true, but mostly because we didn’t want to HAVE to go in if we had a good window to keep going. (Later Adina checked out in Mahajanga and had no problems.)
Goodbye to Hellville
In the afternoon we left Hellville for the last time and sailed back to Russian bay. Our anchorage there was 13 32.19S
047 59.95Ein 14.4M of water. Good holding over sand.
Russian bay is named as such because in 1905 during the Russo – Japanese war a Russian fleet spent nine weeks harboured there. The crew of one of the ships are buried in the cemetery up behind Hellville. A beautiful and remote place opposite Nosy Be the bay provides excellent, all-round shelter. One morning Bill and I took the dinghy for a ride around the bay and were amazed by the bird life in the trees. Just outside the entrance is a beautiful beach which we sat on for an hour or so and swam in the sea. (Camera had another wobble and lost photos) We stayed there for the rest of the week and by the weekend there were 34 boats anchored in the bay because there was a regatta that weekend. Everyone had a great evening on the saturday and Andre worked hard putting on a bbq. The party continued Sunday morning as Andre was selling scrambled eggs and fresh bread with jam and coffee. I passed on the coffee but the bread was nice. There were games organised on the beach and then at midday a dozen or so of the yachts took part in a race back to Crater bay. The following day we started our passage south.
Dinghies on the beach in Russian bay
More Madagascar
A sailing dhow
The people in Madagascar are very poor but resourceful. They build their houses from materials gathered from the forest and their boats are totally made of natural materials. With a few exceptions the boats or dhows don’t have any engines and rely on the wind. Fortunately there are good winds here. In the early morning there’s the last of the night breeze blowing offshore and then most mornings a sea breeze strikes up towards the land at about 10am or 11am and goes on as late as 5pm or 6pm so the fishermen go out with one and come back with the other. Their sails are made of anything from rice bags sewn together to traditional heavy cotton sails with lots of varieties in between. Some have been fortunate to be given an old sail from a yacht and I say to those following us ‘don’t throw away any sails or sail material, bring it here’. Our friends on Adina gave away a sail and were given a live chicken in exchange! The Malagasy are very accomplished sailors and we often find they will try and race us when we’re sailing off shore and one of them very nearly beat us!
Can he see?
They use their dhows for fishing but also as transportation as the roads here are fairly basic or nonexistent.
This dhow is so heavily loaded the guy on the tiller can’t see where he’s going but relies on his fellow sailors to keep a look out. They were fairly close to shore where there was very little fetch because I could see it capsizing in any kind of sea.
Crater bay ‘marina’
Sunday 4th September we left Sakatia for Crater bay. There is a small ‘marina’ there that has quite a few charter boats on buoys. They offer a pontoon for your dinghy (but you need to lock it on) and the marina manager Rudi is Austrian and often able to help if you have a problem on board. We anchored outside the buoys at
13 24.023S
048 13.151E with 14.9M under our keel.
The marina bar.
Ashore there is a small bar built around some old engines that were probably in use here many years ago. It has cold beer with a limited selection of food and is a good yachtie meeting place. Note the bananas growing above the tables on the left hand side, now that’s fresh!
(For yachts following on behind us, this is the only place that had a theft this year but they were caught and punished and all was well after that. It’s important to lock up your boat and dinghy here but don’t be put off coming, it’s an interesting place.)
A zebu cart
Monday morning we went in search of fresh supplies. It’s a 20 minute walk to the road along a dirt track. The houses were very primitive. Zebu carts were being used again.
A home stall
This lady had set up a stall outside her house to sell some fresh produce. I try and buy one or two things from each person rather than everything from one. It spreads the wealth a bit.
This is their water supply.
water supply
outside kitchen
Again their kitchens are outside.
Main road
We reached the town and found it quite busy. This is the main road.
Oddly enough one of the busiest shops was the Orange phone shop. Mobiles are becoming popular in the towns where there are phone masts but away from the towns they can’t afford such luxuries as a phone.
The Orange shop
The butchers
Next door was the butcher – unbelievable! The meat was covered in flies and we were told if you buy it early enough before the flies get on it , it’s ok! Err no, call me old fashioned but I would rather not share my meat with the flies. Not sure if it’s put in a fridge overnight because it looked fairly fresh but it wasn’t going to be good for our western stomachs.
A bit further down the road was a supermarket called the big bazaar which had reasonable supplies but across the road was the reason to come to crater bay…. a chandler.
Bill in heaven
It’s run by an Austrian guy called Roland Kofler his email address is adventuretoursmada@yahoo.com really helpful and speaks good English. It was surprisingly well stocked. Bill was able to buy some parts he’d been looking for.
After we’d had a look around, stocked up on provisions and had a nice lunch at the Catalan restaurant, we headed back to the boat again.
Bill with the shopping trolley
Dear little chaps
The thing that saddens me most about these remote countries is the children. These little chaps were playing in the dirt with a handmade toy and a broken one. They seemed happy enough but it breaks my heart. When I think of what the children have back home and how these children would really appreciate a tine bit of it. The odds aren’t good for them, 1 in 5 dies before the age of 5 but the ones we met seemed happy.
Looking after his little brother
This chap was all smiles
One of the few children we saw with shoes on.
Glimpses of yachts
As we walked back down the lane we could see the boats in the anchorage over the top of the buildings. On a closer look of the buildings we realised it was some kind of builders merchant. There were roof sections made of palm leaves, different sized logs for the frame work and sides of buildings made of split bamboo.
Building materials
Heavy load
This poor man was struggling, the logs must have been very heavy.
It would have been interesting to know the prices they were charging for the materials, although the average income is US$5 a day. No minimum wage here.
These dhows were waiting for the tide to re-float them. They are very striking.
Dhows waiting for the tide
Little puppy
Back at the marina this is one of the puppies I wanted to take with me. So beautiful but full of fleas. He’s only this big because he’s feeding from his mother, she on the other hand was skin and bone. Difficult.
Norsa arrives with Solstice behind them.
Tuesday we motored back to Hellville to see our friends on Norsa and Solstice arrive from Mayotte. We all went ashore so they could check in and then met up later for lunch at our favourite cafe called the Oasis. Built in a Parisian street cafe kind of style the food is very good but the best are the chocolate brownies with a nice cappuccino. Yum
Bill, Sue, Phyllis, Sara, Don and Norman at the Oasis
Kevin, Don, Norman and Bill
The following day Tintin joined us from the islands and we had drinks on Camomile in the evening to celebrate. Rather a lot of drinks….
Happy people
…. which resulted in Norman falling in the water! No photos available. Haha
Ready for dinner
Thursday we motored back to Crater bay for a few days so the others could visit the chandler.
Saturday we sailed back to Sakatia lodge for more delicious food.
A note about Sakatia lodge, it isn’t a restaurant it’s a dining room for guests, which we were welcome to join but the meal is a set meal. We were very lucky that night.
Our crab starter
Delicious lobster
There were two plates this size for the six of us, wonderful food.
It was finished with homemade orange ice cream with an orange liqueur.
Now remember we aren’t on holiday!
Cruisers relaxing
Magical Madagascar
Hellville waterfront
Our first full week in Madagascar started with the chaos that is Hellville, the biggest town on the island of Nosy Be. The name means ‘big island’ and is pronounced ‘nossy bay’. It’s thought it was settled as long ago as 1649 by the English but the colony failed due to hostile natives and disease. They have had various arrivals since, Arabs and Comorans, but it finally came under the protection of the French in 1841. More recently Europeans have created a holiday resort of the island with many French and Italians settling there. We anchored at
13 24.375S
048 17.059E
The dock in Hellville
Hellville was named after Admiral de Hell a former governor of Reunion island further south rather than an evocation of the state of the town. It’s one of the places yachts can check in. A lot has been said about the government officials here and it’s very difficult finding any common ground. There are two locals here called Jimmy and Cool, Jimmy will walk you around the various officials which, if you don’t speak French, is necessary and Cool will mind your dinghy for you as there’s no dinghy dock. It will be moved around but we felt they needed to be trusted and we had no complaints. We work on 4,000 Ariary to 1GBP and Jimmy charges 30,000 and Cool 10,000 for the day to look after your dinghy so we aren’t talking big money. Unfortunately our photo of Jimmy didn’t come out but he’s on the left of this photo in the the red t-shirt. This also shows the chaos where you have to come ashore.
Tuk tuk driver
We went ashore first thing on the morning of Monday 29th August and the fun began!!
The first people to see are the police, they have an office/portacabin on the waterfront. They filled in an arrival form for us then said the person to stamp the visa wasn’t there so Jimmy took us to their office in the town. The tuktuk fares are 500AR per person for any journey which was 25p for the two of us. We got off at the bank to get some money out of the ATM. It issued us with 10,000AR notes which are worth about 2.50 so Bill ended up with wads of money in his pocket which is never a good idea. Continuing on to the visa office but the guy we needed to see wasn’t there either. A little word about tuk tuks, forget doors and windows, forget MOTs, forget health and safety, just go for a ride!
Old colonial building
We went back to the police dock and said we couldn’t find him and, after various suggestions, all of which would have cost ‘bribe’ money, it was agreed we would go back later. Then it was onto port control who were very efficient and it cost AR61,000 for a 1 month cruising permit for the Nosy Be area. (Note to sailors following us , you only need a permit for the month you’ll be in this area even if you have a visa for 2 months as we did.)
Prison entrance
The next stop was the Orange shop to set up a sim for the phone with internet access passing the local prison on the way. Remind me to behave here, can’t imagine the squalor that would be behind these walls.
Continuing along to the market.
Meat market
Quite a sight. This meat is just sitting out in the open and was covered in flies, fortunately you can’t smell the smells. Needless to say we didn’t buy any. A bit further along the dried fish stalls were just as bad.
Dried fish stall
The salad was better
Beautiful pineapples
The fruit on this stall was very good and I bought a bundle of these lettuces for about 75p.
Hoisting the Madagascar flag
We made our way back to the port to meet Jimmy at 2.30 to get our visas stamped. The guy still wasn’t anywhere to be seen and it was suggested we go to the airport to find him. I refused that because it wasn’t a weekend and I knew it could cost 30,000 plus in a taxi each way. The police were also after their ‘payment’ asking first for 120,000 but we refused saying other cruisers have paid 80,000 which they accepted. This is only about GBP20 but as we knew it was simply a ‘bribe’ we weren’t happy about paying but you have no choice. If you don’t pay they won’t check you in and can then arrest you – having seen the prison, we paid. We went back to the boat and finally at 4pm he turned up and we were able to get our visas which cost AR100,000 per person. At the end of the day we paid less than GBP100 for the whole thing which was far less than the other countries in the Indian ocean but it all felt a bit tacky. At last we were able to host the Madagascan flag I had made.
A zebu cart
The next morning it was back into town for shopping. This is the car park outside the supermarket. Isn’t he lovely? Its called a zebu and they are every where including on the meat counters for sale!
The supermarket had a lot of French products and wine so we had a little stock up. The fruit and veg weren’t as good as the market but we found in the following days that certain days after a delivery the stock was better.
Then it was on to …… guess where?
The hard ware store
Bill found some tubing
We’ve got various leaks in Camomile’s water system and Bill needed some tubing. This man was very helpful with his little bit of English and Bill using a little bit of french he managed to get what he needed.
The traffic is a bit chaotic here with a mixture of cars, tuk tuks and zebu carts.
Street life with the market on the right and a roundabout in front of me
Loading a truck onto the ferry
Back at the port we watched the most extraordinary scene where they were loading cars and fairly big trucks onto a local ferry. I’ll try and post a video on facebook. How they didn’t sink I’ll never know. Jimmy was watching and our dinghy had been pulled up onto the side. This is why you need to pay Cool his AR10,000 to watch your dinghy. The truck was held up while our dinghy was launched.
Later that afternoon we motored the 10 miles around to Nosy Komba and arrived just in time to see this stunning sunset behind one of the off shore islands.
Stunning sunset
Beautiful tablecloths for sale.
The next morning we went ashore with Kevin and Jacqui of Tintin to explore. The village was very authentic and pretty. At first it looked like peoples washing blowing in the wind but we realised it was beautiful hand embroidered tablecloths for sale.
More tablecloths under the bougainvillea flowers
Ladies doing their washing
These ladies are doing their washing in one of the troughs that has a fresh water fill from the mountain above. Their houses don’t have electricity or running water. We didn’t ask about the toilets!
Bathtime
This little chap was being given a shower in front of the water trough.
Local house
This is one of the local houses. This isn’t one of those contrived villages where every one goes home after work, these are really houses where they all live. It looks like one decent puff of wind and they would be blown down but they are fairly strong. All the cooking is done outside on open fires. This is her kitchen in front of her house. They were so lovely, its a bit touristy but very pretty.
Our view from the bar at lunchtime
Ylang ylang flowers
After lunch we took a guide up into the forest to find some lemurs. The first thing we were shown was a ylang ylang tree whose flowers are used to make perfume namely Channel No5 they had a delightful aroma.
A chameleon
We walked further up and saw this beautiful chameleon on a tree.
wild pineapple
and wild pineapples growing alongside the path.
Black male lemur
Our guide was calling’ maki, maki, maki’ and opening a banana he had brought with us. Then they appeared, first two, then two more and four above us. Such gentle creatures. Lemurs, roughly cat sized, are well known in northern Madagascar. The males are black and the females are chestnut brown.
Male brown lemur
Male brown lemur, you can tell because of his beautiful white ear tufts and side whiskers.
The guide was holding out banana to them and gave me some to hold up ready to give them. Soon I had a couple on my shoulders looking for their piece of banana, they were very gentle.
I had two on my shoulders
back up in the tree
Such delicate sweet creatures.
they love banana
There were some mums with babies further up the tree but they didn’t want to come down.
It was very funny watching them jump from tree to tree. So many of our photos have half a lemur in them.
Giant tortoise
We were also taken to see some tortoises……
…… and a boa constrictor
Bill was very brave
and so was I
a local boat
Line of the bow ready to cut
Back on the beach this local boat was anchored. It’s made almost entirely in local materials, the hull is made of wood, the mast is a tree trunk and the sail is made of a very tough cotton. Further up the beach was a local boat builder and Bill was fascinated to see the various stages of build.
Building up the sides
These are in the middle of their build
A new build
We headed back to the dinghies. On the beach there were some men building a local house, bet they don’t have a risk assessment!
Not a hard hat, safety shoe or high vis jacket in sight.
Anchored on the south side of the island
Thursday 1st September Camomile left Nosy Komba for Nosy Sakatia stopping at Nosy Tanikeli on the way. It’s part of the national park and you have to pay AR10,000 per person. We anchored at
13 29.275S
048 14.209E on a bit of a shelf. We had 16.5m under our keel but only intended to stay for a few hours so weren’t too concerned.
Nice brain coral with an angel fish
There aren’t many places to snorkel in Madagascar and the coral has been bleached but we decided to get in. This would probably be our last snorkel until the Caribbean next year. The first thing that struck us was the water was quite chilly compared to the Seychelles or Maldives
Beautiful giant clam
Beautiful turtle
Then I spotted a turtle swimming gracefully around the coral looking for tasty morsels. At first I didn’t want to go too close and frighten it but it wasn’t bothered about us. I was able to get closer and closer. It was almost a metre long from head to tail. I swam with it for about 20 minutes just watching it. Magical.
I could reach out and touch it.
The beach and village next to the lodge
After our swim we carried onto Nosy Sakatia and anchored at
13 18.926S
048 09.680E with 9m under our keel. This is the beach in front of us, the Sakatia Lodge is right up in the corner to the left of this beach and very welcoming to yachties. The food is more expensive than the rest of Madagascar but was excellent.
Our lovely bar lady
The following day we celebrated our 38th wedding Anniversary. We went over to the lodge for lunch then returned in the evening for a delicious meal. This lady made the most fantastic mojito and they were only AR8,000 or GBP2 each
Our meal started with chilled cucumber soup.
Chilled cucumber soup
Our main course
It was followed by Calamari with peas in a delicious sauce and duchess potatoes.
Bon appetite
When the meal was booked in the morning the staff were told it was our anniversary. When the dessert came the chief had very kindly made a lovely cake for us. It was absolutely laced with rum and delicious. What a wonderful celebration. Next year – Boston!
The end to a beautiful evening
Mayotte and the passage to Madagascar
Washing machines!!!
Mayotte is part of the Comoros group and the island sits inside the biggest natural lagoon in the world. We had picked up a buoy at the yacht club at
12 46.887S
045 15.647E
The yacht club was very friendly and had helped us with our check in but the best thing was that they had not 1 but 4 front loading, 1200 rpm washing machines with HOT water. I was in heaven, if it wasn’t nailed down it was washed while we were there.
The Emerald crater
The other side of the crater
Sunday 14th August was a good day with us making an early start and walking around the Emerald crated on Petit Terre, the little island. We walked right round the ridge along the top and down to the beaches on the other side. I’ll just post some photos for you to enjoy.
The ridge pathway with crater on one side and sea on the other
The ridge continued
Looking back across the Emerald crater with the main island in the background
A final look back at the crater
A nice panoramic shot showing the ridge path on both sides.
The beach on the outside of the rim
Before we completed the circuit a path leads south towards the beach. This is the beach on the outside of the crater rim but we couldn’t get down to it.
Someone had thoughtfully built a picnic hut at the top.
The first of the vent ‘bubbles’
Lovely view of the edge of the two vent bubbles
The path continued towards two vent bubbles that have created two beaches. To get down to the beach it’s an almost vertical track and my knees I didn’t fancy it so we continued passed the beaches to the road and walked back to the beach.
The entrance of the northern beach showing the hard lava instead of sand
The beaches were volcanic black sand mixed with some light sand giving it a grey colour but very hot to walk on. The northern beach was mostly hard rock formed from the flowing lava many thousands of years ago.
Higher up the beach there was sand but also mangrove trees growing in the edge of the water.
The south wall of the northern beach was stunning with many rock formations
The rock by Bill’s feet was a piece of solid marble. See the layers in the rock behind him.
The north wall of the southern beach with stalactites dripping from the overhangs.
The southern beach was more sandy and had many turtle tracks up the beach where turtles lay their eggs at night.
The sea looked very inviting after our sweaty walk but we didn’t have our swimmers with us.
Looking out through the headlands of the southern beach
After walking back up to the car park we were lucky enough to get a taxi back to the dinghy jetty.
This was our little car for the day
We spent part of our second week looking for an emergency dentist because I had toothache which was getting worse and worse. Fortunately by Thursday I was sorted with a temporary filling so on Friday we hired a car for the day to look around the island.
There were some nice views from some of the headlands.
Stunning views
The botanical gardens weren’t very good and sadly there was a lot of rubbish strew around the island as well as a lot of ‘dead’ cars but we did find some nice beaches.
One of the lovely beaches
Another nice beach
A type of Baobab tree
Mayotte has some species of the Baobab trees growing next to some of the beaches.
The peak of Mlima Benara
Mlima Benara
The island is dominated by Mlima Benara the highest peak on Grande-Terra. It’s distinct shape is visible from almost any where on the island.
Our last stop was at a nice hotel that had tables on the beach for a mojito.
Sun-downers on the beach
Sailing at the beginning with Elonisa and Tintin
Monday 22nd I went to the dentist again to have the root removed and the tooth filled. I was very worried although I shouldn’t have been because all was OK. We went ahead and checked out Tuesday, after a last batch of washing and shopping, and left Mayotte first thing Wednesday morning. I can’t honestly recommend Mayotte, a week would have been long enough, although we found the people were friendly and I got my tooth sorted. The main reason for going there was to avoid the Seychelles to Madagascar run, which has a notorious reputation. Instead our trip from Mayotte to Madagascar was an easy one. We exited out of the Bandrelle pass on the south east corner of the reef at 08.00 with Tintin and Elonisa. There was a light wind so we were able to start off sailing.
Stunning sunset.
The first sighting of Madagascar
By 15.30 the wind had dropped and we had to motor overnight. This amazing sunset was seen in the evening. We continued motoring the next day until about 14.30 when the sea breeze from Madagascar started up and the engine was turned off again. We sailed the last three hours. Although Elonisa had gone on ahead of us being a much bigger and faster boat Camomile arrived just 10 minutes after Tintin again. The journey of 188 miles took 36 hours making it an average of 5.2 kph.
A pirogue sailing up the channel
Old sails
Arriving late in the afternoon our landfall had been Nosy Sakatia, north west of Nosy Be. We had anchored at
13 18.10s
048 10.65E
In the morning we enjoyed seeing these wonderful pirogues using the last of the land breeze to sail out to their fishing ground and in the afternoon they use the sea breeze to sail back again. They are a magnificent sight but some of the sails are very worn out. Even the little canoes have a sail of sorts on to use the wind. These guys were also paddling hard. For those yachties following along behind us, if you get new sails for your Indian ocean trip don’t through your old sails away. Bring them here, they would make very good use of them.
Camomile approaching Nosy Kisimany
The next morning Tintin headed into Hellville but we didn’t want to check in until Monday morning so we motored across the bay to Nosy Kisimany to meet up with Tom and Susie on Adina.
Beautiful approach. First impressions of Madagascar are good. One of the things that’s so striking is the lack of rubbish every where. That’s mainly because the plastic age hasn’t fully reached these parts yet – long may it continue.
This wonderful canoe followed us into the anchorage on the way to his village. Again using his sail – no noisy outboards or Thai long tails here; it’s so peaceful.
Another canoe
Our visitors
We anchored at
13 34.715S
048 05.182E in 8 metres of water.
Within minutes of putting the anchor down these little chaps sailed over to us from the village. I just want to point out we’ve never been worried about these situations and have only ever encountered friendliness.
They rolled their sail up and laid it across the outrigger before producing a fish for sale that was so stiff I dread to think how old it was. We thanked them kindly but refused it. They were asking for fishing line which we gave them along with some lollipops and they went away happy. The older one couldn’t have been much more than 9 or 10 and his brother was probably about 7.
Selling fish
Adina
Adina arrived and we were invited over for a meal. It was a lovely evening. It enabled us to take some nice shots of Camomile in the evening light.
Camomile in the evening light
Still looking good.
The following day in the afternoon Camomile and Adina sailed across to Hellville ready for our Monday morning check in but that’s for another blog. Adina took some really good shots of Camomile on the way.
On our way to Hellville
Thank you to Susie on Adina for these photos
Greetings from Madagascar
Passage from Seychelles to Mayotte
I’m writing to let you know we have arrived safely in Mayotte which is one of the Comoros islands off the east coast of Africa. It was a fairly uneventful passage with just a couple of bouncy bits.
The beach at Anse Lazio
Last weekend Camomile and Tintin were anchored at Anse Lazio on Praslin, one of the islands off of the Seychelles, a truly beautiful spot, when we heard our friends on Adina had decided there was a weather window good enough to leave. Both Bill and Kevin had been saying the weather was good to go but Jacqui and I were enjoying the island. After a little meeting consulting grib files and predict wind software it was agreed we should leave too. The passage from the Seychelles to Comoros/Madagascar has a bad reputation and it would be good to get it over as there did indeed look like a good weather window was coming up.
One of the beautiful properties on the northern headland
The pretty church near Beau Valon
We arrived back in Victoria harbour on Sunday 31st July and starting working on leaving straight away. Fueling, washing, shopping still had to be completed before we left. Adina had left that morning. Monday morning we all walked to port control to start the process of checking out and by a stressful Tuesday afternoon we were good to go. We motored the 2 hours around the north coast to Beau Valon to anchor for the night. It looked a beautiful spot, it would have been nice to go ashore but the outboard was on the pushpit and the dinghy was tied up ready for the passage. The waypoint was
04 36.6S
055 25.5E
Sailing together with Tintin
Wednesday 3rd August at 07.00 Camomile and Tintin weighed anchor and headed out of the bay. Within an hour the sails were up and we were sailing nicely in a light south easterly on the beam. We were traveling on the edge of the high risk area and this was as far north as we were going in the Indian ocean and the nearest to Muqdisho in Somalia. Hopefully the pirates have gone now but there was no point taking any unnecessary risks so it was decided we would only call on the vhf in emergencies and we also had our AIS (automatic identification system)on receive only. We had planned regular skeds on the SSB instead. The first day was uneventful. The wind stayed at a steady F4 on a beam reach so we made good progress. It was decided to put a reef in the mainsail overnight but it turned out to be unnecessary and it was shaken out the next morning. Our 24 hour run from 10.00 on the 3rd to 10.00 on the 4th was 166 miles – a lot better than the Chagos trip.
The wind dropped a bit on the 4th so we motor sailed for 2 hours to charge the batteries passing the Desroches islands on our starboard side. In the afternoon we passed over the Amirante trench with Alphonse island on our port. As this is the area the Chandlers were taken by pirates 7 or 8 years ago we kept a good look out.
Our plan was to make as much south as we could before we turned to the west. We were trying to keep a course of 220 degrees but the wind got stronger overnight making things a bit bouncy but luckily no squalls. That night the wind had increased to F5 so we put a reef in the main when Bill came up on watch. We had to crack off to starboard to reduce the slamming but tried to sail at 60 degrees apparent to maintain our southing.
Early morning sunrise
The next morning on the 5th the wind dropped back to F4 and our 24 hour run had been 132 miles. We lost sight of Tintin that day but after a check in on the SSB it turned out they were only 10 miles away from us. They had turned a little more to starboard to give themselves a more comfortable passage. During the night, after passing the islands of the Providence group on our port side, we reached our southern waypoint allowing up to turn more to starboard and the west. It was
09 14.6S
050 28.1E
We were making really good speeds of 7kts and the next morning our 24 hour run was 155. There was probably at least a knot of current helping us along. Still no squalls and no sign of the bad weather often reported on this passage. One of the joys of sailing are the sunrises, they never cease to amaze me. I spent the day reading my book ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes. I thoroughly recommend it but it has an emotional ending and I sat and sobbed for a full half hour at the end much to Bill’s amusement.
The night of the 6th was going to be the difficult one. We were entering the compression zone of winds that come up from the south on the east side of Madagascar and was a notorious black spot. The forecast was giving 20kts but still from the south east so the plan was to continue on a course of 245 degrees. The bad weather, according to predict wind and the grib files, was due to start at 6pm. Sure enough at 18.30 we could feel the wind rising and the waves were getting shorter but steeper. By 10pm we had a strong F6 with rough seas, it felt like being in a washing machine. The deck was covered in spray and several managed to find their way into the cockpit. It was forecast to last 12 hours and I kept repeating to my self ‘it will be gone by 6am, it will be gone by 6am’. Neither of us got much sleep that night although I spent a good bit of it cowering in my bed. (I know I shouldn’t be such a wuss but I’ve seen too many of these sessions and know what they can turn into!)By 2am we had gusts of 30kts but fortunately on our aft quarter. It dropped back down to 25kts after a couple of hours. Camomile loved it, we had 2 reefs in the main and a scrap of genny and she was still surging along at 7 – 8kts touching 9kts at times.
During all this we had a stowaway. A blue footed boobie landed just after sunset and clung to the weather end of the dinghy all night. He had no intention of leaving even when a wave washed him onto the solar panel and off the other end. The stupid bird didn’t fly off but clattered back along the solar panel onto his perch and put his head back under his wing. How he managed to hold on is a mystery but he seemed to move with the movement of the boat. In the morning at sunrise he stretched his wings, shook his head and took to the skies leaving a pile of crap on the dinghy and without his ‘takeaway’. When the sun rose I removed no less than 15 squid that had been washed onto the deck with the big seas, along with their horrible black ink, but you’ve got to love those boobies!
Sunday the 7th dawned a much better day. We were now in the wind shadow of Madagascar. The wind was back to F4 and the sea was calming down. Our 24 hour run had been an amazing 180 miles that’s an average of 7.5kph! That was the good news, the bad news was the wind continued to drop and by 2pm had gone and we were motoring. The other good news was we were now 10 degrees south of the equator and out of the High Risk zone. During the day we’d heard that Adina wasn’t doing as well as us having had strong head winds and adverse current on their way to the Comoros they had changed plans and were heading to Madagascar. Jacqui and I had a chat and it was decided to change our plan too and head to Mayotte instead. There are a lot of problems in the country with a difficult check-in plus there have been a lot of thefts from yachts in the past. Mayotte was slightly nearer and a French administered island. The thought of nice cafes selling coffee and delicious baguettes was too great a pull so we changed course for Mayotte. We were also experiencing adverse current but fortunately without the head winds so continued to motor. Bill spent several hours catching up on his sleep and I had a nap in the afternoon too. After our 18.00 check-in on the SSB Tintin appeared on the horizon
That evening our trip log clicked over 50,000 miles since leaving the UK.
Unusual cloud formation
It was also getting colder. We were now 11 degrees south and needed fleeces for the night watch and a blanket on the bed.
The next morning just after sunrise I noticed this strange bank of cloud in front of us. I hadn’t seen anything like it before. It looked like there was a bank of cloud or fog below the normal clouds. Fortunately as we motored forward it dissipated.
This was the edge of the cloud bank and if you look carefully you can see Tintin’s mast on the horizon.
Tintin is a speck on the horizon
Bill mending the solar panels
Life continued on Camomile that Monday morning. We were still motoring with the tide against us and our 24 hour run had been only 115 miles, we sail faster than we motor. Bill had some repair jobs to do. The solar panels had taken a bit of a bashing during the strong winds and Bill repaired the locking mechanism while we were underway.
The bimini insert piece had come adrift but that was just the zip that needed re-threading which Bill did tooth by painstaking tooth.
I started to clean up by washing down the cockpit and aft deck with fresh water. Everything was covered in a layer of salt. The water-maker was running most of the day to top up our tanks.
Land was sighted at midday, always a wonderful feeling to know the passage was nearly over.
Mayotte seen in the distance
Tintin peacefully at anchor
We put the main sail up to give us another knot because we wanted to be in by nightfall. At 18.15 we dropped the anchor at
12 43.201S
045 08.276E
Tintin dropped their anchor within 10 minutes of us. Quite remarkable that the two boats had stayed so close to each other during the voyage. It was such a relief to get this passage out of the way. Tomorrow we would head south to check-in but just enjoyed the peaceful still of our first African island anchorage.
The Island of Praslin, Seychelles
Photo taken from Ile Longue looking back towards Victoria
Before I continue on our journey I want to take it back to Seychelles and tell you about the island of Praslin, 28 miles northeast of Mahe. Praslin is Seychelles second-largest granitic island in both size and population. The highest point is 367m, the roads are quieter and the pace of life slower.
We finally left Victoria harbour on 20th July for a short stay off the island group in the St Anne’s national park. The stop was mainly to clean the bottom of the boat that had got pretty slimy after sitting not moving for 5 weeks but also the islands were very pretty. To stay in the NP normally it’s 200 SR per person per night which is about GBP10 each (and you don’t get anything for that) but I managed to sweet talk the park ranger who comes out in a little dory, to let us have 2 nights for the price of 1 “because we aren’t on holiday like the rest of these charter yachts”, he fell for it!
The beach at Lazio
Friday 22nd we raised the anchor and had a wonderful sail over to Praslin, F3 on the beam, no swell, my kind of sailing, and dropped our anchor at Anse Lazio mid afternoon. As luck would have it our friends Davina and Antony on Divanty were in the bay and kindly invited us on for drinks in the evening as they were leaving the next day.
We anchored at
04 17.50S
055 41.90E
The bay is stunning and has won many polls as the ‘Best Beach in the World’ we’ve seen some wonderful beaches and I have to say it’s pretty near the top. (Note my computer has died with all my best photos of the beach on it, I still had some on my camera although they aren’t my best ones they will have to do until my computer is mended).
The granite islands of Seychelles are unique, they are the world’s only oceanic granite islands and they are also the world’s oldest ocean islands . They were formed three-quarters of a billion years ago and have never been submerged. As recently as 10,000 years ago they were still a single landmass during the last ice age when sea levels were lower. Today, we just see the tips of the mountains which forms the islands of the Seychelles.
The granite boulders
Pink granite boulders – guess why I like them!
The centre of Lazio beach is pure white sand with a brilliant azure blue sea breaking onto it but around the edges are the huge pink granite boulders of all shapes and sizes the islands are known for. Absolutely stunning. Photos don’t do it justice you need to go there and it would be perfect for a honeymoon…….
Landing the dinghy
Our first night at anchor was quite refreshing, it was still hot because we are only 4 degrees from equator but with a light wind blowing over the anchorage it kept the boat a little cooler. The anchorage is on the north west side of the island and the wind comes from the south east at the moment so it’s quite calm there although you have to be careful when landing the dinghy because there’s a bit of swell and it’s enough to give you a wet landing. One of our sources of amusement is watching the charter yachts trying to land their dinghies!
Just follow the track
On the Sunday we decided to go exploring. We had been told of a nice walk over the hills to the south side of the island, continue to walk to anse Georgette and back across the hills on the ridge walk to our anchorage. We needed some exercise so off we went. For future cruisers as you look at the beach the entrance to the track is at the end of the right hand side of the beach. There’s an arrow painted on the rock.
It started to rise quite steeply after about 10 minutes and became really hot out of the wind shadow of the island.
The track rises steeply
Pretty house
You pass one little house then you reach a plateau which had a really pretty house surrounded by beautiful gardens. This was the start of the road but only for 4x4s because it was still very rough. Allegedly this is where the path divides and leads to the ridge walk to Georgette but we couldn’t find it and decided to stay on the track we were on and come back on the ridge walk. The scenery was amazing with many different types of trees on our journey.
Many different trees and palms
Wonderful views
We continued up another hot steep section without any shelter from the sun. The earth was also very red which seemed to attract the heat. Finally we got to the top and looked back to the anchorage. The views were astounding.
Astounding views back to the anchorage
An old Leyland bus originally from India
The walk on the other side was under trees allowing us to cool down a little. The road starts at the bottom of the gravel track and this is where you can catch the bus that’s takes you right round the island to the other end of Lazio beach and many points in between. Any ride is 5SR which is about 30p so if you get off after one stop or go to the other side it’s 5 SR. We were walking today so just watched as it passed. This dear little cemetery was half way down the hill …..
Little cemetery
Bananas growing like apples
… and there were bananas growing in the trees every where.
Looking back down the fairway
Once you reach the bottom of the hill turn right towards the big posh Lemuria resort. There’s a security guard on the gate but it he was allowing people through because it’s the only way to Georgette beach. The resort has the only 18 hole golf course in the Seychelles and very nice grounds. Stick to the path and after about 200 metres you’ll see a sign to anse Georgette on the right hand side. The path leads up past one of the fairways. Looking back down the fairway the path was along the other side of the lake. We’d been walking for an hour or so by now.
What a beach
Follow the signs alongside another fairway and then you come to the beach.
WOW
Now that’s a beach!
WOW
Very similar to Lazio but a bit more surf. We sat and ate our picnic to the sounds of crystal clear water crashing against the majestic granite boulders then rising up the soft white powdery sand leaving little bubbles by our feet. It doesn’t get much better than that. Magical!
Amazing views …..
With your back to the sea walk to the left hand side of the beach and you’ll find a narrow path leading up. This is the entrance to the ridge walk. A little note here, this turned out to be a very difficult walk and only anyone with mountain goat qualities should attempt it – unfortunately we didn’t know this at the time!
The views were amazing as we started to climb.
…. from the top
The view to the other side.
From this height you could see the swell coming in and even the catamaran was bobbing around quite a bit. The golf course comes right to edge of the beach. If you are a golfer this must be one of the most scenic golf courses in the world. Once on the ridge the views over both sides were stunning; looking over to the other direction we could see the sea on the south coast.
Lovely view of the anchorage
The path continued along the ridge then started going down but giving us an amazing view of the anchorage first. At this point it became almost vertical and we both really struggled to get down. It wasn’t until we were half way down that Bill suddenly asked if I thought this was the right path because we were descending too much although I think it would have been just as hard to go back up and it was to continue down. The path then came out onto someone’s vegetable garden and we thought we must have gone wrong. We started to move towards the little dwelling (tin shed) we could see when suddenly 4 dogs came running out barking at us. I just froze but Bill was in front and was surrounded. One of the little devils then bit him on the ankle. We started shouting at them when the owner appeared. We apologised for being on his land and asked if he could show us the path which he happily did after beating the poor dogs away although I found it difficult to feel sorry for them. (When we got to the bottom of the hill we should have skirted around the edge of his land to rejoin the path.)
Busy anchorage
Once clear of his settlement we stopped to look at the bite, it was only a little nip thankfully and I cleaned it and put a plaster on it. The path started going up again really steeply but we had no choice but to follow it and eventually it came out by the pretty house on the plateau but even when we knew where it was it really wasn’t obvious. We stumbled back down the hill onto the beach quite exhausted but both agreed it had been a difficult but good walk and had taken us about 4 hours in total. The anchorage was full of charter boats when we got back to the dinghy. There’s a circuit they all seem to do and Sunday is Lazio. Little tip for future cruisers.
The little church of St Matthew
The next morning, gluttons for punishment, we walked back over the hill again but only as far as the bus stop. We took the bus to Grand Anse which is the largest settlement on Praslin. There are several hotels and restaurants, not to mention a very nice coffee shop, as well as a branch of the STC supermarket chain.
87% of the Seychelles is catholic and this little church was right in the middle of the village.
We had a very nice lunch before getting back on the bus to do the bus ride around the island. This was not for the fainthearted!
Very low brick wall
This little bit of wall was all that separated the old Leyland bus from going over the side on the narrow mountain roads, there wasn’t any thing at all in places. I wouldn’t mind but he was driving as though he had the devil in his tail. I’m sure he knew every bend and crevice in the road but it felt very scary. The views were amazing though. Difficult to take photos on the move but I managed a few.
Nice villa
More boulders
The bus continued to Anse Boudin where we got off to walk over the hill to the other end of Lazio beach. An easier walk in that it’s smooth road but still just as steep. If you have a car you can drive right to the beach but we walked. The view from the brow of the hill showed that all the charter cats had gone but there were a couple of bigger boats there instead.
Little Camomile in the middle
Bill up the mast
On Tuesday, having had 2 walks in 2 days, we decided to stay on the boat and do some jobs. Bill had bought a new aerial and cable in the UK for the VHF. This is the second aerial and cable in 2 years but tests had indicated that the reason the VHF wasn’t working was the aerial. The old aerial had been changed in Victoria and Bill discovered it had been leaking and had some corrosion on the inside, he hoped that had been the problem. While performing a radio check with a couple of other boats they reported our radio was still crackly so Bill wanted to go ahead and change the cable too as the top foot or two had also suffered from corrosion. That entailed him sitting at the top of the mast, joining the new cable to the old and pushing it into the mast while I was at the bottom pulling it through. Sounds easy? Nothing is ever easy on a boat; after an hour an a half it eventually came though. Poor Bill’s legs had gone to sleep.
Bundle of cable at the bottom of the mast
Taking the ceiling panels down
Now it just needed connecting to the back of the VHF – simples! Bill spent the rest of the day running the cable to the back of the VHF – again nothing is easy. To do that he had to take the headlining down, before that dismantle the lights. My cupboard had to be emptied and the new cable pulled right through so it could be connected. Took the rest of the day.
Wiring in the cable
Bill’s replacement handle
As many of you know Bill is very versatile. Some time ago I had broken one of the handles on our Oceanair hatch blind and we haven’t been able to get a replacement. So on Wednesday Bill was pondering about this then started borrowing into his ‘it’s all rubbish’ locker and out came an old chopping board. Half an hour later – a new handle. How clever is that!
Later that day Tintin arrived but I don’t seem to have any photos of them and they were right next to us.
hairpin bends
On Thursday we did our third walk up the hill with Kevin and Jacqui and caught the bus for the island trip but this time we got off in St Anne’s bay. The last bit of the bus ride down into the bay is really scary with some really tight bends but the driver went just as fast as on the straight, we were all hanging on tight.
Beautiful St Anne’s bay
St Anne’s bay marina
The bay is very pretty with a small marina there but it’s reserved for charter boats. The end of the jetty is where the inter island ferries land.
Beautiful St Anne’s church
Inside the church
We walked along the waterfront and came across the most beautiful church. I think it had been prepared for a wedding. It was so light and airy inside. Enjoyed a lovely walk around inside.
A bit further round the bay we found a lovely little cafe selling the most delicious food for a reasonable price for a change.
After a leisurely lunch we continued on our bus journey back to Lazio.
After a lovely day Jacqui and Kevin came on board Camomile for drinks that evening.
Friday was boat job day and Bill helped Kevin scrub Tintin’s hull while Jacqui and I went for a coffee. Before you say anything hull scraping is a blue job and there are plenty of pink jobs that I do on board. In the evening Bill and I took the dinghy for a tour of the beautiful granite rocks that surround the bay. They are very similar to the ones on Cote de Granit Rose on the northern coast of France. I’ll post a few of my favourite photos.
Beautiful rocks
more rocks
The water was rising and falling over these ones
After perusing along the rocks for about half an hour we motored down to the Georgette beach to take a look at it from sea. Yep, just as beautiful and even better with no one on it.
Georgette beach form the sea
If you look carefully at this photo you can see the path we took up to the top. It’s just to the left of center.
Path up the hill
The start of the sunset
We were back on board just in time to see the sun go down. We’ve seen some amazing sunsets from this anchorage. I don’t have a filter on my camera these are the actual colours.
The sunset became more and more vivid
Magical
The world’s biggest nut!
On our last day on Praslin we visited the Vallee de Mai which is home to the worlds largest forest of the iconic Coco de Mer palm. The British general Charles Gordon visited the valley in 1881 and decided that the valley was the Garden of Eden and the coco de mer the Tree of Knowledge. The female Coco de Mer trees bear the world’s largest nut that has the uncanny resemblance to the female pelvis. We were given one of these to handle on the way in but not to take home, they sell for US$200 +/- and are all numbered and certified.
The huge male catkin
The male trees have huge phallic catkins several feet long.
Several nature trails run through the valley and we opted for the middle one. About a quarter of the trees in the valley are coco de mer palms and almost half the remainder are other palms found only in Seychelles.
Coco de Mer nuts growing in the trees.
Bulbul birds sitting on top of the brown palm
The silence of the valley was broken several times by the piercing whistle of the famous black parrots, which only breeds on Praslin, but alas the forest was very dense and we couldn’t see them, just these two Bulbul birds.
Giant spiders
I wouldn’t normally post photos of spiders but these female spiders were huge, easily the size of my palm. The male of the species is much much smaller and sits on the edge of the nest waiting until she is distracted by eating before he ventures forward to mate with her. If he’s not careful she’ll eat him too – what more can I say!
St Anne’sbay
After spending an hour or two in the park we caught the bus back to St Anne’s bay for another delicious lunch in the little cafe before catching another bus back to anse Boudin and doing our final walk over the hill.
Beautiful tortoise
In the gardens of one of the restaurants at Lazio they have some giant tortoises. They are lovely old things moving slowly to the next piece of food. Their shells are the size of a good sized dustbin lid. There were about a dozen of them. Not sure how old they are but there’re another things Seychelles is famous for.
The next day, Sunday, we headed back to Victoria with Tintin to get ready to leave Seychelles. On the way back Bill performed a radio check with several other boats and was ‘slightly cross’ when he discovered the radio STILL wasn’t working. All that work. The new aerial was now working but all the tests indicated it’s the 2 year old Raymarine radio that was replaced after the lightening strike. Lucky we still have an old one on board as a back up. The Raymarine will have to wait to South Africa to sort out now. Grrrrr!
One of the lovely old tortoises having his neck stroked
Camomile 