To Isle Saint Marie

An adult outrigger canoe and a kid's training one as well on the beach.

The sunrise.

More wooden villages on stilts.

The harbour in the town of Soanierana Ivongo.

Henry, Patrick and Guy. Patrick will go with us, but the others will drive the van back.

A Madagascar gondola.

The pool overlooking the ocean at our hotel.

A great spot to hang out.

Friday, November 17th.

Today was an even earlier start as we had a boat to catch. We ate and left by 7:00. We had a four hour drive along the coast and through a number of small villages, along the same very bumpy and pothole filled NR5. We had a few good views of the ocean. We arrived at the town of Soanierana Ivongo where there is a little basic harbour for canoes, ferries and powerboats to take people to various places along the coast. It was a very grungy little spot and we had to sit on a little covered dock and wait for about an hour until they had loaded the boat with all the luggage, including our packs. We were in a covered power boat that held about twenty people. It took about two hours to sail across to Isle Saint Marie.

When arrived we were met by two taxi drivers that Patrick had arranged and they drove us to our hotel, the Vanivola. It is a lovely place right on the beach. It has a pool that overlooks the Indian Ocean. We have chalet type cottages and Florien and I have three beds to choose from.

We had lunch and an orientation. Right after that I went into the ocean. The water is very shallow, and very warm. We have to wear shoes here as there are sea urchins on the bottom that would be very painful to step on. It was a great opportunity to wash the Madagascar dust out of my Keens. Then Florien and I relaxed on a couple of loungers overlooking the ocean and had a yack. We stayed to watch the sunset but, despite a clear afternoon a cloud bank arrived, blocked out the sunset and it appeared to be raining over Madagascar.

We had a good dinner, made plans for tomorrow and headed off to bed by 9:30.