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It was so beautiful there, I actually suggested to Graeme that we should have brought the tent, watched the sun go down, and stayed the night.  This would have probably been a good idea, since as soon as the sun went down, the surf started to build. ( For those who do not know, at this stage in our cruising, our dinghy was a deflated Zodiac with no floor and 2 home-made paddles made out of a packing case!!!!)

It would have been too dangerous to return to the boat without a moon, so we sat it out until 1a.m. - making fires with the drift wood and trying to get some sleep inside the dinghy!!!  We had just got cosy in the dinghy when a mouse lema jumped on Graeme's shoulder - much to his suprise, my surprise and the lema's suprise, we all did a very good impression of mad desert islanders.  (For those who do not know, a mouse lema has a striking resemblance to a very large rat!!!!)

Eventually we got back to the boat (very wet and exhausted) and decided to move on the next day, since the swell was getting worse.

We headed for the next fishing town - Maintriano, to stock up on some basic provisions and cigs!!!  Again, there was quite a swell, but we decided to just let the surf beach us - which if promptly did!! Once on the beach we saw a sight we were not expecting.  Hidden from the sea, was a red lagoon - about 500m across and no bridge!  This was a lagoon 'dried out' and consisted of thick red mud - which didn't look passable - until that is - a 200 year old woman (at least she looked that old) hitched up her skirts, waved frantically to us and shouted in Madagascan.  She 'glided' across the mud and beckon us to follow - which Graeme promptly did by sinking up to his knees and losing his shoes!!!  Not beaten, he immersed his arm up his shoulder in the same red goo - and retrieved them!  Eventually, on the other side, and covered in red mud, we had a welcome party well beyond any words ......  The whole village had come to greet these "royal visitors" to the shore.

Following this we were given a royal tour of the town, taken to the one bar for a cold beer (hooray), and given armfuls of fruit from their personal orchards.  I couldn't believe how clean, tidy and happy these people were, and so 'honoured' to have foreign visitors.  The same family took us back to their home for lunch (coconut rice and zebu meat) and begged us to return the next day.

This was not possible - by the time we had returned to the boat - this time crossing the lagoon in a small rowing boat at high tide, the swell had built so much we regretted staying so long.  It was too late to leave, so we set in for a very uncomfortable night.  We left at first light - it was impossible to get ashore, and no way to get a message of apology to those wonderful people.

So, we still didn't have any cigs, no alcohol and no coffee - so onto Nosey Be and Crater Bay for some serious provisioning!!!

KISSAMANI  is a small island (more of a sand spit really) where we planned to meet Brian and Ann to celebrate her birthday - we had a bit of a yachtie party with other yachts we had met in Crater Bay - Norm and Kim, Genevive and Pierre and a couple of South African's we had not yet met.  This was my first experience of the 'yachting' community, sharing food and drink on our private party island - and I liked it a lot!!!

NOSEY MOMOKA, was our next stop, after a sweet departure.  I was really struck by the beauty of this island - steep thick jungle with a small clearing at the northern end where we found a small fishing village.  We strolled through 'the village', if you could describe half a dozen straw huts, a water butt and a communal fire for cooking, in such a way.  This was obviously one or maybe 2 families that lived here, mostly older people, living a simple happy life amongst the palm trees in Paradise.  One thing that struck me - I think they actually realised how lucky they were, judging by the smiles and welcome they gave us.  The following morning we spotted, what we took to be, 2 large boulders on the beach.  We grabbed the binoculars to  find to our amazement, 2 very large land tortoise, probably 100's of years old!!!!  We dashed ashore and approached them, expecting them to dash back into their shells, and to our surprise, actually behaved as though we were the curios.

ANDRANIRA BAY - What could beat a sight like that on Momoka?  The hidden bay of Andranira is quite simply, stunning.  You can not see the entrance from sea-ward, and the small entrance is not visible until you feel you are going to run straight into land (trust, trust that GPS).  This is what adds to the beauty, completely enclosed by steep rainforest and cut-off from the world - at least that is what it felt like.  We spent a couple of days here, on our own completely, using the last of our oranges to squeeze fresh orange juice, and cooking Potato and Tuna bake with the last of our provisions.  Such a shame we had run out of cigs, rum and fresh fruit and veg - we could have stayed there a much longer time.

NOSEY KOMBA started our next round of exploring, following another trip back to civilisation to stock up!  This island is famous for the black lema, who has bright orange eyes and a large elaborate tail.  The villagers keep a kind of 'sanctuary' for the lema's at one end of the island, for the tourist benefit of course!!!!  However, if you visit here, once you see the tourist boats depart, you get to sit around and feed the lema's your old banana's out of your hand.  It is not really an 'enclosure' it's a place the lema's visit to be fed by the tourists.  Not exactly the same as seeing one in the wild - but we tried that first, we had no sightings at all (they were all in the feeding enclosure I suspect).  The island has a nice feel to it, despite the influence of the daily tourists encouraging the locals to sell their wares, and it does have the advantage of a fresh water supply. 

TANY KELY was our next stop, with a beautiful palm-fringed beach and a colourful reef close to the beach.  A great place for snorkeling (but day-trippers do come here), with great visibility and a good variety of coral and huge shoals of multi-coloured fish.  Nice to have the option of snorkeling from your anchorage.

NOSEY IRANJA (otherwise known as Turtle island), has a large sand isthmus that connects it to the neighbouring island at low tide.  It is a nice walk across to a perfect oasis, although signs of building could be seen on both sides.  I suspect the turtles have already moved to Russian Bay, because we saw no sign at all of their presence.

MITSIO was our next call via a small island we spotted on the chart, called TSARA BAJINA.  As we approached Tsara Bajina, we were quite surprised to see an orderly row of umbrella's on the beach, and what looked like a large thatched roof amongst the palm trees.  This was the first example we had seen, of turning a beautiful island, into an exclusive holiday resort at $200 per night!!!  It was very tastefully done, with obvious attention to nature conservation, and they were very welcoming to the 'scruffy' yachties!  We 'bumped' into the Madagascan consulate and his wife (who was English but was based in Durban!) and invited them to join us on a cruise to Mitsio the following day (well - that was lunch and drinks paid for anyway).

MITSIO is a really spectacular sight - the 'famous' rock formation called 'church organs' really lives up to it's name.  It is steep-too right up to the sheer face, so you can get the yacht pretty close and see individual 'pipes' formed by the Basalt - a real piece of artwork!!!  There is a lovely anchorage in the nearby bay, nice snorkeling, white sand beach and local fishermen willing to trade a large 'Red Roman' for two T-shirts!!!

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