NOSY BE

This, the largest island of Madagascar is the main tourist destination. A beautiful tropical island covered in colour and soaked in perfume. An ideal destination for those in search of peace and quiet.

Spring which begins in September and finishes in November is the period in which nature explodes, as it does all over the world. Colours dazzle the eye, the perfume of the orchids intoxicates the air. Vanilla extraction begins, and is later exported all over the world. Tourists are encouraged to discover areas such as the Lokobe reserve, to admire the vegetation endemic to the island as well as the lemurs, chameleons and occasionally a boa, all from a canoe.

Summer which runs from December to February is the best time in which to discover the Island of Nosy Be, which is also called the Isle of perfumes. All over the Island it is possible to admire, among other things, the flowering of the ylang ylang with its characteristic yellow colour. From it is extracted the fixing agent for the most famous perfumes in the world. It is therefore worth visiting the many small “alembic” distilleries of ylang ylang, found all across the island. Summer is the hottest period of the year, there is a lot of humidity, the air is heavy and the sky cloudy, which at sunset is heavily coloured. The monsoon period is in February and March.

Autumn is from March to May, a harsh smell of burning fills the air making its heavy fragrance unusual. This is the season for the cutting of sugar cane, the main ingredient in the distillation of Madagascan rum. The distillery, is in the centre of the island, and employs almost the whole population, who turn out for the reaping, and loading of this precious cargo on an antiquated train which travels across the island. In the interior of the island it is possible to visit pepper and coffee plantations. Take advantage of the occasion to visit “Sacred Banjano” and mount Passot to admire an unforgettable sunset on the whole archipelago.

In winter from June to August the fresh air facilitates long walks on the hills located on the interior of the island, to discover waterfalls of crystal water and the famous volcanic lakes, inhabited by crocodiles which the locals consider sacred as they are believed to be the reincarnations of their ancestors. To the North you can find a luxuriant stretch of mangroves surrounded by the woods and hills of Andoany. While walking you can meet the mud sorrel which attaches itself to the crooked and extensive roots of the mangrove.