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By Jean-Jacques Segalen (jjacques) August 31, 2008
Nosy Be is a quite small island, though its name in Malagasy means ‘the big island’. And indeed, even if it remains restricted in terms of surface, it is as big as the inhabitant's smiles and full of wonders hidden here and there. We’ll get there for a short visit.
As stated above, the name Nosy Be is translated by ‘island' for Nosy and ‘big' for Be but it only makes 320 square km, with a rounded shape measuring 26 km from North to South and 20 km from East to West, quite modest to say the least. Now, where does this small big island hide itself? It lays at the North of Madagascar (the real big island off South-Eastern Africa) close to the Mozambique canal. Higher elevations are Mount Lokobe at 455m high and Mount Passot at 329m. The climate here is entirely tropical with average air and water temperatures around 25°C all year. There are basically two seasons; summer or rain season from November to April with cyclones between January and March, winter or dry season from April to October. Overall population is around 30,000 and--as in many third world countries--sixty percent are under twenty years old.
Now a little history; the island was first inhabited by people from Madagascar (it is just a few km away) mainly of the Sakalava group. During the sixteenth century the Portuguese, who had an active fleet, settled on the island that became with the vicinity of Zanzibar a turntable for slave trade. In the seventeenth century, Great Britain sent commander Hunt to get hold of the area and secure sailing roads as Nosy Be had by then become a main centre for pirates. This period was followed by wars between the different local groups (Sakalava, Antakarana, Merino). In 1841 the Queen Tsiomieko asked France to give Nosy Be the status of protectorate, which remained so until 1957 when it was finally reattached to mainland Madagascar.
The economy has traditionally been based on agricultural products both from the land and the sea. Peasants grow sugar cane (the most important crop, we will come back to this topic), vanilla, coffee, ylang-ylang, rice, coconuts and fruit trees on a small scale. The sea is quite rich and provides local fishermen with fishes, shrimps and crayfishes. And of course, like all over in Madagascar, people raise buffalos which provide power to plough fields, pull carts and provide tasty (though often tough) meat. The sugarcane has been a number one crop providing seasonal work for many people, but the large sugar cane plant set in Dzamanzary looks more like a ghost town than an active place. One of the technicians met there explained that the central government simply stopped paying the workers as there is a great demand from foreign investors to buy land; therefore sugar cane fields are getting sold for big money but nobody on the island sees the colour of this money. Amazingly enough people do not get angry, and manage to get by growing more vegetables and trying to benefit from the growing tourist industry.
This booming tourism has of course two sides; on the bright one, it brings money and work for local people, strengthens services and international image and brings some necessary environmental consciousness to local authorities that usually deeply lack of it. On the other, it brings excess pressure on land, brings speculation, increases pollution, leads to problems on the limited supplies of water and electricity. As in many other parts of Madagascar sexual tourism has also started to plague the island especially in Ambatoloaka which was reputed as the local Malibu and has turned in a quite sad place attracting many lone male tourists.
But let us stay on the bright side, there are many more nice things than bad ones here. You can fly from Madagascar (Antananarivo and Mahajunga), from Reunion and from Paris, to the small airport of Fassene. From there you catch a taxi to the main town by the strange name of Hell Ville. Not much to do there except buying supplies and visiting the small oceanographical museum. A car rental will allow you to take one of the two roads and discover the north west where the nicest beaches are. Hotels are scattered here and there, but need a careful check before booking as they can go from correct to scruffy. Most of the original vegetation has been cleared for sugar cane but there are still a few patches in the interior, around the sacred lakes. Those lakes can be visited, but their sacredness forbids swimming in them, enforced by the presence of crocodiles (which are also sacred themselves of course but not vegetarians...). The south hosts the nature reserve of Lokobe which is about 740 hectares and will allow you to have a glimpse of what the area was like a long time ago. The reserve has many birds, batrachians, lemurs, snakes and numerous insects, don't forget an effective repellent! And around Nosy Be itself lay several tiny islands which are worth a visit, they can be reached by motorboat or even sailing pirogues for the closer ones. In Nosy Komba there is still some interesting forest and numerous lemurs, in Nosy Tanikely is a marine reserve with stunning corals and huge schools of colourful fishes. For the more adventurous ones the Mitsio archipelago in the north can provide exciting time in a very pristine area. And the art amateurs will not want to miss the music festival held every year in May, the Donia.
So all in all this tiny island definitely deserves a visit, whether you like scuba diving, snorkelling or simply enjoying the warm water, fishing either from the shore or going big-game fishing (spade fishes and tunas are around). The Lokobe reservation will be a good treat for the nature lovers (check often the trees, boas enjoy taking a nap on a branch a couple meters above your head!). And the lazy ones can simply relax on a white sand beach, enjoy grilled fish for lunch and lobster for dinner, all of which for a bargain price. Now do not forget that this is a malaria risky area and treatment is necessary especially during rainy season, if you go in winter (say July-August) mosquitoes are very few and can be dealt with just using repellent and long clothes in the evening
About Jean-Jacques Segalen
I am a Parisian born professional horticulturist specialized in tropical seeds producing, set on Reunion island (just between Mauritius and Madagascar) 17 years ago. I spend a lot of time gathering seeds in the wild, the ones I do not grow that is. Also a dedicated Tai-Chi practitioner and tree climber!
Posted by cybercrone (from Toronto,, ON) on September 3, 2008 at 6:40 PM:
Jacques:
Thanks so much for your wonderful articles about a lesser known part of the world. Is the music on the smaller islands similar to Malagasy music? I am a huge fan of many types of Malagasy music, and would love to know where to hear more local variations.
I spent 3 months in South Africa last year, and was hoping to take a trip to Madagascar at least, but as I spent 2 of those months teaching in a Zulu tribal school, the remaining travel time was not even enough to see everything I wanted to in SA. Maybe next time.
But meanwhile, you great photos and descriptions are making me very discontent to be sitting here at home and not seeing some more of the world.
More, please!
~marilyn
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 4, 2008 at 8:18 AM:
Hi Marylin
To tell the truth I do not know if they have specific music on Nosy Be, what I hear there was the same as what you hear on mainland but I did not have the chance to attend local concert.
I went twice to SA which is indeed a most fascinating country with much to see.
All the best
Jean-Jacques
...
Subject: Seed collection on Nosy Be
Posted by KiminPL (from San Diego, CA) on September 2, 2008 at 11:38 AM:
Anything about Madagascar interests me, thanks for your notes and photos. I wonder if you were able to collect seeds of palms on Nosy Be, and what species you might have gathered?
There is a nascent botanical garden on Grand Canary Island with a palmetum, and their Madagascar collection is a bit thin. They prefer documented wild-collected seed over anything else for adding to the collection. I would be very interested to facilitate a contribution if that is possible. I do what little I can to help ensure continuity of endangered palms of Madagascar. Thanks again for the report. Kim
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 2, 2008 at 1:10 PM:
Hi Kim
Actually there are very few palms on Nosy Be, as far as I remember I only saw Coco nucifera, Dypsis lutescens and D. madagascariensis. There might be more but inland Mada is the place to go for palm, I guess you know and probably have the book by Dransfield & al on the subject. I do not plan to go to Mada in the coming months but when I'll do I'll contact you though it would probably be simpler to mail the seeds directly to the Canary than to California and then back to Spain.
All the best
Jean-Jacques
...
Posted by KiminPL (from San Diego, CA) on September 2, 2008 at 2:08 PM:
Jean-Jacques -- Yes, directly to the palmetum on Grand Canary would be best by far. Just keep it in mind should the opportunity arise, don't hesitate to contact me. I do have the Dransfield book, and there have naturally been new discoveries and reclassifications since it was printed. Many of the palms from the high plateaux do very well in California. I only had a short visit to Madagascar, and nothing at all north of Tana; I would love to return and explore other areas. Maybe someday I will, but it's quite an expedition from here.
Cheers,
Kim
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 2, 2008 at 11:18 PM:
Kim,
OK. Yes, I guess they were new discoveries since the book as it is a few years old now and parts of Mada are quite difficult to reach. The North is great, this is were you have nice rain forests remnants and undoubtfully nice palm trees. Sure is quite a way between San Diego and Toamasina!
Regards
JJ
...
Subject: I very much enjoyed this article...
Posted by cyra (from Central Valley, CA) on September 1, 2008 at 7:07 PM:
...and especially the photographs of the different areas. (Thank you)
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 2, 2008 at 1:10 AM:
Thank you for appreciating, pictures are either mine or my wife's.
...
Subject: Thanks for the tour.
Posted by candyinpok (from Poughkeepsie, NY) on September 1, 2008 at 7:32 AM:
That was a really interesting article. I'd love to visit that part of the world.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 1, 2008 at 8:15 AM:
It is worth a visit but local transportation can be a real bummer at times...
...
Subject: Excellent introduction to a far place.
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on August 31, 2008 at 11:05 AM:
I always laugh when I see the lemurs!
It is interesting that the tourists bring as many problems as they solve. It sounds like a very productive place. I wonder if they really need the tourists.
Thank you again for a wonderful trip.
gloria
...
Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on August 31, 2008 at 11:45 AM:
Oh, Jean-Jacques, I want to travel to all the places you describe! I echo Gloria's appreciation - not many tour-guides have that effect on me any more. Thank you.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 1, 2008 at 8:14 AM:
Sure, those lemurs are the real nice guys.
Glad I have such an effect on you Carrie, when I'll be tired of the seeds business I will turn to tour-guiding!
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on September 1, 2008 at 10:20 AM:
JJacques: We are watching the hurricane come in here in the U.S
Do you have them in your part of the world?
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 1, 2008 at 11:06 AM:
Gloria
Yes, we do as we are in the inter-tropical area, season is between November and March, we get alerts every year and get shaken every once in a while but the ones you get in the Carribean seem more powerful, is it going to reach you in Alabama?
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on September 1, 2008 at 11:17 AM:
It seems to be veering west toward Texas. Came in just west of New Orleans.
We could get tornadoes as a side effect of the hurricane here.
Its a very big one.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 1, 2008 at 12:38 PM:
Sounds like a real bad one, I heard on the TV that they monitored on Cuba winds at 340km/h, real freaking!
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on September 1, 2008 at 1:06 PM:
Yes. I think several people were killed on the islands. Not sure about the damage to Cuba, but it must have been devasting.
Now the consensus is that it will not be as bad as they thought. New Orleans has been evacuated. The levees that broke in Katrina hurricane have been repaired and they are holding so far.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on September 2, 2008 at 1:09 AM:
I have heard they got casualties in Haiti and Dominican Rep.
It is bad if you are unprepared, here we get weather forecast several times a day when there is a dangerous one coming and it is stricly forbidden to wander out when it is here which saves life. Most people killed are the ones who think they can cross gullies with a four wheel drive and get tossed by water.
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on September 2, 2008 at 8:27 AM:
I think there were several killed. There was mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, but the place it hit was Baton Rouge which was not evacuated. There are always some people who will not leave.
On TV the reporter talked with some homeless men in New Orleans who had not evacuated. There were several men but only one went with the reporter, the others wanted to stay.
I guess they weren't so homeless after all. What they had was home and they would not go.
As stated above, the name Nosy Be is translated by ‘island' for Nosy and ‘big' for Be but it only makes 320 square km, with a rounded shape measuring 26 km from North to South and 20 km from East to West, quite modest to say the least. Now, where does this small big island hide itself? It lays at the North of Madagascar (the real big island off South-Eastern Africa) close to the Mozambique canal. Higher elevations are Mount Lokobe at 455m high and Mount Passot at 329m. The climate here is entirely tropical with average air and water temperatures around 25°C all year. There are basically two seasons; summer or rain season from November to April with cyclones between January and March, winter or dry season from April to October. 
Overall population is around 30,000 and--as in many third world countries--sixty percent are under twenty years old.
Now a little history; the island was first inhabited by people from Madagascar (it is just a few km away) mainly of the Sakalava group. During the sixteenth century the Portuguese, who had an active fleet, settled on the island that became with the vicinity of Zanzibar a turntable for slave trade. In the seventeenth century, Great Britain sent commander Hunt to get hold of the area and secure sailing roads as Nosy Be had by then become a main centre for pirates. This period was followed by wars between the different local groups (Sakalava, Antakarana, Merino). In 1841 the Queen Tsiomieko asked France to give Nosy Be the status of protectorate, which remained so until 1957 when it was finally reattached to mainland Madagascar.
The economy has traditionally been based on agricultural products both from the land and the sea. Peasants grow sugar cane (the most important crop, we will come back to this topic), vanilla, coffee, ylang-ylang, rice, coconuts and fruit trees on a small scale. The sea is quite rich and provides local fishermen with fishes, shrimps and crayfishes. And of course, like all over in Madagascar, people raise buffalos which provide power to plough fields, pull carts and provide tasty (though often tough) meat. The sugarcane has been a number one crop providing seasonal work for many people, but the large sugar cane plant set in Dzamanzary looks more like a ghost town than an active place. One of the technicians met there explained that the central government simply stopped paying the workers as there is a great demand from foreign investors to buy land; therefore sugar cane fields are getting sold for big money but nobody on the island sees the colour of this money. Amazingly enough people do not get angry, and manage to get by growing more vegetables and trying to benefit from the growing tourist industry. 
But let us stay on the bright side, there are many more nice things than bad ones here. You can fly from Madagascar (Antananarivo and Mahajunga), from Reunion and from Paris, to the small airport of Fassene. From there you catch a taxi to the main town by the strange name of Hell Ville. Not much to do there except buying supplies and visiting the small oceanographical museum. A car rental will allow you to take one of the two roads and discover the north west where the nicest beaches are. Hotels are scattered here and there, but need a careful check before booking as they can go from correct to scruffy. Most of the original vegetation has been cleared for sugar cane but there are still a few patches in the interior, around the sacred lakes. Those lakes can be visited, but their sacredness forbids swimming in them, enforced by the presence of crocodiles (which are also sacred themselves of course but not vegetarians...). The south hosts the nature reserve of Lokobe which is about 740 hectares and will allow you to have a glimpse of what the area was like a long time ago. The reserve has many birds, batrachians, lemurs, snakes and numerous insects, don't forget an effective repellent! And around Nosy Be itself lay several tiny islands which are worth a visit, they can be reached by motorboat or even sailing pirogues for the closer ones. In Nosy Komba there is still some interesting forest and numerous lemurs, in Nosy Tanikely is a marine reserve with stunning corals and huge schools of colourful fishes. For the more adventurous ones the Mitsio archipelago in the north can provide exciting time in a very pristine area. And the art amateurs will not want to miss the music festival held every year in May, the Donia.
