Today we were in Nosy Be, Madagascar. The word means “Big Island”. It is a volcanic island off the main island. The main city is Hell-ville (perhaps prophetic?). The island has an area of 320 km2 (123 sq mi) with a population of 200,000.
The population is the first point we noticed. We arrived around noon, so the children were returning home from school for lunch. The sidewalks were crowded with young children. It was an overwhelming site to see. Most people we observed where “trim”, we learned that this is likely due to poverty. David felt they looked happy, and since they don’t have internet they might not be as informed of what they are lacking, therefore perhaps they are content with their lives. We hope so.
Later we learned that while there may be electricity in the city there is none in the village, so for entertainment they make babies. Our guide said those in town families might have 3 children but with limited family planning they have many more in the countryside. She also explained that there are limited jobs here so we wondered what the future offers for these young people?
The main industries here are tourism and ylang-ylang plantations. Ylang-ylang is a species of the custard apple family. The yellow flowers are used to make essential oil, and it is used extensively in perfumes, including those of Chanel. The aroma of ylang-ylang is described as "sweet, floral, balsamic, green, spicy, animal, woody, waxy, leathery.”. We stopped by a planation as we toured the island and the flowers do have an extremely strong fragrance.
Our visit also included a stop at the The Scared Tree of Mahatsinjo. It is a large, ancient Banyan tree and is considered a holy site by the local Sakalva people. Here we also had some refreshments at the restaurant overlooking the beautiful blue sea and watched the wooden fishing boats sailing in the distance. This was pleasurable but warm.
We also visited the local market. While here they sold some local souvenirs this was mainly a food market used by the locals. The most eye-opening experience was seeing the meat & chicken laid out without refrigeration or protection from flies and other contaminates. It is always great fun to see these markets but we most definitely feel that we couldn’t shop here for fear our over-sanitized stomachs would rebel.
Other tours visited the lemurs. Their photos were great as these cute animals jumped on their shoulders and onto their hats. We will have to visit them on a future visit.
The island is very poor, and we saw many basic shack homes. We were told those in the countryside have no plumbing at all. That said, the island is lush and the seas that surround the island are a beautiful blue.
We didn’t visit the main island. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, at 592,800 square kilometres, Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island, the second-largest island country, and the 46th-largest country overall. Its capital and largest city is Antananarivo. Madagascar is classified as a least-developed country by the UN. The population is estimated at 32 million and it is estimated that 68% of the population are multidimensionally poor.