Ile aux Nattes

By Frieda

After two nights in Ambodifotatra, the capital of Ile Sainte Marie, we made our way to Ile aux Nattes a small island south of Sainte Marie. The tuk-tuk ride cost us 15 000 Ar to get to the southernest spot of the Island. From there we took a pirogue directly to the hotel we wanted to stay in, “Chez Sica” (35 000Ar.). Again we payed too much J. We knew it should be 10 000 but the pirouge charged us 20 000Ar. but we were so impressed by the beauty of the island that we did not negotiate J.

We had a very basic bungalow but it was very well kept and we did not mind that the bathroom was outside. The island is one of the most beautiful tropical islands that i have ever been to. It is not long that it has been discovered for tourism and therfore very pure. But still the beach is already rather full of bungalow places. Inside the island you have amazingly beautiful walks trough junglelike forests and some very small villages. There is even a nice lighthouse from where you can overlook the whole island. Also, walking on the beach is great as you are usually quite by yourself surrounded by nothing but sand, the sea and coconut palms.

Our plan was to relax on Ile aux Nattes because travelling can be exhausting after a while ;). This plan perfectly worked out. We did nothing but reading, sleeping and snorkling. In front of “Chez Sica” is a nice reef you can reach at high tide. Sometimes in the afternoon we walked a little bit around the island.

We were also very happy about the bungalow place having an open kitchen where you could cook for yourself. In the kitchen we befriended Judith, a women living in the nearby village, who had a job as a chef for one week at “Chez Sicas”. She was very very sweet always explaining what she was  cooking and sometimes helping us. For example she showed us how to make an excellent pulp salad which we ate almost every day after that J. Communicating with Judith was epecially for me difficult (I dont speak French and hers wasn#t good either) but we still tried and used hand and feet always laughing when we did not understand each other. So we had a lot to laugh about in the kitchen.

Every morning we walked 15 minutes into the village to buy bread for breakfast and vegatables for cooking in the evening. We loved the village very much and because we came every day people in the village knew us and greeted us very friendly. They even started to ask us about news (the local way to do small talk).

We also found one shop with a very nice and (as we called him) “honest tradesman” who would not give us extremely exaggerated prices and could get us everything we wanted within a few hours. Here we retuned every day for fresh eggs and freshly caught pulp. All together we had an amazing relaxing time on Ile aux Nattes and our hearts felt a little bit heavy when we had to leave.