In nosy be area

S/V Galatea update
Neil Scott
Sat 10 Oct 2015 13:50
Dear all,

Since our last update, we moved on from Nosy Hara, firstly to Andranoaombi bay, 30 miles further south and a nice, protected bay. We got "canoed" by umpteen boats and managed to trade a few cans of terrible peas, some soap and a piece of rope for some plantains, limes and a few overly green mangoes and papayas which, sadly we had to toss. We stayed overnight and then went another 30 miles down to a huge bay on Nosey Mitsio. There were about 5 boats anchored there, the most we had seen since Reunion. We stayed the night in a smooth, comfy anchorage. The following day, Bernie and Wally took the dinghy a mile or so across to a smaller island where Wally did a bit of diving. He reported that the coral was not as good as that we had seen over at Hara. We were disappointed not to be able to have dinner at the Blue Marlin Fishing camp - it was shut the first night and we had already decided to pull out of there by 1am the second night to do the 45 mile trip down to Hell-Ville on Nosy Be (Island Big) by mid morning, latest. We had a good, fast sail and were anchored off Hell-ville  by 9am.

Bernie and Neil went ashore while Wally stayed back on Galatea with the dinghy safely tied up to the boat. It should be noted that despite dire warnings about safety issues and theft, we have been pleasantly surprised by the lack thereof. Of course, you can't be stupid and need to take reasonable precautions, as one would do traveling anywhere, but we have not had the slightest uncomfy moment and everyone has been helpful and friendly.

After replenishing our supplies, getting a sim card for the iPad and checking in at the Port Authority, we returned to Galatea. We took off immediately for the 4 mile crossing to Nosy Komba and anchored in a rather blustery, somewhat open indent. We were kind of pooped, and after a nice cup noodle soup and Longan fruit with Carnation milk dinner, we called it an early night. The following day, yesterday, we went ashore and went on an animal preserve guided walk. We saw a bunch of lemurs and a few chameleons, tortoises and a python, all endemic to Madagascar. We then took a hike to the top of the 2000 foot hill in the middle of the island, but unfortunately never quite found the top. We did manage to get some nice views across the strait back to Nosy Be. We had a great calamari and fish dinner at a beach-side restaurant.

After a good breakfast this morning at the same restaurant, we took off for the 20 mile trip to a lovely anchorage bay off Nosy Moromba.  Wally has just reported sighting lemurs walking around the neat looking village, and while it is tempting to go see them, we have decided to just stay on the boat.

We will head back to Nosy Be tomorrow, spend the night there, check out Monday morning and resume our trip south along the Madagascar west coast.

That is it,

Cheers all,

Neil, Wally and Bernie

- S/V Galatea
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