Madagascar - mora mora style

If you can't relax in this setting, then there's no hope for you.

We are travellers and like to do things on our own rather than go on package trips or tours, however, as it was our honeymoon, we thought a bit of 'spoiling' would be welcome. The dhow island-hopping trip offers both the independent traveller and the package-tour traveller the perfect Madagascar exploration experience.

You can sun yourself on the deck of the dhow while the deck-hand brings you an ice-cold beer. Meanwhile below deck, the chef is hard at work on a seafood lunch of fresh calamari, rice (almost every Madagascan meal includes rice), fresh vegetables, and a fruit dessert straight off the tree (juicy pineapple, succulent mango or tempting litchis). Typically, Madagascan food has quite a Malay touch to it, with a sprinkling of French cuisine, as well as being everything an island meal should be - fresh coconut, and fish caught the same day.

The beach is just a dive away

The great thing about the dhow trip we did was that travelling on the boat was done in the morning, which meant you arrive at the islands by lunchtime. Dive off the boat, into the warm tropical waters and swim to shore (Robinson Crusoe style!), whilst the crew rows your baggage to land.

After a mesmerising lunch, you can either explore the island or have an afternoon nap (in the true Malagasy way). The A-frame beach huts are located a palm tree away from the water, and you can easily sleep for hours with the sound of the ocean in the background. The accommodation is basic but clean, private, and equipped with mosquito nets - and always a stunning view, which to the typical backpacker counts as luxury. In Mahalina (Nosy Be), we would step out of bed and dip straight into the ocean for an early morning swim, calling "Bula Tsara" (Good day) to the locals as they go out fishing. They are so unaccustomed to Caucasian people that they stare and shout "Vahaza" (whitey).

Super Safi

The author and her husband 'roughing it' - and enjoying every second of it as well.

Early evenings were spent relaxing by the fire on the beach, while feeding the crabs peanuts, and watching as they scurried to hide the nuts in their lairs within the sand, and sipping coconut cocktails as the sun set, silhouetting the fishermen on their pirogues. Dinner was plentiful, so that even the hungriest mouth was satisfied. The flavours and feasts we had, made our dining throughout the dhow trip, one of the most memorable. We would undoubtedly agree that 'Safi (our cook), was truly exceptional. Notably, during the weeks preceding the dhow trip, we found it difficult to find any other Malagasy who cooked as well as Safi.

In the evenings, we listened to the sweet melody of the Malagasy guitar. We drank potent rum (also known as speedboat because of the speed at which it 'gets you there'). No-one can go to Madagascar and not try the Rhum Arrange' (flavoured rum). Among the Arrange, there is ginger for the ninja, pineapple for the potent, and vanilla for the thriller. Not to forget my favourite... litchi to drown out the screechy night-time howls of the bush babies that come out at night to play and eat fruit off the trees. We had a couple of adventure-filled evenings, exploring the movements and sounds in the trees with our flashlights. The night lemurs, with their glowing eyes and bushy snake-like tails are magical wonders to watch in the darkness of night, under a blanket of stars. Such evenings can best be completed with a swim as the phosphorus of the sea swirls around you as though you are awakening a million glow-worms and they are dancing around you.

No jellies, please

'Vahaza!'

In the daytime, we also spotted lemurs up high in the trees as we strolled along the beach at low tide. For those who are not as lucky as we were to spot lemurs in the wild, you can also go to the park-cum-zoo on Nosy Komba (also known as Lemur Island). There you can have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the lemurs as they jump on your shoulder and feed out of your hand. You can also get up close to beautiful chameleons.

Between island hopping we had a number of opportunities to snorkel. All of these offered different degrees of pleasure...and pain. Our first snorkelling encounter was in jellyfish-infested waters. The non-dangerous little terrors around Ankazoberavina are like tiny pinpricks all over your body. However, the tropical corals, shoals of colourful fish such as parrot fish, clown fish, angel fish shimmering in the sunlight, make it easy to forget about the jellies.

For those not as brave, the other snorkelling opportunities were under less treacherous conditions (i.e. no jellies!). Both the locally named South Africa Island and Nosy Voroha (Bird Island) offer unbeatable snorkelling experiences. I have previously snorkelled in the Red Sea in Egypt and on the Great Barrier Reef in Oz, but Madagascar has to top the list, both in terms of exclusivity as well as in terms of ultimate beauty. The corals (particularly in the protected areas), are some of the most beautiful in the world. How often do you swim with giant turtles, dolphins, and lion fish - with no other tourists in sight? It is rare to find somewhere so magical.

A big 'Mesota' to the team

Sun yourself while 'Super' Safi creates dream dishes below deck.

We travelled around Madagascar for another two weeks after the dhow trip and can truly say that Madagascar by dhow is the way to go. Doing it alone (even if you speak some French), can be a challenge. The dhow offered us an English-speaking, qualified, extremely professional team.

All in all, Madagascar is an unforgettable place with wonderful people, nature, and wildlife. The one-week dhow trip will be our highlight of the three weeks we spent in the country. This is largely because of the amazing crew we had and we say "Mesota" (Thank You) to them, as they allowed us to truly understand the "mora mora" (chilled) lifestyle of Madagascar. Being able to relax and not have a care in the world while the ocean breeze carries the essence of Ylang Ylang and vanilla to you is what Madagascar is all about. I recommend this trip to anyone who wants some time-out to remind themselves of what the beauty of life is all about.