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Jose and Isabella having lunch with us on Two Straws, Rene our “daughter” is on the right, she did the cooking.

Sakatia is a small, but beautiful island off the west coast of Nosy Be. We had to go there as my friends Jose and Isabella have Sakatia Lodge on the island and it was time to go and catch up.

Jose was the dive instructor on a charter boat I was skippering in the Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozanbique. We have sailed many miles together and have remained good friends, when he married Isabella she became a close friend too.

The Lodge is situated in the South part of the island, just past the sacred mountain which is a nature reserve and densely forested. The first bay is where you anchor, but not in the first half of the bay as this is littered with coral heads which are not only dangerous for anchoring but good to dive on and so need to be preserved.

The diving around the area is fantastic as can be seen by the photos on Sakatia Lodge’s website, their underwater photo’s are far superior to mine.

http://www.sakatia.co.za/about.html

The waters are clear and you can snorkel in 10 meters and see the fan corals, corals, fish and sponges from the surface. At times the whale sharks come past and diving with these gentle giants is a once in a lifetime moment.

On one delivery we had to fill up with water and do a bit of underwater maintenance, so we put the boat up on the beach in front of the lodge at high tide and did the work and filled with water at low tide. The advantages of a catamaran. The next high tide was after dark, we stayed at the lodge until just before we had to move the boat, then swam out to her as she was starting to float, our bodies were clothed in light as we disturbed the phosphorescence in the warm water, it was so very special that no one wanted to get out of the water.

The food at the lodge is good as they grow their own vegetables and the market in Nosy Be is not too far, fish is plentiful and the lodge surrounding are peaceful and  natural.

mommy and baby the banana is irresistible.

The Lemurs come to visit and can be fed by hand, bananas of course, we took great delight in feeding these gentle animals.

Paul our “son” feeding lemurs, not sure who is enjoying it more.

Needless to say, we did not get to eat many bananas as the Lemurs got them all.

Mike in Lemur heaven, the black ones are male and the brown female.

I was taking the pictures and enjoying the looks on my family’s faces.

Even if you are not sailing to Madagascar, or if you do not have a boat, the island is well worth the visit. Fly in for a holiday to enjoy a very special place on earth.