Nosy Be, Madagascar half day tour

Nosy Be is an island off Madagascar’s northwestern coast. In the southeast, the forests of Lokobe Reserve shelter chameleons, geckos and frogs. The capital, known as Hell-Ville, has French colonial buildings and a covered market. Lemuria Land is home to a variety of lemurs, plus reptiles. Also in the park is a 19th-century distillery still used to extract essential oils from the native ylang-ylang tree.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Nosy Be, Nosy Be, Antsiranana Province

The half day visit in Nosy-Be starts in morning, around 8:30 or 9:00am and will consist of discovering the island by car. The goal is to make you discover Nosy-Be through its natural wildlife, its culture, its people "the Sakalava", its history and also its sacred places such as "the sacred tree".

We will visit Yland Yland plantation, its distillery where you will learn different stages of production of ylang oil. Ylang ylang oil is made from the flowers of the herb Cananga odorata genuina. People apply ylang ylang oil to the skin to promote relaxation, kill bacteria, lower blood pressure, and increase sexual desire. It is also part of a combination spray used to kill head lice. It’s also the main ingredient for French perfume Chanel 5. And flowers do really smell like Chanel Number 5

We will continue towards the main city of Nosy Be, Hell-Ville where will make a stop at the market to learn or if you wish to buy different varieties of fruits, vegetables that are specific to Malagasy cuisine. You can have an option to use local tuk-tuk to the city and back to have full Nosy Be experience.

We will visit the sacred tree which is 7km away from the city. Nosy Be’s ‘Scared Tree’ is a world within itself. The enormous Banyan fig is surrounded by a beautiful small forest which is a completely bewitching sight. You will be asked to remove your shoes and cover yourselves with the local wrap before starting your journey into the Sacred tree (yes into the tree!). Planted over 185 years ago, today this banyan has roots over an area of more than 5000 square meters – which is seriously more impressive than it sounds… It lies on the coast beyond the tiny village of Mahatsinjo, and the sacred tree was planted by the Queen of the Sakalava tribe in 1836.

Next, we will stroll around beautiful beach to admire the lovely surroundings of the sea among Ambatoloaka beach. And when time permit you will discover Nosy Be and its lakes from the top of Mont Passot. The Mount Passot is one of Nosy Be’s archipelago must-see. Now extinct, the volcano offers an outstanding vantage point on the whole Mozambique channel.

Duration: 6 hours