Madagascar and Seychelles

Nosy Be (from the Malagasy: Nosy meaning island and Be meaning large), in the Mozambique Channel, is located near the north-eastern coastlines of Madagascar. A former French protectorate, known under the promising name of “the scented island”, of volcanic origin, it is located on a maritime route with access to India and Asia. Cosmopolitan, a boulevard of encounters, its mixed-race and multicultural population still remembers its past as a significant trading post. Today, its 321 km² enchant lovers of nature and idyllic beaches. Its sumptuous primary forest is home to animals that are endemic to the island as well as surprising flora.

Nosy Hara is an uninhabited limestone islet off the northwest coast of Madagascar. It is the habitat of Brookesia micra, the smallest known chameleon.

Diego-Suarez, also called Antsiranana, is the largest city in the north of Madagascar and the third port of the “Grande île”. Along with Nosy Be and Nosy Boraha (previously known as Île Sainte-Marie), it is a former territory of the French protectorate of Madagascar. The city is located on Cap d’Ambre in the north of Madagascar, bordered to the west by the Mozambique Channel and to the east by the Indian Ocean. You’ll be able to walk in the lush Montagne d’Ambre National Park, full of a rich variety of tropical plants, to the Roussettes Waterfalls or head off to explore the Tsingy Rouge Park, which offers extraordinary landscapes of canyons and red laterite stone mounds.

Diego-Suarez, also called Antsiranana, is the largest city in the north of Madagascar and the third port of the “Grande île”. Along with Nosy Be and Nosy Boraha (previously known as Île Sainte-Marie), it is a former territory of the French protectorate of Madagascar. The city is located on Cap d’Ambre in the north of Madagascar, bordered to the west by the Mozambique Channel and to the east by the Indian Ocean. You’ll be able to walk in the lush Montagne d’Ambre National Park, full of a rich variety of tropical plants, to the Roussettes Waterfalls or head off to explore the Tsingy Rouge Park, which offers extraordinary landscapes of canyons and red laterite stone mounds.

Assumption Island is a small island in the Outer Islands of Seychelles north of Madagascar, with a distance of 1,135 km south-west of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island which is under control of India.

Aride is an island in the Seychelles situated a few kilometres north-west of Praslin. Listed as a nature reserve, this pearl of the Indian Ocean will seduce you with the beauty of its landscapes of wild cliffs and fine-sand beaches. Protected from human impact and sometimes called “bird capital”, it is home to several endemic plants as well as exceptional wildlife. Most notably, it is the refuge of an impressive number of seabirds (Seychelles magpie-robins, terns, noddies, and more), and reptiles, such as Wright’s skinks, which can be found in the island’s wooded areas. Sea turtles can also be observed on the island’s beaches.

La Digue Island is a veritable concentration of all the beauty of the Seychelles. Located 6 km south-east of Praslin, this small piece of land that looks like paradise is the third-largest island in the Seychelles, despite its modest size (5 km by 3 km)! Turquoise waters just asking you to swim in them, lush vegetation sheltering giant tortoises, beaches of fine sand fringed with coconut trees and surrounded with those emblematic large granite rocks with their pink highlights like at the famous Anse Source d’Argent: the perfect picture postcard… Authentic and preserved, the island follows a peaceful rhythm, with the only means of transport along its little roads being bikes or traditional oxcarts.