NOSY BE IS A COOL NAME

In my opinion there is nothing “cool” about the Island though!  

Today we visited Andoany, also known as “Hell-ville”, named for Admiral de Hell, a French governor who signed an act of protectorate for the city.  It is the  capital city of Nosy Be, a small island on the northwest coast of Madagascar.

We arrived at the port and were welcomed by some locals who were singing and dancing.  We were greeted by our guide and boarded a small bus that would take us through the small town to the nearby village of Dzamandzar where we would see the few balloons shaped houses and get a glimpse of village life there. We observed some nice buildings while passing through town.  Lots of yellow tuk-tuks were on the road.  The road through the town and on the way to the village was fairly new and is currently the only paved road in Nosy Be. Just a couple of years ago there were no roads, so Nosy Be is starting to create a better infrastructure.

On the way to Dzamandzar we passed a beautiful lake, but found out that it was considered sacred and was not to be used for anything other than fishing.  We did pass by another river and I noticed women doing laundry in it.  The river was completely brown with mud!  I then found out that there was no running water in this area……

As we passed by the shanty homes and even some of the nicer stone homes, I noticed that there were few actual doors or glassed windows.  There were openings, but that’s it!  Some had a fabric curtain on the doorway.

As we entered the village, I struggled to see how people could live here.  It was very crowded, no streets (just muddy paths) with villagers tending their makeshift shops and selling their wares.  We walked along the beach to a hotel where we were offered a snack and a local beer.  While enjoying our snacks we watched the activity on the beach, which consisted of the locals trying to sell us their goods.

I have seen poverty, but never like this.  I have no words and only feel sadness…… To me the name “Hellville” fits……

I hope these photos will speak for themselves.

All of the photos above are in the downtown area of Andoany.  It was bustling, but probably because all of us tourists had just arrived.

Here are the balloon shaped houses that we came to Dzamandzar to see.  There were only three and we couldn’t go inside.  These homes were original to this village.  There used to be many more like them.

All of the above photos show what life is like in the village.  When I went through my photos, I realized that I was drawn to photograph the children.

The photos above are of the beach and the villagers trying to sell us their goods.  The beach is nice with many fisherman coming and going.  Photos of their fishing boats……