The tiny Indian Ocean retreat of Constance Tsarabanjina inspires the quintessential island idyll
Image by Gillian McClaren - Madagascar is less well known, yet the islands are rich with ingredients for a blissful tropical holiday.
Daydreams of time on a sultry island inspire the pursuit of bright sunlight, a cool breeze off the ocean, an expanse of beach with shells at the tideline, plus — of course — unlimited fresh food and cocktails. Bacardi Rum adverts and images of picture-perfect digital nomads fuel the imagination, deepening the reverie and anticipation.
Though Mauritius and Maldives are favourites, Madagascar is less well known, yet the islands are rich with ingredients for a blissful tropical holiday, with a biodiversity that rivals the Peruvian Amazon and the opportunity to experience authentic elements of Malagasy life.
During the motorboat journey from Nosy Be, in northwestern Madagascar, across the Indian Ocean to tiny Tsarabanjina Island, Spinner dolphins play across the wake and leap out of the navy blue waves. Approaching the small island, with its white sandy shore, a row of a dozen staff members is waving and calling out an enthusiastic welcome. After a drink of iced cinnamon tea — served with an eco-friendly bamboo straw, plus a hibiscus flower for decorative flourish — guests deposit their shoes on a rack, to walk barefoot for the duration of their stay at Constance Tsarabanjina.
After a welcome drink, guests deposit their shoes on a rack, to walk barefoot for the duration of their stay at Constance Tsarabanjina.
Image:Gillian McLaren
The 12 South Beach Villas are spread out along the beach, set under shady trees for seclusion, close to the calm warm waters of the ocean. In front of each private veranda are sun loungers and an umbrella, creating an atmosphere of seclusion and tranquillity. After a stroll on the beach and clambering over black rocks to watch a melted vermilion sunset, a massage by the Malagasy therapist adds to the feeling of Tsarabanjina nirvana. The rustic spa on the beach, has an open side to view the gentle waves and hear them lapping on the shore.
Set on a hill above North Beach, 13 villas with their own terrace are surrounded by indigenous trees and bushes. This enhances privacy and frames the views of private deck chairs on the sun-bleached sand, to the cerulean ocean, with the occasional passing dhow. A subtle scent of ylang-ylang comes from a Madagascar-shaped soap in the bathroom, through the louvres that link the two areas. It’s tempting to linger on the king-size bed with its white linen, under the draped mosquito net, gazing at the rosewood walls and palm-leaf thatched roof, but the aquamarine water calls and snorkelling is easy, right there off the almost deserted beach.
Tropical reef fish — like Oriental sweetlips, parrotfish, emperor angelfish, Moorish idols and butterfly fish — dart and weave between the patches of coral. Madagascar has its own “Nemo”, the Madagascar clownfish, found safe in stinging sea anemones. It’s not unusual to spot green or hawksbill turtles, blue-spotted ribbon tail rays or moray eels hiding in crevices. To snorkel further offshore, there are daily boat excursions.
With so much biodiversity close to the shore, shallow water of 1m-4m and skilled dive masters, Constance Tsarabanjina is a perfect eco-lodge positioned for learning to scuba dive. Blue Wave Diving Tsarabanjina — the only dive centre in the Mitsio archipelago — runs the diving, including PADI beginner and advanced courses. Their standards of safety and care of 12laluminium tanks and dive gear is excellent, yet they have a laidback manner, to facilitate a relaxed, anxiety free experience. “Mora mora” in Malagasy sums up their chilled vibe; akin to “Hakuna matata” in Swahili.
Constance Tsarabanjina is a perfect eco-lodge positioned for learning to scuba dive. Image:Gillian McLaren
As only Constance Tsarabanjina guests have access to the dive sites, it’s an exclusive adventure in pristine water. Sites include Les Quartet Frères — the Four Brothers — isolated towering rock faces, plus Les Tétôns, a mere 10-minute boat ride away. Crocodile fish, white-tipped reef tipped sharks, pipefish, scorpion leaf fish, cute nudibranchs and box fish are frequently seen. Humpback whales, whale sharks, manta rays and dolphins can be spotted during the August to November migration season. After each dive is an exhilarating interaction with the dive team and fellow divers, to discuss sightings and the underwater experience, while sipping hot cinnamon te
The terraces on each villa enhance privacy and frames the views of private deck chairs on the sun-bleached sand.
The restaurant, set high up above the communal lounge and bar with a beach sand floor, has a view of beach, cyanic ocean and cliffs where endemic Madagascar fish eagle nest. Grilled fresh fish and shellfish are abundant in the lunch buffet and al la carte dinner, as is the famed Madagascan Zebu beef. A Malagasy sommelier is available to guide the selection of wines from an impressive list, thankfully all included in the rate. Breakfast is a feast of pastries and breads in European style, as well as exotic fruit, freshly pressed juices, charcuterie and eggs to order. Ask for butter if you are South African or British. Private dining areas are lovingly prepared for honeymooners or those celebrating special occasions. Nothing is too much trouble for the relaxed, willing staff, where genuine warm connections happen.
After three visits, the names of guests are engraved on a metal plaque and pasted on the bar counter. One couple have stayed 50 times, an indication of their fulfilment of the desire for island heaven and bliss.
Airlink flight from Johannesburg landing in Nosy Be, Madagascar. Image:Gillian McLaren
Airlink, Southern Africa’s premier regional airline serves more than 45 destinations in 15 African Countries as well as Madagascar and St Helena Island.
Airlink operates direct return flights between Joburg and Nosy Be, Madagascar, on Sundays. Direct return flights between Joburg and Antananarivo operate four times a week.
Organising a trip to Madagascar can be complicated, as it is a big country without much infrastructure, so it’s wise to use the services of a reputable destination management company like MadagasCaT Travel.
Exploring Madagascar’s Tsingy de Namoroka National Park: A Remote Natural Wonder Now Within Reach
Namoroka
Tsingy Camp brings travellers to Madagascar’s remote Tsingy de
Namoroka, offering once-inaccessible trails, unique wildlife, and
unforgettable starry skies in style and comfort.
In remote north-west Madagascar, in Tsingy de Namoroka National Park, which is almost unknown to travellers or researchers, the Madagascar Classic Collection has established Namoroka Tsingy Camp. This stylish accommodation situated amongst the dramatic, other-worldly Tsingy formations now allows visitors to explore this once-inaccessible natural wonder.
What used to be a tedious journey of two days from the port of Mahajanga, requiring two ferry crossings and a well-equipped 4×4 with a winch, plus all fuel and food; now involves a direct Airlink flight from Johannesburg to Antananarivo, a charter flight to Soalala, a motorboat ride across a riverine harbour, then a 2.5-hour road trip in a 4×4. Through Malagasy villages of the Sakalava people, alongside rice paddies, fording a few streams, passing banana and cassava plantations, on weathered roads. The journey itself is an adventure fostering connection among travellers.
The spectacular tsingys are karst plateaus, where limestone has been eroded by acidified rain runoff over millions of years, sculpting sharp peaks and deep valleys. Below the tsingy is a labyrinth of caves and subterranean streams. The Marosakabe cave system is 113km long and is the longest cave in Africa. The word Tsingy originates from the Malagasy verb, meaning “to walk on tiptoe”, or “to proceed with caution”. Razor-sharp tsingy must be carefully negotiated, so at times on our walks, I welcome the hand of Earnest Manarina, my guide.
Birds, Lemurs, and Nocturnal Wonders
The easiest forest walk, a 15-minute drive from Namoroka Tsingy Camp, is a 3km circuit that takes us about two hours. I’m thrilled to spot the rare Schlegel’s Asity, a mega-tick for birders! A Giant coua adds to my bird list. Lovable lemurs are easily seen and include Von der Decken’s sifaka, endemic to Namoroka.
On a 1.5km trail, starting at the camp, where the Ampandrana stream flows between the trees, we see two species of nocturnal mouse lemur, transparent geckos, and a Madagascar scops owl. As the Namoroka National Park has no lights at all, it’s a dark zone where the stars are super-bright in clear skies.
Trails, Baobabs, and Xerophytics Wonders
A 25-minute drive from camp, the Ambozimarohabo trail has splendid baobabs, where their exposed roots are so large we sit on them for a rest. Growing on the tsingy are quirky-looking xerophytic Pachypodiums, with fat stems to store water. In the semi-dry deciduous forest, we watch rufous brown lemur, the critically endangered Decken’s sifaka and Tsiombikibo sportive lemur.
After each exhilarating trail, it’s blissful to return to Namoroka Tsingy Camp, to spruce up in my outdoor shower, before an alfresco meal with all guests, at a table set between tsingy and stacked stone walls. It’s convivial as we savour South African wine, chatting about the astonishing geological wonders and biodiversity that we have been privileged to see. Particularly impressive are thousands of roosting fruit bats, the Madagascar flying foxes, looking like ripe fruit in the trees before taking off with squealing and unfurled leathery wings of 1.5–1.7 metres.
Luxury and Solitude in the Heart of Namoroka
The presence ofNamoroka Tsingy Camp, in this remote, surreal setting, is impressive in itself. I luxuriate in my tent, listening to the rasping call of a Madagascan nightjar, grateful for this life-enhancing expedition.
Airlink operates direct flights from Johannesburg to Antananarivo four times a week. Travel arrangements courtesy of MadagasCaT Travel.
Bushman’s kloof: Where Rock Art and Wilderness Stir the Soul
Experience Bushman’s Kloof, where haunting rock art, rich biodiversity, and refined hospitality offer a profound connection to the earth – and to the past.
Set in the Cederberg Mountains of the Western Cape, flanked by dramatic sandstone formations, isBushman’s KloofWilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat. With plains covered in fragrant fynbos and Karoo scrub, this Cape Floral Region is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, packed with endemic plants and wildlife.
Masson, a Deluxe RoomPatterson, a suiteMakana Dining Area
Within the 7 500-hectare private reserve, wind-hewn boulders form caves and rocky overhangs with over 132 sites of Bushman Rock Art, some dated back 10 000 years.
Cape Mountain Zebra. Note no shadow stripes.Southern rock agama male
Bella’s Cave is a stroll across the river from Bushman’s Kloof Lodge. As the area is too small to have been habitable, it is thought to be a shaman site, a place of power for trance dancing. Paintings decorate the exfoliating rocks with tiny figures of yellow ochre, one heavily cloaked; a mongoose-like creature; small antelopes and some images so weird and ephemeral that they might be apparitions appearing to a shaman in his half-conscious, hallucinogenic state. It’s difficult to identify all of the illustrations, so interpretations by archaeologists and art scholars vary. I feel as if I am peeping into the minds of the artists, somehow touching their joys and struggles, their concept of beauty, of spirituality and the respectful way they interact with nature.
Entrance to Bella’s Cave Rock Art
It’s safe to canoe, to walk on the marked hiking trails, to cycle alone, as there is no dangerous game in Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness. The Cape Leopard – smaller than the leopard found elsewhere in Southern Africa – is shy and elusive, but one was photographed in the Cave Bee Cave camera trap, so it’s exciting to think how close she is.
Cape Leopard in Cave Bee Cave
We stop for breakfast snacks, worthy of a Relais & Châteaux establishment. I savour the locally grown rooibos tea and enjoy touching the leaves of a Rooibos plant and scooping up aromatic stokkies, which are also used to make tea. Adding water to dry Vygie seed pods, they open up into an elegant rosette wheel. A sun-seeking Graceful Crag Lizard basks on a boulder that’s decked in red and white lichen.
Part of the selection of drinks and snacks on a sunset nature drive
Rock-hopping over river crossings, we reach Fallen Rock, a habitable San site, spacious enough to shelter about 12 people. Fragments of clay pottery, stone tools and remains of ostrich eggshells – used to create white paint – remain in the cave. One of the scenes is a procession painting, representing the nomadic lifestyle of the San. Among the terracotta-coloured figures, females are identifiable by their ample buttocks and breasts, and some males by silhouetted penises; hunters carry bows and arrows, fringed carrier bags or spears. A tall figure in deep red ochre represents a shaman who is bleeding from his nose, a symptom of a trance induced by severe hydration. At Bushman’s Kloof Lodge, a Heritage Centre displays authentic Bushman artefacts including hunting, dancing, and digging sticks, jewellery, musical instruments, and magic sets – each with an explanatory text – that further deepen our learning and engagement with the art.
Procession painting in a Habitable Cave, of a group of people moving togetherA Shaman in Red Ochre, 3 figures with yellow ochre faces
During our evening Nature Drive we spot Cape Mountain zebra, eland (a prominent figure in San art, associated with shamanistic rituals) and Ostriches. Sipping an artisanal gin and tonic, we watch the sun’s rays dip over the Tandjiesberg in the Biedouw Valley, humbled by this glimpse into the environment and the lives of South Africa’s earliest inhabitants, one of the oldest civilisations of mankind.
