Takes on Tours: Nosy Komba and Nosy Tanikely in Madagascar

Madagascar is home to roughly 200,000 species of flora and fauna, and 150,000 of those are endemic. People from across the world visit the small country to marvel at its rich biodiversity, and if you are on a cruise ship sailing around Africa, you too might have the opportunity to visit Madagascar.  

The big quandary arises: How should you spend your port time?

Holland America Line’s Zaandam paid a visit to Andoany (Hell-Ville) on the island of Nosy Be November 15th-16th 2022. One of the tour offerings included stops at Nosy Komba and Nosy Tanikely for a taste of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity on both land and sea.

I’m breaking down how the tour flowed to help you decide if a similar tour would be the right choice for you.

Step One: Getting Off the Ship and Onto the Tour Boat

Andoany, Madagascar is a tender port. The ride from ship to dock was roughly 15 minutes, and the sea was quite calm. Once ashore, all the tours joined up with their respective guides holding up numbered signs. Smaller speed boats pulled up to the dock and tours were ushered out one at a time. The process took around 30 minutes, and the tour operations were surprisingly efficient.

Stop One: Nosy Komba

Nosy Komba is volcanic island that has an area of 25 km² and population of around 4500 people. It’s familiarly referred to as “Lemur Island”, given its population of eulemur macaco (black lemurs) that only live on Nosy Komba and Nosy Be. The boat pulled into the fishing village (beach pictured above) where we met a local guide who would be taking us through the village and the park.

Note: It’s a wet landing, meaning you’ll have to step into the water.

The walk from the beach to the forest will take you past the school, the hospital, and dozens of souvenir shops selling table clothes, wooden art, paintings, scarfs, and plenty of little lemur figures and “Madagascar” magnets. The guide informed us that the items were handmade—I’d be quite shocked if that was actually true. The surface is uneven (as show in the photos below), you’ll be going on a slight incline, and it’s hot. Prepare and manage your pace accordingly!

NOTE!: According to the World Bank, Madagascar is the 3rd poorest country in the world with a poverty rate of 70.7%. So while you can haggle, it’s important to take this into consideration how impactful your dollars are.

After walking through the souvenir stalls we arrived to park entry way. The forest was lush, dense, and beautiful and the sounds of buzzing cicadas filled the air. Tree coverage provided a nice reprise from the already hot 9:30am sun, and the guide led us on the next mission: find the lemurs.

The “sanctuary” is more like a natural zoo. There are several enclosed areas with different types of turtles and tortoises. There is also a snake pit with 5 boas. Our guide lifted the animals up and waved them around while providing an explanation.  

The guide led us deeper into the forest until we finally found the black lemurs. There was a pod of them swinging through the trees and jumping about. Despite being called “black lemurs”, only the males are black. The females look quite different with a brown/red back and gray stomach.  It must have just been birthing season, because the majority of the females had little ones wrapped tightly around their midsections. Adorable is an understatement.

Black lemurs are very sociable with strong family bonding, and live in groups ranging from 4-15 lemurs. They are cathemeral, meaning neither nocturnal or diurnal, and their diet is 73% fruit. The average life span ranges from 15-25 years, but a black lemur in captivity can live upwards of 35 years. (For more facts about black lemurs, click HERE).

The guide came equipped with bananas, and everyone had the option to feed a lemur a banana with it perched on your shoulder for a cute photo op.

I personally don’t recommend engaging in this kind of animal tourism. Not only can humans and primates exchange diseases, but feeding wild animals can have negative consequences on the animals health and wellbeing. (Click HERE and HERE to learn more.)

Lemurs are a common animal in the illegal pet market, which poses a massive risk to the already endangered species. THIS interesting article in National Geographic points to research that suggests posting cute photos and videos of people interacting with wild animals, like lemurs, can further encourage people to seek them out as pets. For these reasons, I opted out of the photo opp and enjoyed watching the beautiful creatures from a distance.

We had plenty of time to marvel at the black lemurs before heading back through the sanctuary, down through the souvenir stalls, and back to the beach. The sleepy village was now much more alive with kids playing basketball, street food being fired up, and locals playing music on the beach.  Our total time at Nosy Komba was just under 2 hours.

The group loaded onto the boat and headed to the next destination…

Stop Two: Nosy Tanikely

Nosy Tanikely Marine National Park is a small uninhabited island that is surrounded by shallow coral teeming with wildlife. The water is warm and clear, making it a popular destination for snorkelers and divers alike. In the middle of the island there is a lighthouse, and your guide may offer to take you for a visit, although you can also explore it on your own.

Our group found a spot under a tree, and we had two hours of free time to snorkel, walk around the island, and relax on the beach. I grabbed my snorkel gear and hit the water. The ocean floor was covered with coral that had impressive fish flitting about.

I spied angel fish, sea urchins, grouper, blackeye thicklip wrasse, blue fish, black fish, and white fish too! (My fish identification skills have room for improvement).  I saw one massive fish that was nearly 2 meters long, and the big highlight was the turtles. I had 5 different turtle encounters, and it was a true treat to watch the big creatures float through the water and nibble coral.

Despite there being many tour groups on Nosy Tanikely, it didn’t feel crowded and there was plenty of space to snorkel in peace.

Following the two hours of free time, all the groups headed to a covered area for lunch. There were two giant fish surrounded by a beautiful assortment of Malagasy dishes including crab, rice, shrimp skewers, roasted bananas (which tasted like potatoes), and carrot salad. For dessert, fresh mango, pineapple, papaya, and bananas were served. T

The group was ushered back to the speed boat, which took us back to the tender dock.

Would I recommend taking this tour? Yes! It was a great way to experience so much of Madagascar in a limited period of time.