Theobald Barber

May 2, 2025

And yet there are still many national parks and protected areas where the tourist can enjoy the remarkable wildlife this country has to offer. Above all else it is the lemurs that are the key draw. These mainly adorable creatures were ocean borne around forty million years ago. Some Malagasy people believe that the Indri lemur with its haunting cry which echoes throughout the eastern forests is a distant human cousin. Legend has it that there were once two brothers who lived in the forest and looked after each other. After some years one left the forest and learnt how to build houses, plant crops and live in settlements; the other so loved leaping through the canopy of trees that he remained as the guardian spirit of the forest. The lemurs’ cries are said to be an echo of each brother calling out for the other – hence it is “fady” or taboo to harm them.

On a more serious anthropological note, how did the first Africans get to Madagascar? That is another mystery, but their arrival probably coincided with the extensive migrations of Bantu people on the African mainland in the 11th century. What we do know is that voyagers from Indonesia had arrived some thousand years earlier. This presents a further conundrum, because the journey of 6,000 kilometres across the Indian ocean would have been extremely treacherous. It is just possible that the Vezo people, who to this day are expert canoe builders and semi-nomadic fishermen, got there by canoe. Over the years a distinct Malagasy language has developed amongst the eighteen ethnic groups on the island.

Getting around Madagascar is best done by light aircraft combined with the odd road journey; fortunately, most of the top lodges have their own relatively economical charter planes with seat-in-plane rates. One of the newest beach destinations called Voaara has just this service to transport you to a dreamy beach location on the island of Saint Marie, also known as St Mary’s Island. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries this was a favourite haunt of pirates.

Local stories suggest that it was rather a gay place back then, with the pirates arriving in their speckled shirts and fancy stockings and enjoying, through the bond known as matelotage, a relationship which involved more than simply being a best mate – a theory somewhat belied by the fact that the islanders proudly claim they are of good pirate stock. There was even a shop where one could procure rum and various off-the-back-of-a-ship trinkets for one’s pirate queen.

Captain Kidd famously stayed on the island, but no one has found his treasure or the wreck of his vessel, the Adventure Gallery, which allegedly lies beneath these waters. Today, you can visit the pirates’ cemetery where skull and crossbones adorn many of the headstones. You might also find a few old bottles. What I can assure you of is top cuisine from Aleixandre Sarrion, the chef who used to work at Nobu. Voaara is a castaway’s idyll with a deserted beach, world-class surf waves, whale watching from June to September, diving, fishing, wing foiling, lemur day trips, castaway picnics, “bird’s nest” dining, and much more.

One final word of warning about the Indri lemur: despite its having the cute look of a teenager in fluffy black and white pyjamas it is said that if a hunter throws a spear at it, it will catch it and hurl it back, often with fatal accuracy. The French were told this when they colonised the country in 1895 and so never did persecute the Indri. We could perhaps do with a few more local legends like this to preserve wildlife species around the globe.

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