Make for Madagascar and meet friendly islanders

Nosy Komba is one of the many highlights of a new 15-day Adventure in Madagascar cruise recently launched by the French cruise company Ponant. The island is home to a colony of black lemurs but only the males are black. The females have russet brown fur and striking white ear tufts. They’re also dominant over the males and when our guide peels a banana, three females scamper down a tree trunk leaving their small dark companions staring down enviously from the forest canopy. The guide breaks off a piece of banana, hands it to me and, to my surprise, one of the lemurs reaches out and grasps my index finger with her tiny hand. Momentarily she stares at me with hypnotic golden eyes before grabbing the fruit and scampering off again. My first encounter with these enchanting primates is one that I’ll treasure.

The cruise begins in the sleepy capital of Mauritius, St Louis, where our ship, Le Bougainville, with an elegant crescent-shaped profile and just 92 cabins, cuts a dashing figure at the cruise terminal.

After a brief overnight sailing we reach Réunion Island, a distant outpost of France, which is an engaging mix of provincial French life and magnificent volcanic scenery. After breakfast we leave for a coach excursion into the interior where shield volcanos and collapsed calderas covered in cloud forests are a Unesco World Heritage site. Along the way we stop at waterfalls cascading like ribbons down vertical cliff sides and mist-shrouded villages where residents of the coast come to cool off during the hot summer months. On our way back we stop at Roulof vanilla plantation, a small family run farm. The vanilla pods are just beginning to ripen and in the greenhouse an intoxicating aroma resembling ice cream crossed with freshly mowed grass fills the air.

There’s no shortage of vanilla on the menu during the next two days at sea. Ponant works closely with French celebrity chef Alain Ducasse to devise menus that celebrate French fine dining. And with a talented pastry chef on board, the afternoon cake demonstrations prove an instant hit. Little wonder that the small panoramic gym on deck seven is packed to capacity each afternoon. The two days at sea also provide an excellent opportunity to meet the expedition’s 11 naturalists who will present lectures and lead zodiac boat excursions as we sail up the western coastline of Madagascar.

On the fourth morning, as I sip coffee on my balcony, I’m greeted by waving fishermen as they sail out to sea in brightly painted outrigger canoes. They belong to the Vezo community, distant relatives of the Polynesians, who live in traditional fishing villages all along Madagascar’s southern coast. After breakfast we board zodiacs for a choppy ride to Sarodrano, a village built on a sandy spit of land, where the residents give us some fascinating insights into their traditional way of life. Vezo women often cover their faces in a pale yellow paste made from powdered wood and under a shady tree a group of friends show us how they paint intricate patterns on their faces for celebrations.

The following day we have our first encounter with Madagascar’s unique flora and fauna. The semi-arid climate of southern Madagascar is home to unique eco systems including spiny forests where the world-famous baobab trees flourish. From the bustling port town of Toliara we drive inland to the Reniala Nature Reserve where sandy paths meander through 60 hectares of baobabs and their equally striking companions, octopus trees, towering succulents with slender wavy branches. As we walk along the paths we spot extraordinary three-eyed lizards basking in the early morning sunshine, the first of many rainbow coloured lizards, chameleons and geckos we encounter during our excursions.

From Toliara we sail north, stopping at the village of Belo Sur Mer where locals still build wooden sailing schooners based on a Breton design introduced by the French in the early 1800s. At the port city of Mahajanga I join a tour to visit La Cirque Rouge, a spectacular geological formation of sandstone cliffs and fairy chimneys stained into hues of red and green by oxidised minerals. As we head further north the climate becomes ever more tropical and our last ports of call are three picture postcard islands covered in rainforest. After visiting the lemurs on Nosy Komba we sail to Nosy Tanikely where, during a hike up to a pretty early 20th-century lighthouse, we encounter scuttling hermit crabs and panther chameleons lurking on tree branches. At nearby Nosy Hara our naturalists can barely contain their excitement when they spot a critically endangered Madagascar Fish Eagle, one of only 220 left in the wild.

Leaving the Mozambique Channel we head back into the Indian Ocean for another two days at sea but, as is often the case on expedition cruises, our friendly captain Gilles Thomas throws in a surprise. He makes a diversion to Farquhar Atoll, an outpost of the Seychelles which is surrounded by shallow opalescent lagoons. The atoll is home to a large population of masked boobies, graceful aerodynamic seabirds whose aerial acrobatics have us enthralled as we sail slowly along the shoreline of this remote desert island.

Expedition cruises can be rollercoasters of sensory overload and it’s a good idea after disembarkation to spend a day or two grounding yourself in a peaceful resort. One of the quietest on the Seychelles’ main island, Mahé, is the beautiful Anantara Maia Seychelles Villas, a collection of 30 thatched villas with private infinity pools built on a hillside overlooking Anse Louis, an idyllic secluded beach on Mahé's quieter west coast. There I spend a blissful afternoon kayaking in the sheltered bay followed by snorkelling along the reef where I glimpse colourful angel and parrot fish.

After some late afternoon sunshine by the pool I head to the open-air restaurant for a dinner of Creole-style grilled octopus and calamari. As the sun disappears below the horizon a gecko starts chirping in the eaves and the air fills with the rhythmic hiss of cicadas. During the cruise we had a few elusive cicada stowaways and it’s a sound I’ll forever associate with the romantic al fresco dinners I had under the stars as we sailed the Indian Ocean.

A 15-day Ponant Adventure in Madagascar cruise on board Le Jacques Cartier departing from Paris on 20/12/2023 starts from £9,240pp based on two people sharing a Prestige stateroom cabin. Price includes all meals, house wine, spirits and champagne, mini bar, 24/7 room service and flights from Paris to Mauritius and the Seychelles, uk.ponant.comVillas at Anantara Maya Seychelles Villas start from €2,500 per night in an ocean view villa, www.anantara.com

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Make for Madagascar and meet friendly islanders - and even friendlier lemurs