Friday 19 April 2019

Mayotte.N'Gouja.Turtles and Lemurs!!



"Oh la la" a little bit of France in the Indian Ocean. 
Mayotte is French and lies between NW Madagascar and NE Mozambique. 
It is part of the Comoros archipelago. 
We had such a great day here.
WE SAW A TURTLE!
AND LEMURS!
AND BAOBAB TREES!

We were greeted by some locals who wiggled and jiggled.


And then shared a taxi with two other cruisers to the Playa de N'gouja stopping at the most enormous Baobab tree en route.


Look at the size of the trunk!
(I'm in the photo)



Baobab trees are often called Upsidedown trees due to their tops looking more like tree roots.
They remind me of a child's drawing of a tree.
All trunk and some sprigs on the top.





For many people, N’Gouja is the most beautiful beach in Mayotte. This large beach of go
lden sand, and bordered by baobabs, opens on to a particularly rich and well-preserved reef. It is known as an exceptional site for observing sea turtles which come to feed on the seagrass and lay their eggs on the beach. Add to this the Mayotte lemurs begging for food...we were in for a treat today.







We were straight in that sea.
It was shallow for miles due to it being pure coral, teeming with life, we actually had to crawl in and even then I banged my knee on the rocks.
But what an absolute treat.


Fish in every shape and colour ..
and then Husb spotted the turtle.
Magnificent.
Just nestling amongst the rocks with an eel on its back.
Just fabulous.





We seemed to be in the sea for ages and needed to get back to Barry and Sam who hadn't brought cossies. All Sam wanted to see were lemurs and oh my days did we see lemurs. Can they tell the time? They seemed to know it was lunchtime! We were about to leave when they came down from the trees to the restaurant area and oh how cute they were. 










Barry took this!!
Look at her little squidgy fingers!
















There was enough time to walk about the shanty town before getting back on board. Corrugated iron buildings, colourful woman, carrying huge amounts of stuff on their heads, no one seemed bothered about us, a lot of places were closed, it was very primitive and poor. 
But what a sea. All the riches were in the sea.


A little bit of France in the Indian Ocean.
Mayotte-you were fabulous.






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