Île Sainte-Marie off the east coast of Madagascar

Monday, 17 August 2015 - 04:13 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  6 minutes

Beach of La Crique © M worm

Beach of La Crique © M worm

Île Sainte-Marie, known (more formally) as Nosy Boraha, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The main town is Ambodifotatra. The city covers an area of 222 km2, and has a population estimated at 16,000. The island is organized as The City of Île Sainte-Marie in Analanjirofo Region. The tourist destination is 60 km long and less than 10 km wide.

Ile Sainte-Marie, or St. Mary’s Island as it is known in English, became a popular base for pirates throughout the 17th and 18th centuries due to several reasons: it was not far from the maritime routes along which ships returning from the East Indies sailed in transit, their holds overflowing with wealth, it was provided with bays and inlets protected from storms and finally, it had abundant fruit and was situated in quiet waters. Legendary pirates like William Kidd, Robert Culliford, Olivier Levasseur, Henry Every, Abraham Samuel and Thomas Tew, lived in the île aux Forbans, an island located in the bay of Sainte Marie’s main town, Ambodifotatra. Many of them would found a family line. Numerous vestiges of this history remain at Sainte Marie. For example, several authentic pirate vessels still lie within a few meters of the surface in the Baie des Forbans.

Pirates Cemetery © JialiangGao - www.peace-on-earth.org/cc-by-sa-3.0 Air Madagascar at Sainte-Marie Airport © JialiangGao - www.peace-on-earth.org/cc-by-sa-3.0 Beach of La Crique © M worm
<
>
Air Madagascar at Sainte-Marie Airport © JialiangGao - www.peace-on-earth.org/cc-by-sa-3.0
The channel between Sainte-Marie island and Madagascar is a hot spot for whale watching. Substantial groups of humpback whales migrate from the Antarctic to this idyllic breeding place. These quiet giants find conditions here that are favourable for the growth of their young and well suited to their courtship and acrobatic games before their big return toward the cold seas.

Safe from sharks, the lagoon of Sainte Marie island is endowed with significant coralline growth. Its underwater fauna is preserved as a natural heritage and first-class diving site in the Indian ocean.

Read more on LonelyPlanet.com – Île Sainte-Marie, travel-images.com – Île Sainte-Marie, Air Madagascar and Wikipedia Île Sainte-Marie. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center - Global Passport Power Rank - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

The seaside town of Blackpool

The seaside town of Blackpool

[caption id="attachment_151646" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Central Pier © flickr.com - David P[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, 17.5 miles (28.2 km) northwest of Preston, 30 miles (48 km) north of Liverpool, and 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manchester. It has a population of 142,900, making it the third most populous settlement i...

[ read more ]

Wipperfürth, the oldest town in the Bergisches Land

Wipperfürth, the oldest town in the Bergisches Land

[caption id="attachment_160535" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Town Hall © J. Berger[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Wipperfürth is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany, about 40 km north-east of Cologne, and the oldest town in the Bergischen Land. Wipperfürth lies on the flow Wupper which is designated in the upper reaches to the east of the town Wipper. Today Wipperfürth has 24,000 inhabitants, half of them living in the town itself, the other half living in the nearby villages a...

[ read more ]

Theme Week East Jerusalem - The Western or Buraq Wall

Theme Week East Jerusalem - The Western or Buraq Wall

[caption id="attachment_192374" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Men's and women's prayer area © Daniel Case/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Western Wall, Wailing Wall, or Kotel, known in Islam as the Buraq Wall, is an ancient limestone wall in the Old City of East Jerusalem. It is a relatively small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall, known also in its entirety as the "Western Wall". The wall was originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great, which resulted in ...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Gascony - Dax

Theme Week Gascony - Dax

[caption id="attachment_151949" align="aligncenter" width="439"] Bullring entrance © CTHOE/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Dax is a commune in Aquitaine in south-western France, sub-prefecture of the Landes department. It is also a market town, former bishopric and busy local centre, especially for the Chalosse area. Dax kept its tradition as a renowned spa site. It is particularly famous for specialising in mud treatment for rheumatism and similar ailments. Fontaine Chaude ("Hot Fountain") is among the main sigh...

[ read more ]

Portrait: Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

Portrait: Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

[caption id="attachment_183135" align="aligncenter" width="590"] US President Barack Obama taking his Oath of Office © defenseimagery.mil - Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017. The first African American to assume the presidency, he was previously the junior United States Senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008. Before that, he served in the Illinois State Senate fro...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Estonia - Pärnu

Theme Week Estonia - Pärnu

[caption id="attachment_227152" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Kristian Pikner/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Pärnu is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located 128 kilometres (80 mi) south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and 176 kilometres (109 mi) west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga, which is a part of the Baltic Sea. In the city, the Pärnu River drains into the Gulf of Riga. Pärnu is a...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Philippines - Manila

Theme Week Philippines - Manila

[caption id="attachment_204130" align="aligncenter" width="590"] University of Santo Tomas, the oldest existing university in Asia, established in 1611 © Ramon FVelasquez/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital of the Philippines and a highly urbanized city. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world as of 2018. It was the first chartered city by virtue of the Philippine Commission Act 183 on July 31, 1901 and gained autonomy with the passage of Republic Act No...

[ read more ]

Großburgwedel in Lower Saxony

Großburgwedel in Lower Saxony

[caption id="attachment_161178" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Half-timbered house from 1570 © Losch[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Großburgwedel is a village northeast of Hanover and is the administrative centre of the town of Burgwedel. Großburgwedel is home to the town hall of Burgwedel and other town institutions such as the library, a hospital for the region of Hanover. It also has a grammar school, secondary school, secondary modern school and special needs school, as well as a builder's yard and open air swimming ...

[ read more ]

The Hanseatic city of Rostock

The Hanseatic city of Rostock

[caption id="attachment_160625" align="aligncenter" width="590"] City Harbor Panorama © Lauchi[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Rostock is the largest city in the north German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Rostock is located on the Warnow river; the quarter of Warnemünde 12 km north of the city centre lies directly on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The rise of the city began with its membership of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the biggest city of Mecklenburg...

[ read more ]

European Capital of Culture 2012: Guimarães and Maribor

European Capital of Culture 2012: Guimarães and Maribor

[caption id="attachment_154231" align="aligncenter" width="448"] © guimaraes2012.pt[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"] GUIMARÃES Guimarães is a northern Portuguese city located in the district of Braga, in the Ave Subregion, with a population of 52 181 inhabitants, distributed throughout 20 parishes (freguesias in Portuguese), in an urban area of 23,5 km² with a population density of 2 223,9/km². It is an historical city that had an important role in the formation of Portugal and it was settled in the 9th century, at whic...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Villa Bernstein and Bernsteinsee (Lake Amber) © Katrin Perl
Bitterfeld-Wolfen in the southeast of Saxony-Anhalt

Bitterfeld-Wolfen is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated in south-eastern Saxony-Anhalt, west of the river Mulde,...

© François Darras
The pilgrimage Rocamadour

Rocamadour is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. It lies in the former province of Quercy. Rocamadour...

BIS 'Tower' building © --Wladyslaw Disk./cc-by-sa-3.0
Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international organization of central banks which "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation...

Schließen