Diving in Sainte Marie
The past four days in Sainte Marie have not been as sunny as one would have hoped. After all winter is coming in Madagascar, and the rain with it. But no one cares under water so - rather than spending all my time lying on the white sand - I went diving. I am constantly amazed by the vitality of nature here and diving was another perfect illustration. Thousands of tropical fishes everywhere, swimming in swarms sometimes so dense you can hardly see through them. Seashells, 5 kilos lobsters (yummy! - too bad its forbidden to pick them up while diving), nudibranchs (sea slugs), black tip sharks, white tip sharks, gray sharks, rays, it’s got it all. I even saw a crocodilefish. Ugly, yes, but it was a first for me.
And I’ve never seen such a concentration of lion fishes! Until now, I’ve always seen them mostly isolated and hiding around rocks. Here, they go by groups of up to 5 individuals, swim in the open and are totally unafraid of humans. I could count dozens in a single dive.
As you can probably tell, I’m really enjoying my time. But in a few days, it will be time to head back to Paris. Different types of pleasures await…