Mayotte
Wake up call at 6h00 this morning with an amazing sunrise, and the birders were off to Grande Terre in search of some new birds they hadn’t had a chance to see yesterday. They got lucky and found another endemic bird: the Mayotte drongo.
Later on, some of us went to M’Bouzi Island in search of the brown lemur. From the beach bordered by a mangrove, and by a big baobab tree, started a little trail up the hill, where a few metres deeper in the forest you could find the lemurs resting on branches, looking at us with their big orange eyes. They were hopping from one branch to the other and finally ended up on some of our heads!
After this nice encounter we had a chance to go snorkeling close by in the middle of the lagoon. There, we were in an underwater paradise, full of colors, species and shapes. We had some table coral, bubble coral, soft coral, sponges, anemones, clam shells, schools of fusiliers, clown fishes, nurseries of damsel fishes and nudibranchs. Our eyes were moving from one amazing creature to the next and everywhere little spots of colours were showing up and then hiding behind some corals.
Leaving our anchorage position around noon we sailed northwards inside the lagoon towards M’tsamboro Island. After sending some scout Zodiacs we found a nice beach to snorkel and kayak from. The sandy and grassy bottom was a haven for turtles and after a few yards turned into a beautiful and pristine drop off. At the base of it, a big star puffer carrying a remora was getting cleaned by two wrasses. Above the surface, kayaks were gliding and enjoying the warm waters.
After a nice afternoon we were rewarded by high tea on the beach while enjoying the sunset.
Wake up call at 6h00 this morning with an amazing sunrise, and the birders were off to Grande Terre in search of some new birds they hadn’t had a chance to see yesterday. They got lucky and found another endemic bird: the Mayotte drongo.
Later on, some of us went to M’Bouzi Island in search of the brown lemur. From the beach bordered by a mangrove, and by a big baobab tree, started a little trail up the hill, where a few metres deeper in the forest you could find the lemurs resting on branches, looking at us with their big orange eyes. They were hopping from one branch to the other and finally ended up on some of our heads!
After this nice encounter we had a chance to go snorkeling close by in the middle of the lagoon. There, we were in an underwater paradise, full of colors, species and shapes. We had some table coral, bubble coral, soft coral, sponges, anemones, clam shells, schools of fusiliers, clown fishes, nurseries of damsel fishes and nudibranchs. Our eyes were moving from one amazing creature to the next and everywhere little spots of colours were showing up and then hiding behind some corals.
Leaving our anchorage position around noon we sailed northwards inside the lagoon towards M’tsamboro Island. After sending some scout Zodiacs we found a nice beach to snorkel and kayak from. The sandy and grassy bottom was a haven for turtles and after a few yards turned into a beautiful and pristine drop off. At the base of it, a big star puffer carrying a remora was getting cleaned by two wrasses. Above the surface, kayaks were gliding and enjoying the warm waters.
After a nice afternoon we were rewarded by high tea on the beach while enjoying the sunset.
