Sainte Marie

This article covers the island in Madagascar. See also: Sainte Marie shaft , Sault Sainte Marie or Sainte-Marie .

Sainte Marie (Nosy Boraha)
La Crique beach on the west coast
Waters	Indian Ocean
Geographical location	16 ° 54 ′  S , 49 ° 54 ′  E Coordinates: 16 ° 54 ′  S , 49 ° 54 ′  E
length	49.2 km
width	7 km
surface	200 km²
Highest elevation	Davolo 112  m
Residents	16,325 (2001) 82 inhabitants / km²
main place	Ambodifotatra
Location of the island off the east coast of Madagascar

Sainte Marie ( Nosy Boraha ) is an island 49.2 kilometers long and two to seven kilometers wide with 16,000 inhabitants, a few kilometers from the east coast of Madagascar . It belongs to the Toamasina Province . The capital of the island is Ambodifotatra .

reachability

Sainte Marie can be reached by plane or by boat. Air Madagascar flies almost daily from the capital Antananarivo, mostly with a stopover in the provincial capital Toamasina to Sainte Marie to the airport Sainte Marie Airport near Ankarena and back. But you can also take the bush taxi to Soanierana Ivongo and take the boat from there.

geography

At the southern end is the island of Île aux Nattes .

history

The Malagasy name Nosy Boraha means island of Ibrahim and is a reference to an early Arab settlement.

Pirate cemetery on Sainte Marie

French postage stamp from 1892 for the colony of Sainte Marie de Madagascar

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the island was the base of famous pirates such as William Kidd , Henry Every , Thomas Tew , John Bowen , and La Buse . ( See also: History of piracy ) They lived on île aux Forbans, a small island in the Bay of Ambodifotatra. The remains of their pirate ships are still lying a few meters below the bay. A small pirate cemetery near Ambodifotara bears witness to the island's eventful past. The European pirates also left their mark on their descendants.

The French pirate "La Bigorne" brought a group of French settlers to the island at the beginning of the 18th century and married a Betsimisaraka princess. Their son ceded the island to France in 1750 after the death of his father. Two years later, however, the settlers were murdered by Betsimisaraka and the small colony fell into disrepair. France established a penal colony on Sainte Marie in 1818, but it only lasted a few years. Only after the first Franco-Hova War in 1883 was Sainte Marie again taken over by France and initially administered as an independent colony. After France conquered all of Madagascar in the second Franco-Hova War in 1895 and made it a colony two years later, Sainte Marie became part of Madagascar again.

tourism

The tourism plays an increasingly important role in Sainte Marie. Lonely little bays with golden sandy beaches invite you to swim and dive. The lagoon of Sainte Marie is particularly suitable for diving, as it is well protected from sharks by a coral reef.

Humpback whales frolicking off the west coast can be seen from July to September . The imposing mammals that migrate here from Antarctica find excellent conditions in the channel between Sainte Marie and Madagascar to raise their young.

Traditions

Many mainland Malagasy traditions can also be found on Sainte Marie. This is also the case with the turning of the dead, in which the bodies of the deceased are removed from the family grave every few years and are ceremoniously carried through the village by the entire family. Some places are also occupied with fadys (taboos). Out of respect for the islanders, visitors should always inquire about it before exploring and, if necessary, take a local guide with them.

Delalande silk cuckoo

The Île Sainte-Marie was home to the Delalande silk cuckoo until 1827 . There are still a total of 13 stuffed hides of the bird in various museums around the world, including one in Stuttgart .

Climate table

Ambodifotatra
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     397   29 24     445   29 24     508   29 24     498   28 23     354   26th 22nd     341   25th 20th     309   24 20th     227   24 20th     117   25th 20th     94   26th 21st     129   28 23     367   29 23 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Ambodifotatra Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 29.4 29.2 28.5 27.6 26.0 24.6 23.8 23.8 24.6 26.0 27.7 28.7 O 26.6 Min. Temperature (° C) 24.1 24.0 23.7 23.0 21.9 20.3 19.6 19.5 20.0 21.1 22.5 23.4 O 21.9 Precipitation ( mm ) 397 445 508 498 354 341 309 227 117 94 129 367 Σ 3,786 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 5.5 7.0 4.7 6.5 6.5 5.3 5.5 6.2 7.8 8.4 8.0 8.2 O 6.6 Rainy days ( d ) 19th 19th 22nd 22nd 22nd 23 25th 21st 16 13 12 17th Σ 231 Humidity ( % ) 81 86 85 85 83 83 81 79 79 78 80 82 O 81.8 Source: wetterkontor.de

literature

• Maisie & Wolfgang Därr : Madagascar & Comoros. Reise Know-How, Bielefeld 2001, pp. 439–447. ISBN 3-89416-816-1

Web links

Commons : Sainte Marie  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ G. Pitcher & PC Wright: Madagascar & Comoros. Lonely Planet, ISBN 1-74104-100-7 , pp. 176-178.
2. ↑ Därr: Madagascar & Comoros. Pp. 185 and 440.