9 Two weeks of amazing Madagascar discoveries in two hours! Nosy Be is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. To the southeast, the forests of the Lokobé Reserve are home to chameleons, geckos, and frogs. Hell-Ville, the capital, has colonial buildings and a covered market. Lemuria Land is nearby; the park is home to Madagascar's lemurs, as well as reptiles and birds. There is also a 19th-century distillery, used to extract essential oils from the endemic ylang-ylang tree. Off the northwest coast of Madagascar is the island of Nosy Be. It is considered Madagascar's premier beach destination. However, there is much more to Nosy Be than tourism and afternoons spent swimming in the bright blue ocean. Off the western coast of Nosy Be is Nosy Sakatia, a small, quiet island nicknamed Orchid Island. The island is home to a superb diving site and a turtle sanctuary. Its appeal lies mainly in the forest trails, where you will discover wild orchids, bats, chameleons and other species of fauna and flora. It is accessed by boat or pirogue, about 5 minutes of crossing. Possibility of staying on site. To cross, there are several solutions, either you use the shuttles of an establishment of the island like Ampasoa Beach which is opposite, or you take the local shuttles provided at the discretion of the inhabitants of the villages of the island. Nosy Sakatia is spread over 3 villages from north to south: Ampasindava, large northern beach, Ampasymena and Antanabe, the latter being the largest. The island is populated by about 500 inhabitants. The roads of the impossible, but nothing is impossible with the very many local tuk tuks. You will easily come into contact with the population and you will be able to immerse yourself in everyday Malagasy life. For your land travel, bush taxis (intercity collective taxis), taxis and tuk-tuks will be your main means of transport on Nosy Be. The tuk-tuk is growing in popularity in Madagascar. Its colors and its practicality make it an unusual means of transport, offering a new and entertaining travel experience. However, these advantages hide some vices, including pollution and driver training. Representing a necessity for the local population, the tuk-tuk has become a real tourist attraction. It is a popular local means of transport for its accessibility and speed, weaving between cars in traffic jams. These tricycles are very easy to find, especially in tourist areas and near markets. Ylang-ylang trees thrive in this hot and humid climate and many residents harvest the magnificent ylang-ylang flowers for their livelihood. Ylang-ylang essential oil comes from this island and the villagers who harvest it. Ylang-ylang is a tree, with evergreen foliage, pruned to 2–3 m high in cultivation but can reach 25–30 m in its natural environment of origin. It has a widely spread crown. Its growth is very rapid in the first years since it can reach 2 to 5 meters per year. It is in flower all year round, especially between November and March, because it is the rainy season. In general, it is the women who harvest the Ylang Ylang flowers. In order to preserve the aromas as much as possible, they pick the flowers very early in the morning until 9 a.m. A Ylang Ylang plant can produce 3 to 4 kg per day. But to have good quality, it is necessary to alternate the picking, every 3 days for a week. The Ylang Ylang tree can reach up to 30m in height but to facilitate picking, it must be kept at 2 or 3m. For it to flourish, vanilla must be planted in a place where the climate is tropical. If it likes the sun and heat, however, it needs shade, humidity and a support to cling to. The planting methods are done on cleared land, in undergrowth or under shade. On the island of lemurs, a haven of nature, the planting techniques practiced are those in cleared land or undergrowth. The orchid then grows under the protection of existing trees or on stakes, mainly Indian pine nuts. Although the vanilla plant can be planted at any time of the year, it will produce flowers about three years after planting, and from September to October. The green turtle owes its name to the color of its fat. Its shell is olive brown, marbled with yellow. It is recognizable by its large rounded head, its blunt beak and the two large prefrontal scales between its eyes. Green turtles live in Nosy Be.