Madagascar And Seychelles: Natural Treasures Of The Indian Ocean – With Smithsonian Journeys

Nosy Be (‘Big Island’: Malagasy), an island off the NW coast of Madagascar, is its largest port and Madagascar’s most popular beach-resort. Though Nosy Be’s inclination is towards mass tourism, it is still a largely peaceful place with sugar cane plantations, rum distilleries, ylang ylang bushes, and lounging lemurs. This still beautiful island offers some amazing snorkelling and diving opportunities as well as primary forests with great wildlife. Read more about Nosy Be, Madagascar

The island of Nossi-Komba (aka Nosy Komba, Nosy Ambariovato) is a small circular island 5km across, that lies between the larger tourist island of Nosy Be and the mainland of NW Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The island is covered with tropical vegetation and rises to 622m at the centre. Thatched huts and palm trees ring the sea shore, and the largest of four villages is at the northern end. Read more about Nossi-Komba, Madagascar

Read more about Nosy Hara, Madagascar

Diego Suarez - aka Antsiranana - is a city with a natural harbour at the northern tip of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is the capital of the Diana region. Diego Suarez was a strategic port used by many western countries over the centuries and had a French military base operating until the socialist revolution of 1973. Read more about Diego Suarez, Madagascar

Aride is the northernmost granitic island in the Seychelles archipelago of 115 islands. (There are two coral sand cays north of Aride: Denis and Bird.) The archipelago is set on a raised plateau in the Indian Ocean, with an average waster depth of just 60 m. Aride Island is 1.7 km E-W and 0.6 km N-S, rising to just over 100 m, and covered with a variety of palms, liana vines, and trees to the shoreline. Read more about Aride, Seychelles

La Digue is the third largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. La Digue also boasts the friendliest people and most tranquil, serene and relaxing atmosphere in Seychelles. Where cars are shunned in favour of bicycles and ox-carts, the pace of life is necessarily slower. Read more about La Digue, Seychelles

Mahe is the largest and most important island of the Seychelles archipelago. While this spectacular island is only 27 km long it is dominated by a mountain range with its tallest peak Morne Seychellois, at 930 m in height, being central to a wonderful national park. There are also some delightful marine national parks off the island. Read more about Mahe Island, Seychelles