Ile aux Nattes

So, continuing our story — we caught the (3 hour) ferry from the NE coast of the mainland to Isle Sainte Marie -

Upon arrival, we needed to take a Tuk-tuk from the harbor to the south point of the island…

(to see the following video, be sure to click the link at the bottom of the post to open it in your browser) -

… where we hired a small pirogue (boat) to take us across the shallow channel to Ile aux Nattes (island of mats) -

There are no roads here or motor vehicles, only walking paths across and around the island (size: 5 km x 3.5 km). Thus, this was our route to our resort…

… and our beachfront bungalow -

It was blessedly quiet. On our one full day here, Steve and I planned to walk around the island…

… cutting inland at times, and other times sticking to the beach -

However, as rain was threatening…

… we cut across the island (to get back to our bungalow) passing taro and rice fields…

… and a lone zebu -

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the mainland, courtesy of those rainclouds -