Gallery: sharing a beach
There are luxury resorts all over the world where you can, if you want, relax on a beach knowing that you and your fellow guests will have it to yourselves. No one will intrude to disturb the illusion of perfection or remind you that you are (quite probably) in a third world country.
Eden Lodge, on Baobab Beach in the north west of the country, where we spent our last few days in Madagascar, is definitely not such a spot, and I was very glad of it. Yes, it feels like a special place to stay, in a barefoot low-key eco-friendly way. You arrive by boat; no roads serve this isolated spot. Your home is a well-equipped tent, tucked among the trees that line the beach and shaded by a substantial thatch. You spend your days relaxing, swimming or snorkelling, maybe exploring a bit, and your evenings enjoying unpretentious but delicious meals with good wines and cocktails.
BUT
You are not alone here. At one end, only a hundred metres or so from the lodge’s main dining area, is a small fishing village. The beach is full of activity throughout the day. Fishermen launch their small boats and (hopefully) return with their catches. Schoolchildren follow the water’s edge on their walks to and from the village school at the other end of the beach. Local women pass, their loads effortlessly balanced on their heads, a feat that never fails to impress me.
The owners show real respect for those who call this place home, and take their responsibilities as ‘invaders’ very seriously. The lodge has created lots of employment opportunities for locals. Before it was established the village was tiny, with no school and high levels of illiteracy and poverty. Since the arrival of the lodge and the employment opportunities it offers, the village has grown as word about those opportunities has spread. Residents encouraged relatives and friends to come and settle here so they too could benefit.
Today the village is well-supported by the lodge. Every family has at least one family member employed there so everyone benefits financially. The lodge buys fish and other produce from the local people. Back in 2010 it financed the building of a school and employed a teacher. Since then two more schools have been opened which together have around 150 pupils from several villages in the area. And whereas in the past the village was isolated and totally self-reliant, nowadays they benefit from regular supplies arriving on the lodge’s boats.
So although I sometimes felt a little guilty at having the luxury to be able to travel here and then sit around doing relatively nothing, while they worked hard and lived a very simple life, that guilt was assuaged by the knowledge that my visit was helping them directly.
Below is a selection of photos taken over the four days we spent here, many of them from the terrace outside our tent. While I almost never promote individual hotels and accommodations here, I feel a link to this special spot is more than justified on this occasion (and no, I’m not on commission): https://www.edenlodge.net/en/.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given how much I loved this spot, I’m sharing it with Ju-Lyn for her Happy Place, Happy Space challenge!
Our home on the beach
I’ll start with a shot of our tent (centre) and beach loungers, to provide some context
Baobab Beach
The local fishing village in the foreground with the lodge beyond (the main building just right of centre and tents beyond among the trees) ~ you can see how well it has been nestled in the landscape for minimal impact
The local fishing village
Another view of the village
Village homes
Fishing boats drawn up near the village
Sunday morning on the beach
One of the girls seems to be wearing her Sunday best
Unloading a boat
A passing boat
A local boat ferrying passengers between villages
A local family
Women, and often older brothers and sisters, carry little ones on their back in a sling
Another family
Two women walking towards the village …
… and returning about an hour later
Local children
The girls learn early that the best way to carry large and heavy loads is on their heads
On their way home from school
Note the uniforms also provided by the lodge
On their way home from school
I visited Baobab Beach in November 2023
29 Comments
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equinoxio21
Very nice. Don’t feel guilty. You have the “privilege” to travel, enjoy it. Remember that without you (or me 😉) the local fishermen villages would not have this opportune source of income…
(I hope my youngest daughter doesn’t see this comment, she is very strong on the notion of “Privileged” and Intersectionality…)
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😀 That was my point really – staying in an ethically minded property like this you can enjoy the privileges of travelling without feeling guilty because you know the money you spend will (largely) benefit the locals, whereas if you stay in an international chain or all-inclusive resort most of your money goes to corporates and shareholders who don’t need it even a fraction as much!
equinoxio21
Very true. We just spent my birthday with the whole family on the pacific coast. A place called Puerto Escondido. It used to be a low-key, surfer, hippie, student place with very little tourism. Very nice place, though we hadn’t been in… 20 years. It has changed wonderfully. A good example of well-planned development. No big chain hotels. No high-rise buildings, just very nice little (3-5 floors) hotels, nice restaurants… And clearly all the local people are getting jobs, when their perspective 20 years before was.. to toil the earth and grow corn.
had a splendid time and will certainly go back. (Though Madagascar is beckoning…)
Be good.
Sarah Wilkie
That sounds like a very good approach to development – just how it should be done!
equinoxio21
Yep. I have rarely seen it though.
notesoflifeuk
What a wonderful place to visit!
Sarah Wilkie
It was indeed!
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Ju-Lyn
Wow, that is really exclusive accommodation with a local flavour. We spent our honeymoon decades ago in a place very similar to this, complete with a hut just for ourselves. It is so nice that you have access to the village and that they have a symbiotic relationship with the lodge.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Ju-Lyn – ‘exclusive with a local flavour’ completely sums it up 😊
Marie
Well said Sarah – You’ve presented the place beautifully – I’d be VERY happy there for a few days….
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Marie 😊 I know you too enjoy some beach chilling at the end of a trip and for sure you’d love it here!
thehungrytravellers.blog
Magical. This is so our kind of place, especially with its benefits to a local community which otherwise has little. So good to be able to watch ordinary life in a different culture.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I could see you two enjoying it here, though you’d probably get bored after a few days. But it’s possible to be more active than we were, with hikes in nearby nature reserves, snorkelling and kayaking. All we did was a night walk in the forest behind the lodge and a day trip to Hellville on Nosy Bay, which was really good – post on that to come in due course!
lisaonthebeach
Wow, this is amazing and beautiful. When you mention the fishing village I expected something bigger, these are wonderful photos! How many people live there? When we went to Sandals in the Bahamas I felt bad watching the employees cleaning the kelp off the beach each morning. What a job. But the staff were so friendly and appreciative. We went on a bus tour in Nassau and was told the tourists provide like 70% of the business for the town. Thank you for sharing, Sarah!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Lisa 😊 I think the village must extend further back from the beach than my photos suggest, judging by the number of children heading back there after school, but we didn’t like to intrude. We stayed in a Sandals years ago (in Cuba) but I confess I don’t like those all-inclusive resorts – they’re too big and I feel cut-off from the local environment I’ve come to see and experience, even if you can do trips out. Although having said that, all meals were included here, we only paid for drinks and excursions. But with only 8 tents it certainly didn’t feel impersonal and as you can see we were living almost among the locals, albeit at a much higher comfort level!
lisaonthebeach
Well, it looks fabulous and unique!
Susanne Swanson
Beautiful pictures. Looks like a wonderful place to rest and relax and still learn about local people and their culture.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Susanne 😊 Yes, a great place to relax – we could have done more (we did do one trip) but I wanted a break for my bad leg after all the walking earlier in the trip!
margaret21
This does look a holiday spot where you can afford to feel guilt-free. I know the life of the villagers must be hard – often drudgery – but it does look a beautiful place when they d have moments of ‘down time’.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I hoped they found the time to appreciate their surroundings – somehow I got the impression that they did. I wish now I’d asked some of the staff at the lodge but although we talked with a few I never thought to ask that particular question!
Anne Sandler
What a win/win Sarah, and beautifully told through your narrative and pictures. Thank you for sharing.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne, a win/win is a great way to describe this!
Sue
How marvellous that the Lodge is providing employment for the people
Sarah Wilkie
I thought so, and I wanted to create a post to acknowledge that 🙂
Sue
Good for you!
Alison
Looks absolutely beautiful Sarah, and nicely written. As you say without this lodge there would be no work or school, so it’s good to hear about people giving back. I’m sure you felt well and truly relaxed at the end.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, it was a great spot in which to unwind. I’m not usually one for lazing around on a beach but this one had enough activity and variety to keep me entertained between outings 🙂 And I loved the atmosphere around the lodge!