The alarm clock buzzed at 6am as the sun began rising over the Mauritian horizon. The airport taxi was supposed to pick us up at 10:30am to start the Madagascan leg of our trip, yet my clothes were still drying on the line and I hadn’t started to take my surf foil apart. Instead of packing, Patri and I decided to go with some friends out on a boat to swim with dolphins in Le Morne. The dolphin encounters were incredible, but 9:30am came around fast and we raced back to the house. Flinging wet clothes from the line into our suitcases, we rushed to meet the taxi man and make our way to the airport.
Looking at my travel documents, the woman at the Air Madagascar check-in desk gave me a confused look. “You need at least two blank pages in your passport to enter Madagascar and you only have one,” she told me before making a few side remarks to her fellow employees and then walking away. I became a little nervous that I would have to stay in Mauritius (which wouldn’t be awful), but the lady walked back and said, “I will allow it, but I must escort you through immigration.” Once inside the security of the departure lounge Patri and I connected with Jalou Langeree, Catarina Edin and Ydwer, our photographer. To read the rest of the Searching Sapphire Seas and discover how Olivia’s schooner trip down southwest Madagascar played out, become a subscriber of Tkb Magazine.
Tkb’s Vol. 16, No. 4 winter 2019 digital issue is available now. The print issue will be landing in mailboxes soon!
