{"id":4238,"date":"2017-03-29T09:57:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T08:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tazmpictures.com\/site\/?p=4238"},"modified":"2025-10-16T14:13:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T13:13:41","slug":"soaring-over-kitesurfing-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tazmpictures.com\/site\/?p=4238","title":{"rendered":"Soaring over Kitesurfing Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

Up at the tippy-top of Madagascar sits the world’s second-largest natural bay, \u00a0The main city there, commonly known by its former name,\u00a0Diego Suarez,<\/em> is called Antsiranana since 1975, and the area served as the entry point for the Battle of Madagascar<\/a>, in 1942.<\/p>\n

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We recently visited the area, and stayed at a relatively new resort geared toward kitesurfers, Mantasaly Kitesurf Resort, in a sheltered bay on the east coast. \u00a0At low tide, it was ideal for wading, but at high tide you could swim to your heart’s content in the protected water that was uniformly no more than about two meters deep. \u00a0A strong, steady wind blows from the sea, making it perfect for kitesurfers, and a fun outing is to take a boat up to “Emerald Bay” which can be seen clearly on the map above, just north of the resort. \u00a0You spend the afternoon on a deserted island until they bring you a feast of fresh seafood.<\/p>\n

Funny story about the resort that involves being shocked several times because they had their wiring mixed up. \u00a0It took an hour or so to convince them that this was the case – they kept insisting I needed to wear shoes in order to avoid having 220 volts coursing through my laptop and down my arms. \u00a0Hopefully they are working through their growing pains.<\/a><\/p>\n

As usual, I brought the drone along, and though it struggled a bit in the wind, here is a short impression of the resort.<\/p>\n