Getting to Ile Sainte Marie is a task unto itself. It was my first destination in Madagascar and getting there was an adventure in itself. I first flew from Mumbai to Antananarivo with a stopover in Nairobi. From the airport, I took an overnight tempo taxi to Tamatave. From here, I had to drive in a cramped taxi brousse to Soanierana Ivongo for another three hours to reach the last coastal city on the main island of Madagascar. After landing at 5 PM the previous day, I had spent all night and half the morning getting here. All of this with all my bags and hardly any sleep had started taking its toll on me. I could barely feel the 10 AM heat of Madagascar’s coast. The worst bit was that I still wasn’t done with my journey.
That’s right. I still had a boat ride for two hours before I landed at the jetty of Ile Sainte Marie. To be followed by a rickshaw ride to my hotel. Just the thought of it was enough to go looking for my second cup of coffee!
While I went back for snacks and coffee, I saw foreign travelers queuing up outside a building and fumbling for their passports. I asked a French couple what was going on and learnt that you need to show your visa and register your details at the local police station before going to Sainte Marie island.
Also Read: 7 Essential Things Every Visitor Must Know Before Visiting Madagascar
I was mentally exhausted and didn’t want another checkpoint and questions thrown at me at that point but well, I didn’t really have any other choice. And so I went and stood in queue – I was the last person to check-in because I had run for coffee earlier – and the guard officer seemed professional and strict about getting the job done.
Air, land and sea – I had to use all modes of transport known to man to get to the island of Sainte MarieI waited patiently for my turn even as the boat driver came looking for me and shouting to hurry up if I wanted to catch the ferry. I went inside the office and saw Mr Jonah ready to inspect my passport and a ledger in front of me to fill with details of my visit to the island.
Once we were done with business though, Jonah transformed completely and was curious to see an Indian passport, something he hadn’t seen in his eight years at Ivongo. We chatted for almost 10 minutes then and like a father figure, he explained patiently all the scams I should not fall for.
He asked about India and Indian food and how in hell had I made it all the way to Ile Sainte Marie. He was even more impressed when I spoke in French. We went out together from his office that he locked after me since there were no other ferries until evening he said. My ferry driver stopped screaming the moment he saw Jonah and me come out together.
Also Read: #FOTW: Discovering Perfect Smiles At Jim Thompson’s House
Upon my return from the island, I found Mr Jonah once again since we need to sign out to complete the exit formalities as well. We clicked the picture at that point after chatting some more. It was one of the best experiences you can hope to have with a police officer in a foreign land and I was lucky to share time with him.
What about you? Do you have any anecdotes with police officers in foreign officers to share? Do write in to let me know and share with the community.
PS – Faces of the World is a series focussing on the most interesting people I’ve met on my travels. This is a community feature in which you are invited to send your own #FOTW Picture with a short intro to [email protected]to get featured.
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