Meva Paradis Hotel
Hotel Meva Paradis is located across a lagoon from the island of Sainte Marie, Madagascar on Ile Aux Nattes. Guests arrive at the Sainte Marie airport, then proceed on a ten minute walk to the water where they are picked up by a pirogue, or flat-bottomed boat, propelled by push-stick across the lagoon
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Īle Sainte-Marie, known (more formally) as Nosy Boraha, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. It belongs to Toamasina Province. This tourist destination is 60 km long and less than 10 km wide. The channel between Sainte-Marie island and Madagascar is a hot spot for whale watching. Substantial groups of humpback whales (Megaptera) migrate from the Antarctic to this idyllic breeding place. These quiet giants find conditions here that are favourable for the growth of their young and well suited to their courtship and acrobatic games before the big return toward the cold seas.
Safe from sharks, the lagoon of Sainte Marie island is endowed with significant coralline growth. Its underwater fauna is preserved as a natural heritage and first-class diving site in the Indian ocean. At Sainte Marie, the inhabitants are attached to traditions. The social or family events are faithfully linked to practices invoking the ancestors' spirits. The wealth and variety of these rituals underline the authenticity and depth of the "Saint-marien" cultural identity. Fragile, Sainte Marie unveils her appeals with modesty and discretion. Nevertheless, numerous places remain as evidence of an earlier time or belief. The visitor will discover many places that testify of an exceptional past and that will move him. The insular character of the place and the particularities of the coralline soil encouraged various adaptations, as much on animal as on plant structure, leading to unique interrelations. Thus, Sainte Marie is endowed with a very rich fauna and flora. You can meet here among other species several types of lemurs as well as a multitude of orchids, among which is the magnificent Queen of Madagascar (Eulophiella roempleriana). The island was the only place where the magnificent Delalande's Coua, a non-parasitic cuckoo, was known to occur; this species became extinct in the late 19th century, probably due to predation by feral cats.
