If you want to be surprised by quality, and you love being pampered, and you don’t mind a long flight from Europe, and you like to name drop about having been to a place that almost nobody has heard of, then plump for The Princesse Bora Lodge on Ile Sainte Marie in Madagascar.
It would be fair to say I had never heard of it either, but as one of my dreams has always been to get close up and personal to whales, I am always looking for just a chance, and it was just by chance I found the Princess Bora Lodge, on the old pirate colony Island of Sainte-Marie .
You fly from Europe using Air France into Antananarivo (Tana), the lively Malagasy capital in the Central Highlands. On arrival proceed through customs and immigration and make your way to the domestic terminal for your flight to Sainte Marie.
When you arrive on the island airport you are picked up in a zebu chariot for the short journey to the Princesse Bora Lodge. In theory you could walk but it is a lot more fun this way.
You will be greeted perhaps by the owner himself, but certainly by uniformed staff. Although you will have read about this extraordinary hotel, you will still be...