Ten years ago F-One went on an adventure to Madagascar, this year they decided to recreate it, the equipment might have changed, and everyone is a little older, but the place still delivers incredible conditions and an out of this world experience!

Madagascar has to be up there as one of the most intriguing kitesurfing destinations on the planet. The island is famed not only for the movie of the same name and the lemurs, but also for the incredible poverty. Amongst this abstract backdrop live a people who are as welcoming as their smiles are wide. The beaches are beautiful, the waves are world class and the wind blows most days…

Exactly ten years ago, F-ONE planned the trip of a lifetime to Madagascar; they were keen to discover a new kite spot for the annual photo shoot. Raphael Salles and some of their riders have been back a few times to the island off the coast of Africa and every trip has been memorable.

Having not been for a while, the decision was made that it was time to return. Raphael and Micka Fernandez were telling the rest of the team some of the stories from their first trip there. Memorable sessions and unforgettable accidents would be a good way to sum up that first adventure!

Micka ended up with a huge hole in his jaw after a bad crash, he needed stitches and medical attention yet they were hours away from the nearest hospital! Raph decided to take him to the hospital on a jet ski, a journey of a few hours, which thankfully worked out fine. Leaving Micka at the hospital, Raph headed back to the lodge, however when he arrived at the lagoon in front of the lodge it was dead low tide and the ski ran aground.

Raph had to sleep on his jet ski in the middle of the lagoon overnight until the next high tide. It wasn’t fun at the time, Raph recalls being extremely cold in the desert night. In the end he made it back to the lodge and Micka got stitched up and headed home.

It wasn’t long after that they hired a helicopter for a photoshoot to get some aerial images - ten years ago drones weren’t around of course. After shooting for a while the pilot decided to park the helicopter on a stretch of sand and go for lunch at a beach shack.  

The pilot hadn’t realised the tide was changing and when they returned to the heli it was almost underwater. With the rear blades just out of the water the pilot ran and attempted to start it up and get it out of the sea. Thankfully he managed it, the heli was saved and the mission could continue!

That first trip to Madagascar left them with some amazing memories not to be forgotten. Now it was time to create some new ones.    

Ten years later, Raph wanted to go on an anniversary trip back to those two original spots, Anakao and Babaomby. This time he wanted to take a fresh-blooded team. Only Raph, Micka and Mitu had been there a decade ago. Mitu and Micka were excited to return to the island, which offers world class waves as well as the incredible Emerald Sea: it’s the ideal spot for any kiteboarder.

ANAKAO

Riders: Raphael SALLES, Micka FERNANDEZ, Mitu MONTEIRO, Camille DELANNOY, Filippe FERREIRA

The trip starts in Anakao, in the south east of Madagascar, the spot is fantastic for waves but also for strapless freestyle. To get there, you have to take an internal flight from the main airport of Antananarivo, then a long ride in a zebu carriage (bus) followed by a lengthy boat trip.    

On arrival the locals welcomed us with all the gear they had left ten years ago: Bandit Dos kites are still going strong, as are the t-shirts and clothes they left behind! It’s very thoughtful of them, and the crew feels back at home right away.

Walter, the hotel owner, has been there for twenty years, he trains and hires a hundred people at his resort, the Anakao Ocean Lodge and has also opened a local school. He pays for two teachers to take care of around twenty kids; it’s great to see the local community doing so well after all these years! 

It was 10am when we arrived, the forecast was promising and we pumped up to get in the water. We had come to Anakao for one reason: Flameballs. This mythical left hand point break is the most amazing kite wave Raphael has discovered to this day, but it is fickle and doesn’t work all the time. The group couldn’t miss a moment to score the wave whenever there was a chance it could be on.

To get there, a boat takes you to a desert island Nose Ve, where you can set up and launch your kite, then there’s a 5km downwinder to reach the spot on the edge of a lagoon. Of course from the lodge you have no idea if it is working or not, and the trip to the wave takes a couple of hours from start to finish.

You’ve got to choose the right kite as there is no turning back, if you break anything you’re in trouble too, and if the wind dies then it can be a very long slog back upwind, or even worse a swim in sharky waters! The first session was a memorable one, after all the travelling it was great to get some waves and relax into the vibe of Madagascar at last.

The following days light wind and smaller swell offered great surf and foiling opportunities. While Flameballs is a fast barrelling left, just north of Nose Ve is another more accessible wave on the reef called Jelly Babies, this offers both rights and lefts and its the perfect wave to warm up to the challenge of Flameballs.

The crew had one unforgettable day at Flameballs, where everything came together and the conditions were perfect. The wind direction offered the ideal angle, it was strong enough to make getting back to the take-off easy, and the waves were huge and glassy. This was what we had travelled thousands of miles for! Micka summed up the session up by saying he felt like Kelly Slater all day.

Everything in Anakao is based is around the ocean. Women, helped by their children, spend hours in the water chasing squids. Fishermen have a lot of work, even if they express their despair as they notice that the ocean is now cruelly starting to lack fish. One day Raph saw two fishermen, a father and son, struggling to paddle back on their canoe. He hopped on to the boat with his kite and took them back to the shore. Making yet more friends made in this magical place!

The climate is so dry here that it is virtually impossible to grow anything. The ocean provides everything for these people and it is a stark reminder that we need to protect this fragile ecosystem.

On windless days we go to the village nearby. It’s an emotional experience; whilst we are having the best time in a plush resort the locals are living with nothing. It was fun playing with the kids, but very humbling given the poverty everywhere.  Filippe had a hard time dealing with the contrast of it all and in an effort to give something back gave away all of his clothes.

The kids were thrilled with such a gift, and instantly looked like cool Brazilian surfer dudes! They were also amazed with all the tech toys, they loved seeing their image on screens and the riders had the best time dancing with them all to the sound of Mitu’s wireless speakers.        

The crew is always on the go, not wanting to waste any minute of the trip. We start with a 7am meeting every morning to decide where to go and what to ride depending on the conditions. Luckily we brought everything, so between kites, SUP’s, surfboards and foils we were on the water as much as possible!    

One afternoon after surfing, Mitu decided to kite Flameballs as the swell was huge. We couldn’t keep the kites at 12 o’clock on the beach, but he put on quite a show with his 10m², creating his own wind with the currents. He surfed like he had no kite and got barrelled like never before with his lines completely slack. Anyone else would have drowned there, yet Mitu returned after sunset with a huge smile on his face.   

As the Anakao trip comes to an end it’s time to head north to Babaomby for the freestyle sessions. Filippe, Camille and Mitu head to the airport to travel to the GKA in Fuerteventura, while Raphael and Micka start the long journey across the “Eighth Continent”.

It becomes a real mission to get from Anakao to Babaomby, with delayed flights, and missed connections making the journey even longer.  It takes two days for Micka Fernandez and the camera crew to get to their final destination, while the freestyle team is left waiting for them at the resort after a fifty hour trip from Cabarete to Madagascar.   

Once in Diego Suarez, and finally with all the luggage, we had to get to the lodge by boat, a good 30 knots is blowing and a choppy crossing is expected. Nicolas, Babaomby’s lodge owner, had everything under control and gave the team heavy raincoats and a waterproof tarpaulin for the bags. It’s an adventure before the real adventure even starts!   

BABAOMBY

Riders: Micka Fernandez, Pauline Valesa, Paul Serin, Set Teixeira, Maxime Chabloz

The first shock is the lack of any WiFi, although it turns out to be a great thing as it is the only way to get youngsters to spend some proper time together! They sleep in tents on stilts and don’t see anyone else all week except the lodge’s staff, other guests, a few snakes, lots of lemurs and some scorpions.

Speaking of which, closed shoes are mandatory as some of them are as big as the palm of your hand. Getting stung by one of these odd looking invertebrates would not be fun. It’s certainly a wildlife adventure with lemurs often coming to drink from the basins ,which are outside each tent. When walking back to the tents one evening someone asked about the sparkles they could see in the forest. The answer? Spider’s eyes…I’ll leave that there!

Babaomby is a wind tunnel, with 30 knots blowing every day, pretty much all day! In order to enjoy a proper freestyle session we had to get up at 5:45 am before the wind got too strong. The sunrises are so breath-taking that it was totally worth the early start though!

The spot is like a giant photo studio, lots of different backgrounds from sharp rocks, heavenly beaches to mangrove swamps. However, it’s not without its risks. After jumping near the rocks to get a cool shot, Paul gets picked up by a gust just before his pop. He lands on the rocks and gets injured. The rest of the team see a kite go down in the rocks and we all race over to check on him. His forearm is bleeding but fortunately the rest of him is ok. By lucky coincidence a dentist in the hotel had brought a stich kit with him, and got Paul fixed up with no anaesthesia. Forty-eight hours later he was back on the water.    

Micka, having been on the trip ten years before, showed the crew some hidden spots, one being an 8km downwind mission to get to the mangrove swamp. The path is narrow (about 10m wide) between a cliff and a white sandy beach, which looks like a movie backdrop. The spot gradually widens up as we ride and we are surrounded by mangroves.

There is barely any water there and the wind is gusting up to 40 knots. The sand relentlessly whips around our legs. We ride just two at a time as the spot is not big enough for any more. A sandbank allows Micka to ride the sand barefoot and put his board back on again to hit the water: it’s a great way to get a foot scrub pedicure! The session ends and it’s a lots of tacks back upwind to the lodge through the chop, but that’s all part of the adventure.  

During our stay we become friends with Abdou, ten years ago he was the carpenter and the guardian of the lodge, which was still in construction back then. He saw the F-ONE team kiting for the first time, they were flying and for him it was incredibly beautiful. He decided there and then to start kiting. Ten years later he is now an instructor! Kitesurfing has changed his life, and for the better.    

After long days riding, evenings are spent playing cards and board games, chilling out and spending some good times together. Mobile phones and the Internet are soon forgotten - this is the way it should be!

Ten years ago Raphael and the crew created some amazing memories here. Ten years later, so much has changed, but the conditions, the people we meet and the stunning scenery and wildlife, once again make this an unforgettable experience.

We’ll be back for more soon!

By Chloe Scamps

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