Exploring Madagascar with Time + Tide
Thierry Dalais — Chairman Time + Tide, Miavana
Meet Thierry Dalais, Founder and Chairman of Time + Tide, and Miavana, an Indian Ocean Island sanctuary just off the tip of Madagascar. Thierry shares his view of this authentic luxury travel adventure - from mangroves and mountains to manta turtles, shipwrecks, villages, heli tours and so much more.
“We are immensely proud of Time + Tide. It has become a leader in the sustainable luxury tourism market, lauded globally for providing unparalleled African safari and Indian Ocean Island experiences. My family’s dream of safeguarding nature’s unique and extraordinary wild environments while uplifting local communities and economies is beginning to bear fruit.”
— Thierry Dalais
Have you always been an explorer? What discoveries have you made along the way?
Ever since childhood, I suppose like most others, I was attracted towards exploring and discovering truly special places. One of my earliest memories is heading out on a boat off the shores of Mauritius and only being told by my grandfather that we were to return before dinner. Like chapters from a storybook my cousins and I dreamed that we were adventurers finding untouched places and beaches, returning in the evening to feel a sense of daring and accomplishment.
Into adulthood, it has been my dream to see natures beautiful displays in the bush and beach, and a heli flying hobby has allowed me to travel to places that were off the beaten track. Exploring and discovering places in Zambia and Madagascar that hold a very special place in me and my family’s hearts.
Do you recommend a stay at Miavana in combination with other parts of Africa?
Yes, for sure! And we can advise you of our recommended combinations for every season. Just let us know when you want to travel. I do have some personal favourite months for combination travel though, like April and May, June and July, August and September and so on. Safari travellers most often travel in the winter season months in Southern Africa. Often these safari travellers wish or plan for a beach experience thereafter. I haven’t yet done better than Miavana and the South Luangwa during Zambia’s safari season, Or King Lewanika Lodge (Luiwa Plain) and Miavana in March/April/ May. Then throw in Cape Town; we hope to do something special there soon enough too as many of our travellers like what Cape Town has to offer.
What would the ideal trip length be?
I have been at Miavana for two weeks at a time and that has passed too quickly. We frequently have guest extending their stays, a luxury in itself too.
Anyway, a less than a week can be too short. So much to do. Miavana is on an archipelago of islands off the north-eastern coast of Madagascar, and it is a true adventure playground. The opportunity to explore more than just the island on which Miavana is located and venture onto the mainland to join one of our many off-island adventures exploring the uniqueness that the biodiversity of Madagascar has to offer.
Whether you have a love affair for land, sea, or air experiences, Miavana has them all.
When is the best time to visit?
Miavana experiences two distinct seasons and they are both fantastic for different reasons, from tropical warm summer days in November through to May when snorkelling and scuba diving, boating and cruising, island picnics and summer mainland adventures will keep you active. Our guides and support teams are there to recommend what the hot action is for the day. To see turtle hatchlings and abundant sea life is quite an experience in these summer months. The shift to the winter season from June to October when the Tradewinds and lower rainfall season arrives and making ideal adventure conditions for kitesurfing to seeing humpback whales arrive from distant shores to hundreds of thousands of different Terns arrive to nest and start the next generation of long-winged fliers that are true masters of the ocean air.
Throughout each season there remain great forest walks, excursions in the mangroves, island hopping and heli adventures to hill tops and endangered wildlife and biodiversity hot spots. And of course, you can swim all year round!
What is the arrival experience like?
The heli flight to Miavana is in itself is a really cool experience. The northern triangle of Madagascar has exceptional biodiversity, and its topography and coastlines are next level!
I should know having flown by heli many hundreds of hours over so many coastlines, rivers and landscapes. Our pilots are guides too. Baobabs, tsingys, rivers, mangroves, mountains, bait balls, mantas, turtles, ship wrecks, villages and communities farming, surviving, and living life. Madagascar can feel like a forgotten place. The arrival experience is part of the beautiful journey.
Who is the ideal guest?
Whoever wants to love life! And figures that an authentic luxury travel adventure is a privilege. A guest who is curious and interested in what it’s going to take to protect and nurture natures beautiful places. And then to mix this up with generous hospitality and exceptional privacy.
What makes Miavana different from other properties?
Miavana’s uniqueness of its location sets it apart from other destinations, located in an archipelago of more than 8 islands gives it a feeling of seclusion and calm, and yet it is also an island escape that awakens all your senses. Miavana offers thrilling, unique experiences unlike anywhere else in the world. From heli-kiting, lemur trekking, and scuba diving discovering new reefs. Even food on Miavana feels like a whole different experience. Miavana showcases a magnificent playground that has been waiting for you. And when you get there, the place, the people and the culture are there to lift your senses.
What is your favourite place to have coffee in the morning on property?
Sitting at the table on the villa’s covered deck and gazing across the water to the mainland.
Do you have any secret spots around the island?
Yes, I do …. the activities centre! Gotta be one of the most beautiful spots in the world to me.
If you need more …. On the beach right in front of Miavana main area during a rising tide waiting and watching the GT’s smashing the little fish looking for cover.
… watching the sunset on the Miavana sand mounds or the Lighthouse. While I always admire the vivid colours of the ocean underwater world occasionally the Miavana sunset colours simply silence you.
……Manampao island. This is the ‘statement piece’ of the beautiful islands I know and where the nesting terns arrive in winter.
…. not leaving your room is definitely a secret spot too. All the rooms were designed and located such that you don’t have to leave for anything, including your spa treatment!
What’s the cuisine like?
Madagascar is a land of high endemicity and its land produce very special flavours. Miavana invites you to taste its treasures, offering a discovery in every bite. From limes, mangoes, to punchy pink peppercorns and aromatic vanilla pods, freshly caught fish, local crabs, and giant lobsters to locally made ‘Rova’ caviar and buffalo mozzarella.
Each day the island’s incredible culinary team creates exquisite meals that bring together the finest local and relevant ingredients with world-class skill. Sustainability and simplicity are at the core of everything that we do, with produce being in-season and sourced locally with our farm to fork concept.
Every meal is a celebration of Madagascar’s finest flavours and put together with so much passion. Burgers Pizzas, and tapas menu remain happy meals for some of our adults.
What are some of your guest’s favourite activities and experiences?
The beach walk at low tide around the northern beaches on Miavana is breath-taking.
Visiting Manampao for a swim, beach walk and visiting the terns in season is exceptional.
Scuba diving and light fishing in the archipelago, returning to tell stories of what you have seen and hearing the recommended preparation for the fish you have caught.
Forest walks, chameleon, bird, lemur spotting and beach dinners.
Island tours of the cabinet of curiosities and drinking cold beer at sunset in the local village, seeing the local life.
Our heli adventures also get our guests charged up too. Within 30 minutes flight from the island and guests see places that so few have seen from the red pillars rock formation of the Tsingy Rouge to slightly further to the Black Perrier Sifaka lemurs of Anjahakely, Golden Crowned Tattersalli Sifaka lemur. Not to forget Ankarana which is known for its extraordinary spiny limestone landscape called ‘Tsingy’ as well as its extensive underground network of caves and rivers.
The heli tour to die for on a good day is a low fly over the coastline northern Madagascan triangle with some picnic stops.
Tell us about the Cabinet des Curiosities and what’s in store for kids at Miavana
The ‘Cabinet de Curiosities’ was an idea to showcase some collectable geological and cultural artefacts that are unique to Madagascar. This project remains a work in progress, but we managed to find skeletons of now extinct animals of Madagascar. We have reconstructed a model of a ship which ran aground near Miavana and another model built from the timbers of the 500-year-old shipwreck from which we recovered old Portuguese ship canons on display. We have a library of marine and natural history books on Madagascar. Ammonites, elephant bird egg, crystals, washed up message in a bottle, butterfly collections, fossilised tree stumps and what we thought we had identified as a juvenile extinct elephant bird skeleton we know think is a related bird called a Mullerornis as identified by one of our guests. And we have some old vinyl’s in there …nobody plays these unfortunately.
Miavana is ideal place for families, with safe wide-open spaces, gentle seas, and pristine forests. Children get a chance to explore to their heart’s content under the wing of our team members, who take extraordinary care in sharing our deep appreciation for the land, wildlife and culture.
In Malagasy, Miavana means ‘to bring family together’ - an island that not only blends luxury with conservation and community but also connection. Miavana provides an infinite sense of time and space to reconnect with family.
How do you ensure responsible tourism?
This I suppose is at the heart of what we want to stand for, and so our care and consideration of the people we employ and interact with, the communities and the environments in which we operate, guides our behaviour. We believe we have good values and have set high standards for ourselves. We amongst other things ensure that the local communities benefit from our procurement, employment, and training programs and that we take care in reforestation and ecological restoration programs. This is a state of mind really.
We remain significant contributors to the Time+Tide Foundation (Miavana is a Time+Tide product) which serves the communities and conservation objectives around the businesses in the Time+Tide group. Separately organised and accountable this Foundation has an incredible team that works tirelessly to ensure that local communities are uplifted through women empowerment, student sponsorship programs, and healthcare programs. Additionally, the Foundation puts significant effort into ocean and terrestrial conservation efforts across the entire Miavana archipelago. This will continue to be a major challenge as the onslaught for the worlds apparently free resources are under tremendous threat from over exploitation.
What are you most excited about for 2023 and beyond?
Firstly, that the world is travelling again! That we can put capital into really exciting projects rather than doing that to stay alive! We are also excited that Zambia and Madagascar need to offer niche high end luxury adventure travel to be relevant given these countries tourism services infrastructure. That said we have some unique projects in the works in the more mainstream Southern African market which we hope to present soon enough.
At Time + Tide we talk about adventures, an exciting way of looking at how to experience the areas in which we operate – it can be anything from gastronomy to wellness to immersive and unique experiences.
What do you want Four Hundred members to know about Miavana by TIME + TIDE?
Miavana is ideal for private jet travellers looking for the exceptional. The ease of access through Diego Suarez or Nosy Be in northern Madagascar is smooth. The Miavana helicopter will carry your guest directly to the island in what is a beautifully scenic trip. Our on the group hospitality team are the most experienced and accomplished team we know with a professional warm and friendly attitude that have pleased Presidents, Hollywood A- listers, the very private rich and the privileged adventure seekers.
We take pride in the Miavana culture, and our travel desk team will be of great support to make the booking easy.
Contributor — Four Hundred by Design
