The shore at Antafondro from the air, the tree line and the beach curving away under a wide sky

A family business on the beach at Antafondro

Madabay Lodge opened in July 2024, after eighteen months of building and restoring. It sits at the end of the beach at Antafondro, on Nosy Be, and it is run by the family that owns it.

What guides us

What matters to us

These four are not a mission statement hung on a wall: they decide where the food is bought and what the lodge spends money on.

Community

The lodge supports the charity that built the school in Antafondro, animal welfare on the island, and Akiba on Nosy Komba. You will find all three on the Our causes page.

Conservation

The lodge sits beside the Lokobe reserve, one of the last protected primary forests on the island.

Sustainability

Solar power, spring water, and food bought in short chains from people nearby.

Local economy

The excursions, the boats and the produce are local wherever they can be, and paid for locally.

A panther chameleon, vivid green flecked with orange, gripping a branch — The chameleon on our mark. They live in the forest behind the lodge.

A beached outrigger pirogue close up, its timber worn smooth and pale — The boats are the village’s own, and so is everything they carry.

Houses of Antafondro standing on the sand under thatch, a cooking fire going, the beach running past them

The village

Where the village begins

The lodge stands at the entrance of Antafondro. The staff are the chef, the housekeeper, the gardener, the guardian and the sailor. They are trained here in hygiene, safety and service.

The people

Marylin, and the people who run it with her

It is a small place and you will meet all of them. Marylin answers the enquiries herself.

Marylin in a white cap and a dark sleeveless top, at a table on the terrace, looking out to sea — Marylin

The chef on the terrace in white chef's whites, arms folded, thatch and palms behind him at dusk — The chef

A man in a white jacket and a woman in a white T-shirt, two of the lodge’s staff, leaning on the terrace railing and smiling — The team in the house

Three men standing side by side at the port, arms folded, under a market umbrella — The team at the port

Two women smiling on the terrace, one holding up a heart woven from palm leaves against a white pillar — A heart of palm leaves

How it runs

Eco-responsible, in practice

Black solar panels set into the thatched roof of the lodge, palms and open sky above

The power is solar. Photovoltaic panels with battery storage, and no mains connection. It is why guests are asked to charge by day.
The water is spring water from the Lokobe reserve, with three thousand litres held in reserve for the days the source stops, which happens in the dry season and the wet one.
The food is bought in short chains. Local produce and the local catch, from people close by. What we aim for is food that is good, clean and fair, with care for the biodiversity it comes from.
Fruit and vegetables are washed in bicarbonate and vinegar before they are refrigerated, and the ice is made from mineral or filtered water.