Makana is a resort that can be found on the uninhabited island of Nosy Nakao, which is located in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of Madagascar.
It will be three minutes. After landing on Nosy Nakao, an island covered with palm trees and located just off the coast of northern Madagascar, I did not have to look very far before I saw my first chameleon. My excitement level was over the roof, but the striped lizard, which was roughly the size of a soda can, didn't react at all. He gave me a look with his eye that was shaped like a lens, and then he continued his jerky, slow trek across the concrete walkway.
After disembarking the helicopter that had picked me up from the Nosy Be airport, I was greeted with a cold towel perfumed with ylang ylang and a large coconut. I could not have wished for a more warm and welcoming introduction to Miavana than that. Miavana, which debuted in 2017, is already widely regarded as one of the most prestigious island resorts in the Indian Ocean. Thierry Dalai's, a French-Mauritian banker who earlier invested in the equally renowned North Island resort in the Seychelles, is the one who is putting their money behind it. It is a high-flying hideaway for the top one percent of the top one percent. It is a secret and ultra-private refuge where you could have the likes of Martha Stewart or Tom Cruise as your neighbor and not even know it.
In the course of my work as a travel journalist, I've had the opportunity to check out some of the world's most enticing hotels and resorts, but even before I arrived at Magana, I had the feeling that I was in for an unforgettable experience. The resort's base is located on the island of Nosy Ankao, which is a coral-fringed island that it shares with a small community of thatch-roofed houses and a dozen or so lemurs. This island is famously difficult to access. That is one of the reasons why Miavana is so appealing. After a lengthy journey to Nosy Be, which requires commercial travelers to make at least one layover en route, all guests are required to take a one-hour helicopter ride across the northern tip of Madagascar in a Robinson R66 helicopter that is painted in the resort's characteristic turquoise color. The helicopter has four seats and is painted in the resort's signature turquoise color.
However, the reward at the end more than made up for the inconvenience: mile after footprint-free mile of sugar-white beach that was shared by just 14 different resorts. Miavana refers to them as "villas," but that seems like an understatement: even the entry-level villas have expansive living areas, separate lounge rooms, two airy bathrooms, and an outside shower. These villas are more like miniature estates than they are villas. My two-bedroom retreat included a private villa that was fully furnished and equipped, the likes of which you wouldn't find even in high-end accommodations at most beach hotels. It was only the second bedroom in this location.
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All of the villas, regardless of their grade, feature expansive private gardens that are arranged around an elliptical pool and furnished with a number of sun loungers and bean bags with Breton stripes. Their interiors were created by the South African architecture power couple Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, and they feature a light and airy combination of wickerwork, local limestone, and midcentury contemporary furniture that is accentuated with maritime elements such as copper porthole windows and fist-sized seashells.
Because there was such a wide amount of private space available, as well as more pillow-strewn lounging corners than I could count on one hand, it was really simple to go into a beachy state of ecstasy. From the sun chairs on the deck of my villa, I could spend hours gazing at the blue horizon and watching birds dart through the forest in search of insects while geckos sunbathed in the warm rays of the sun. I would put my Kindle through its paces by reading about the intriguing history of the African island that lay on the horizon in between swims in my personal pool and the crystal pure water of the ocean that was right outside my door. My butler was only a WhatsApp message away when I needed him to bring me fresh pineapple juice, iced lattes, or a full-fledged in-room brunch or dinner that included everything from vanilla crepes made with Madagascar vanilla to cheese platters to smoothie bowls topped with local chocolate nibs. It would not have been difficult for me to have spent my entire midweek stay in this location without ever leaving my villa. And as the manager of a resort in South Africa named Craig Gemmell said with me one evening while we were having dinner, many guests did so, some for more than two weeks at a time.
On the other hand, I couldn't wait to explore more of the island and the region around it. Madagascar is home to a number of unique species of lemurs, reptiles, and plants that can be found nowhere else on the face of the earth, making it one of the most biologically varied locations on the globe. I went on a guided jungle walk around the island, and while I was there, I saw several more chameleons, dozens of geckos, and several species of orchids that were unique to this region of the country. While I was diving around a nearby reef, a multicolored array of clownfish, parrotfish, and even a single green turtle slid down below me in a coral forest that has, so far, avoided severe bleaching occurrences. The underwater landscapes were just as mesmerizing. And if I had a larger budget, Magana's helicopter safaris would have been able to transport me to other parts of the mainland, where they can organize excursions to find rare black lemur species with an expert guide or set up picnics in little-visited baobab woods.
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When I got back to the resort, the Piazza, which is Magana's meeting place along the seafront, provided even more incentives for me to leave my villa. It is home to the communal pool, which is a large white number ringed with loungers and gauzy curtains that billow in the wind, as well as a tiny museum that is adorned with taxidermied insects and bones from local animal species that have since become extinct (the Madagascan pygmy hippopotamus and elephant bird eggs are two examples). The restaurant is also situated in this area, and for the course of my five-day visit, I never noticed that the menu included the same dish twice. I remember ordering a table-spanning buffet of Malagasy curries and grilled fish for lunch one day, and then later that evening I treated myself to a delightfully cheesy pizza margarita. On another occasion, I had the option of selecting tandoor-roasted cauliflower, mezze platters, or short rib ramen; but, I was informed that the chefs were always more than delighted to prepare anything that was not on the menu. Blinis and caviar or a beef Wellington that's been cooked to perfection? I could name it, and they would fix it; even if I wanted a specific brand of soy sauce on my sushi, they would accommodate my request.
Obviously, there is a cost associated with all of this. The price tag of a room at Makana, which starts at approximately $3,400 per person per night, makes the room rates at many other five-star hotels look like a steal. It is one of the most costly resorts in the world, but the rate includes plenty of amenities such as all meals and drinks, including beverages of the highest quality and a wide variety of premium wines. In addition, there are no additional fees for guests to pay in order to participate in scuba diving, archipelago boat tours, or guided island excursions.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to set a value on a location that is of such exceptional quality. According to Bjorn Boehlert, senior travel adviser for Africa at luxury tour operator Scott Dunn, who frequently books his customers here, "What makes Miavana unbeatable is its proximity to some of the Earth's most precious wildlife," which he believes is "what makes Ivana unbeatable." "There are surprises everywhere you look, from the summits of baobab trees to the depths of coral reefs, and everywhere in between. One of the many reasons guests book and continue to book stays at our secluded island resort is because of its spectacular biodiversity, which is matched with a genuinely one-of-a-kind luxury experience.