2024

SAZILED TIP

Natural site to discover
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The Sazilé point, which can only be reached on foot, can be the occasion for a nice walk. Two hiking options are available to you:

Beach Trail: 5.8 km round trip. This easy trail follows the different beaches of the peninsula from the beach of M'tsamoudou to the beach of Sazilé where you can enjoy the drop off with snorkels. The path passes by hundred-year-old baobabs with shapes as strange as captivating. You will be able to observe many padzas, fruits of erosion and deforestation. The beaches crossed are high places of laying for the marine turtles. Be careful not to disturb them if you have the chance to see them out of the water. This is an ideal hike for families or for a day trip with a picnic and swimming.

Sentier des crêtes : from the parking lot at the exit of M'samoudou, the sentier des crêtes allows you to discover the jungle with its multiple species and the mahorais gardens on the hillside. It is not uncommon to see the inhabitants carrying heavy baskets of cinnamon apples, bananas or roots on their heads. The path is relatively flat, except for the final descent to the beach, and offers superb panoramas on the bay of Dapani, the islets of the East and of course the islet of Sable-Blanc which appears or disappears according to the tides.

The ideal is to have two cars to start with the ridge trail and then return by the beach trail, thus avoiding the climb back up after the beach.

Bivouac option. The association Les Naturalistes organizes bivouacs at the end of the peninsula, with observation of the clutches. The participants hike in the afternoon, set up their camp and have dinner on the beach and then wait for the turtles. The turtles come to lay their eggs at high tide, as soon as it gets dark. If you witness such a spectacle, you should know that the turtle has just traveled several hundred kilometers to find the beach of its birth, that it is exhausted to go back to the beach while it spends its life in the water and that it must dig a hole, which can sometimes reach 1,50 m of depth, to deposit its eggs. You will understand that the poor thing asks to be left in peace, and that it is forbidden to climb on it or to photograph it when it lays. Do not walk next to it, it feels the vibrations. The group left in the morning by the crests.

Security. As everywhere else, do not go to bivouac alone on the beaches to save a few euros, it is the group which ensures your safety.

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