I personally was not looking forward to the check in process here in Madagascar…..as stories have been told of bribes and never knowing how much cash you will give up…but for us it was a pretty painless endeavor, though I have no doubt some pockets were flush.
We last left the blog off while we were anchored off Sakatia Island, a short 12 or so miles from the main town of Helli-ville on Nosy Be Island. This anchorage allowed us to plan our “official” arrival with ease. We were going to stop at Crater Bay anchorage, which is on the way to Helli-Ville, but heard from other cruisers that a patrol boat was going around and therefore we thought it best to just head for Hell-Ville and clear in the next morning.
Hell-Ville, Nosy Be Anchorage: 13 24.3749 S, 048 17.0418 E
Google Image of apporximately where Slow Flight anchored 
OpenCPN chart 
View from Slow Flight from Hell-Ville anchorage. It is very busy here and anchoring close to other boats is a must. We anchored in about 23 feet of water 2 hours after high tide. Remember there is about a 2-3 meter tidal swing here. It was about 8:30 am.
It made sense to us to do the check in process with SV Neptune’s Highway (Bruce and Laura) as we traveled from Reunion to here with them and to make sure we were getting the same price…power in numbers…as the saying goes. We all piled into their dinghy to the wharf. We had read there is a guy named Jimmy, who escorts cruisers through the clearance in/out process among other services as well for a small fee. We had no idea how to contact him since we did not have a local SIM card but these guys are good….! Kool, his associate was paddling around the anchorage in a blue kayak as we came in with the dinghy. Jimmy told us that he was on his way to us to let us know where to go….what service!
Google image and locations of dinghy dock and clearance offices 
View from top of the dinghy dock, can you see the man in the red shirt holding the dinghy painter line? That is Kool, Jimmy’s brother? or friend…can’t remember. 
Laura and Trevor walking with Jimmy to our frist stop…Police/Immigration hut 
Trevor and I obtained our 60 day visa at the Malagasy Embassy in Reunion. However, Bruce and Laura needed theirs. A 60 day visa can be obtained upon arrival. We stopped here to organize their visas…but first we needed CASH!!! 
Their business card
After organizing visas at Immigration, Jimmy took us a short walk to town to the ATM and Telma for a local SIM card.
NOTE: Try to have Jimmy take you to get a SIM card while you still have your passports if you will be obtaining a visa upon arrival, otherwise you won’t be able to get a SIM without your passport. Don’t be alarmed…they took actual photos of Trevor and Laura when registering their SIM cards.
Google image for the main stops made. We did not visit the Shampion grocery store on this initial visit to Hell-Ville, but thought I would include it anyways : ) 
We weren’t sure how much everything was going to cost and heard Hell-Ville is the only ATM available…so we got as much cash as we could. Later we found an ATM in the town near Crater Bay anchorage but it’s better to be flush with cash than without (LOL)! 
There are 2 cellular providers, Telma and Orange. We asked what Jimmy had and he said he had Temla…we don’t know how either will work further down the coast in more remote areas but so far we have been really pleased with Telma. We paid about $100 USD for 2 SIM cards, 1 loaded with 50 GB and the other with 20 GB and telephone service both good for 30 days.
After stuffing wallets with large bills (we are back to currency with lots of zero’s), we head back to the Police/Immigration hut so Bruce and Laura could leave their passports with them so they could take the passports to the airport for visa approval. Burce and Laura paid the equivalent to 80 Euros for both their 60 day visas plus an additional 60,000 Ariay (~ $16 USD) for transportion to the airport. This visa process takes many hours so the trick is to arrive in Hell-Ville early in the day so you can come back in the afternoon to retrieve your passports…otherwise you will need to come back to the hut the next morning.
NOTE: Here, most shops and Governmental offices close for a long lunch so from about noon to 2 pm, business comes to a halt.
Since Trevor and I already had our visas, we just needed to pay 50,000 Ariary (~$10 USD)….not sure for what…but I assume it was to stamp our passports.
Next we stopped off at the Port Authority..waited for over an hour, then to Customs….
Back to the Police/Immigration hut for Bruce and Laura to drop off their passports and pay them. Can’t remember if we actually gave them any paperwork since we already had our visas. But better to come with plenty of copies of crew lists, ships registration, and passport copies. 
This is us waiting for the Port Authority guy to come back. Jimmy told us he had business along the wharf and we were told to stay “right here”…so that is what we did. Jimmy and I went off to get a coke while we waited at the near by “bar”…. Glad we got SIM cards beforehand and everyone could “plug in” to the real world! 
After an hour wait, we turned in a crew list, Ships papers, exit paperwork from last port of call… Get your boat stamp out..they like that! We paid 200,000 Ariary (~$55 USD) for port fees. We heard that another boat had to pay abut 600,000 Ariary…not sure what the conditions or scenario was but I think we got a good deal?! 
This is the only piece of paper you will receive from the port authority….I believe it’s called a “cruising permit”. 
After the Port Authority, we headed to the Customs office, just behind the Police/Immigration hut. Crew List and the “cruising permit” from Port Authority. Technically Customs does not require payment when clearing in, however they do charge around 50,000 Ariary (~$10 USD) to clear out. We were asked to pay this “clearance outward charge” upfront. We believe that this is due to the fact that some cruisers don’t “officially” clear out therefore avoid paying this fee because Richards Bay, South Africa (generally the next port of call) does not ask for exit paperwork from Madagascar….we’ll just pay it now : )
NOTE: Try to get a receipt when you can or take a photo with your phone at each office…! On a later date, we were boarded by the patrol boat who was asking if we had cleared into Customs. We showed them our paperwork and our passports but they still said we needed “another piece of paper”? As soon as I showed one guy a photo of us in the Customs office, he immediately backed down….not that there was a problem in the first place and they (all 7 of them) were kind and courteous.
Man…it was about 1 pm or so and we were all staving!!! We all offered to take Jimmy out to lunch but he refused and said he was to go home for lunch and would meet us back at the Police/Immigration hut at 2 pm. We asked him where a good place to have lunch was…his response was: “Do you want white people food or local food?”…duh…local food please! So off in a tuk tuk we go to…somewhere?!
Tuk tuk rides, 5,000 Ariary per person…we actually got 4 in one on the way back…it was hilarious! 
Local food..here we come! In the back of the market there are little places you can eat. Jimmy took us to this one. Unfortunately, we watched the owner kick some guy off the table so we could sit inside….he was not happy with us. 
Ok…Everyone else had the shrimp in some kind of tomote sauce…I opted for the ZEBU…the equivalent to beef around here. It was delicious..and lunch was served with pickled hot stuff..just what Trevor loves! 
4 Beers and lunch cost a total of about $12 USD! 
The market…plenty of rice around…. 
I will have to try/buy some of this next time…remember to bring your own container. 
Lots of woven goods here…all the local people also use these to shop with…men too! 
Honey is a big thing here..don’t have the full story yet…soon. 
Ok, Trevor told me to take this photo…do you see what was is “funny” here?
After lunch and a quick tour of the market we were bound to meet up with Jimmy to collect Bruce and Laura’s passports….they said it was going to take another hour, about 3:30 pm or so . Bruce and Laura took us back to our boat while they stayed and waited for their visas.
Neptune’s Highway and Slow Flight each paid about 50,000 Ariary (~$15 USD) to Jimmy for his services that took literally all day and paid another 10,000 Ariry (~$3 USD) each to Kool to watch over the dinghy while we were on land….both was well worth the money!
Off to Crater Bay anchorage a short 5 miles away…
Next up: Crater Bay anchorage, Nosy Komba, and Kimi’s Birthday?!
Happy Happy Belated Birthday to you Kimi. I tried to tex. Hope u got it.
We had an awesome time with Kyla and her parents. Lisa n I had really great interaction. So thankful. Life is too short to forget joy n forgiveness n love..
Your dad turns 82 soon . His 2 sisters are coming on 10/7 for 5 days! Hot here but cooler weather on way. Hurricane brought Wendy here. She had $2000 damage but not as bad as it could have been..
Elissa teaches at school where I was. Is an assistant.. I sub with her sometimes. Fun! Blessing. Your dad had a stretch procedure for his throat. He did fine. He loves his chips n ginger ale!!! We love you two. Happy Birthday to Trevor soon 10thtoo .. n Kyla 16th. Love y’all!!!
Happy Birthday, Kimi (or have I missed it!?)
Love reading of your adventures. Lots of useful info too.
Henrietta back in Indonesia heading east! Will turn round somewhere…