The sail is made of odd pieces of cotton, stitched together in a rather beguiling quilt. The hull is of a local balsa trunk, the seats of compass tree (sogno), the outriggers of boy tree and the paddles of vaovy (also used for the rudder).

The pieces are mortised, with some lashed with rope. These are the local fishing craft at Mangily village, an hour from Toliara in the Ifaty area on the south-west coast of Madagascar.

And they are coming in with their catch. Most have been fishing inside the offshore reef which protects this area from the swells of the Mozambique Channel and a blustery onshore sea breeze; some ventured outside. They paddle rather than sail most of the time, until it's time to run back to the beach before that breeze, and masts are erected and sails hoisted.

On the beach, these Vezo people from one of Madagascar's 18 tribes are greeted by a gaggle of family, friends, neighbours. Children run bowls of fish to women further up the beach; other women bring snacks, carried on their heads; there are pigs on the beach.

The village is a maze of pathways through stick hedges. And we follow those paths to the school, where 460 children are taught in classes of up to 150. Unusually, the education is free, but parents buy books and furniture for the school. Children attend from ages seven to 13 but there is no secondary school near so they tend then to give up school for fishing and farming, continuing the Vezo's subsistence lifestyle.

Many of the small homes are of timber, probably with a reed roof, but perhaps tin. Water's from a well and there's no electricity. They cook the food they grow and the fish they catch on charcoal.

The catch today looks scant, but there's always tomorrow.

·Stephen Scourfield was a guest of Travel Directors and South African Airways.

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·Madagascar is the final leg of Travel Directors' Three Ms tour, which starts in Malawi and continues to Mozambique and Madagascar. The next two 3Ms tour are from August 3-30 and from October 12 to November 8, 2012. Both are priced from $13,997, including airfares, accommodation, transport, guides, tours and meals. Visit traveldirectors.com.au or call 9242 4200. ·Travellers can also experience Madagascar as the main component of Travel Directors' Pearls of the Indian Ocean - Madagascar, Reunion & Mauritius. This 22-day trip leaves Perth, flying Air Mauritius, on May 7, 2012, and flies first, via Mauritius, to Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo. In Madagascar, the trip largely follows the itinerary described in these pages: two nights in Antananarivo, Andasibe, Antsirabe, Ranomafana, one at Ambalavao, two at Isalo, two at Ifaty, and a final night in Tana before flying on to activities and three nights' stay in Reunion, and then three in Mauritius. In Reunion, there is a visit to Piton de la Fournaise, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and the Cirque of Cilaos, an area of natural beauty with fields of flowers and indigenous forests. In Mauritius, guests get to walk with lions at Casela Nature Park and visit the Botanical Gardens of Pamplemousse. The 22 days, including flights and all meals, is $9847 per person (everything is included except for personal expenditure and insurance). Visit traveldirectors.com.au, 137 Cambridge Street, West Leederville, or call or 9242 4200. ·South African Airways flies to Johannesburg and connects to other parts of Africa, and Antananarivo in Madagascar, via Johannesburg. See travel agents and flysaa.com.