Ampasindava peninsula constitutes a special ensemble in the North West of Madagascar: it is very large, mountainous and its coastline has always offered special shelters to sailors. Hidden at the back of its bay, the first historical city of Madagascar, Mahilaka, was a busy trading center for Arab and Swahili people who dominated the Indian Ocean trade from China to Zanzibar in the fifteenth century. Remnants of a mosque and of warehouses, built with typical Swahili coral, have been discovered as well as some fragments of Chinese earthenware. Mamoko islet, a royal dwelling place for the local Sakalava people, sheltered another trading center, protected from the inside land and allowing easy access from the sea for dows. Today the easiest access to Ampasindava peninsula is from the sea, although a track leading from Ankingameloka, located on national road number 6, to Ambodimadiro village, can be driven on. Further on, a path makes it possible to hike along the coast through a secular mangrove filled with bats, along beaches where baobabs and coco trees grow next to each other, overlooking the turquoise waters of the Mozambique Channel. At the far west, the huge indentation of the Bay of the Russians is one the best berths of the region;there the Russian navy laid at anchor during the war against the Japanese at the beginning of the 20th century. Further south, the Baramamay river mouth provides another secure anchorage well known to sailors;it is a perfect example of the superb landscapes mixing sea, mangroves and mountains which are typical of the peninsula.