Madagascar makes me tired. This place is an overload for the senses. Every crevice contains creatures beyond my imagination. Leaping lemurs, bizarre birds, peculiar plants, and the most colorful chameleons in every shape and size one could think up. It feels like we are in a world dreamt up by the likes of Dr. Seuss and Jim Henson. It is mind blowing and incredibly exhausting. We can't sleep at night for fear we'll miss something amazing!
Actually we spend most nights shining our flashlights into trees with hopes of finding eyes looking back at us. During the day diurnal lemurs feed and play, then after nightfall an entirely different group materializes from deep within tree holes and vine tangles to work the nightshift. The only chance you have at seeing these nocturnal lemurs is on their schedule. After searching the dark forest at night, we are usually up with the sun and spend the whole day out chasing birds and lemurs on the dayshift. It's not really your typical vacation, but with over 100 species and subspecies of lemur and 105 species of endemic birds on an island almost twice the size of Arizona, there's a lot of ground to cover and so much to see. Unfortunately, it's now the rainy season here. An already poor road system that becomes worse and completely impassible in places, plus insanely expensive domestic flights mean our options are limited. On the other hand it's the low tourist season and besides a handful of French out of season vacationers we have the parks, hotels, and restaurants all to ourselves. I guess it's a pretty good trade off.
Meaghan joined Jake and I on the first ten days of our Malagasy adventure. The three of us visited two popular and easily reachable (by Malagasy standards- no 4x4, boat, or plane required) national parks: Andasibe-Mantadia and Ankarafantsika.
Our visit to Andasibe-Mantadia was the perfect introduction to Madagascar. The rainforest effortlessly produced eight species of diurnal ad nocturnal lemur, including the diademed sifaka, one of the most beautiful, and the indri, the largest of all living lemurs. The indri is an absurd looking animal with big bug eyes, a stub for a tail, and huge muscular thighs used for literally leaping like a frog up to 10 meters from trunk to trunk. We saw multiple species of groundrollers and vangas, two bird families found only in Madagascar, and they politely posed for our pictures. Thanks to the rain flashy frogs, chameleons, and snakes were all abundant on the park's many trails. Each night we fell asleep with images of captivating creatures seen that day running through our minds and we dreamt about unobtainable rare species like the elusive aye-aye. In the morning we awoke to the distinctive call of the indri in the forest behind our bungalow, hungry for breakfast and more of Madagascar.
Our four day visit to Parc National d'Ankarafantsika was full of new and amazing animals but was exceptionally hot and sticky. Relief only came when it rained, which thankfully was a daily occurrence. This park protects one of the last remaining large tracts of tropical deciduous forest in Madagascar and is home to many rare species. A pair of Madagascar fish eagles, a species of which less than 200 remain, frequents the nearby lake. The ripe mango trees in the Ampijaroa forest station attract bright white Coquerel's sifakas and rare mongoose lemurs, providing excellent viewing opportunities. White-breasted mesite and Madagascar crested ibis, two large and strange looking birds, dart in and out of the undergrowth along the flat sandy trails.
The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, founded by the late naturalist and author Gerald Durrell, runs a research center and captive breeding program in the park. All of Madagascar's tortoise and turtle species are critically endangered due to the pet trade and poaching. The Durrell group is working hard to ensure their survival through education, surveys, breeding programs, and reintroduction. Our visit overlapped with a visit by the Durrell staff and some of their partners from the Turtle Conservancy. We heard firsthand about the work being done to save these endangered species and caught a glimpse at some of the tortoises including the mighty ploughshare and the stunning radiated tortoise.
After our visit to Ankarafantsika we made our way back to the capital city, Antananarivo or Tana for short, for Meaghan's flight. As she started the long journey home, Jake and I took a day off from lemur and bird watching and caught a taxi-brousse into the city center to meet up with one of his childhood friends. Jake's friend Brian first came to Madagascar with the PeaceCorps in 2005 and has been living and working for a conservation organization here since then. Jake and Brian caught up over Malagasy food and beer while people pedaled souvenirs, vegetables, and phone cards at the market across the street. We got a few pointers and phone numbers from Brian and promised to meet up again before we set off. The following morning Jake and I started the long journey southwest along one of the best roads in the country, National Route 7, in search of more Malagasy treasures.
There's much more to come from Madagascar.
Cheers from the 8th continent,
Corey & Jake
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