The Night Hike

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When we were first arriving at Vakona after dark, there were small groups of people along the side of the road with flashlights and lamps on their heads looking in the bushes. When I asked Njato what they were doing, he explained that they were on a night trek, looking for the nocturnal lemurs. It sounded strange to me at the time, but 24 hours later, I found myself with a flashlight in one hand and a camera in the other as Herman and I set out looking for the creatures that come to life after the sun goes down.

We met at the Parc Villageois. It is an Ecotourism Park in the heart of a neighbouring village.

The sun had almost set and we set out on the path, but being with Herman, it didn't take long to change our course of action and start sliding down small embankments, trying to get a better look at whatever we could find.

For the most part, we stayed on the paths, but when you are walking in the dark, through cobwebs and having unknown things fly at you, it does tend to get a little creepy. Also, you start imagining that those tiny black leeches from earlier in the day have found you once again.

There we were, Herman and I, acting like Frank and Joe Hardy as we searched the forest for some sort of clue that would solve "The Mystery of The Talking Chameleon" We were shining lights into trees, looking for the tiny red eyes of the nocturnal lemurs as they looked down at us thinking, "Who the hell is down there waking me up and why do they want to see my eyes glow in the dark?" All very good points I must admit.

The humidity in the forest made everything damp and my breath started to waft through the beam of the flashlight. It set the mood for the eerie night quite nicely.

There were times that I was asking myself, "What was I doing out there?"... and then there were times when we would see a chameleon and I would get all excited about what we would see next.

Again, my hat is off to Herman for his ability to find things in the dark of night. He found creatures of all shapes, sizes, colours, and looks. How he saw them sitting on a tree branch in the middle of a forest I will never know. I am just very thankful that Herman was paired up with me.

All the photos here were taken using a flashlight on our trip. Not all pictures are excellent, but it will give you an idea of what is out there in the wilds of Madagascar. (and there are even more pictures of other chameleons coming in a later blog!)

Towards the end of our trek. Herman suddenly stopped and looked up high into the trees. There he found two little red eyes looking down at us. He immediately took off into the bush and told me to wait where I was. I went about 20 feet into the brush, shone the light around for a little bit and then called for me.

That is when I saw the Good Man Mouse Lemur. Apparently, it is one of the smallest lemurs in Madagascar and we found it! While it was high in the tree looking down at us, I tried to get a couple of pictures of it. The pictures are dark, so try to look at them in a dimly lit place if possible.

Two times out with Herman and I was having amazing luck. Tomorrow, we will see if the third time is the charm when he and I head into another National Forest and look for even more lemurs and creatures!

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Photos

Parson Chameleon
This one is a baby.

Not Sure About This One
But it sure is ugly.

Parson Chameleon
This one is a female