Lemurs, Chameleons and Potholes in Madagascar

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So, here I am back on my travels, accompanied once again by my regular travelling companion in remote regions, Bruce. This time we are doing the rounds of East Africa. However on this trip we are on individual tours in each region (six in all) rather than touring with a group. And as double cause for celebration, this is my 100th blog with TravelBlog, and being somewhere as unique as Madagascar, I hope you find it good reading.

Our trip started with a direct flight from Sydney to Johannesburg, taking just under 14 hours in all. There is rarely anything good to report on a flight of this duration, but travelling Premium Economy with Qantas did soften the blow somewhat. I’m pleased to report that Immigration at Jo’burg airport was very streamlined, which is pretty appealing after a long day time flight.

Arrival in Madagascar was an interesting experience. On the plane we were given a very detailed 3 page immigration form to fill out, on pages no bigger than our passports, so our writing had to be unbelievably small. On arrival, we passed through three separate booths, each manned by 2 or 3 people, and each took one of these forms. Not one of them even glanced at any of these forms, nor asked any questions, but just stamped each one and allowed us to pass straight through. I guess this is how you keep so many people gainfully employed in a country like this.

Our first hour out of the terminal was an eye-opener. I’ve travelled through many of the less affluent regions in Asia and South America and this was right up with them. The roads were poor, there were shanty dwellings along much of the way, myriads of people just ‘hanging around’ along with many others trying to work the fields, and as we drove into the city, we were besieged by hawkers and beggars tapping at the windows. Like many parts of the developing world, the roads were originally built for bicycles and perhaps motor bikes, and with the influx of so many cars now, the roads were gridlocked. At one stage it took us half an hour to travel less than a kilometre.
However on arrival at the capital city, Antananarivo, things looked far less desperate. It’s certainly no Dubai, and there is nothing too modern on show, but people seemed to be getting about their business and appeared contented with life. After checking into our hotel, Hotel Pallisandre, probably the ‘luxury’ hotel in this city, we strolled down to the very extensive Friday night markets, which resembled many of those previously witnessed in the poorer countries of Asia and South America, with literally hundreds of vendors, many selling just single items and waiting for long periods for a sale. As always, a high proportion of the goods were foodstuffs, and particularly notable was the wide range of fruit available, which reminded me of Indonesia. We found the locals were generally friendly and welcoming to the obvious foreign travellers, and at no stage felt any concerns for our safety.

<br style="color:𶐎 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" />The next morning we took off with our guide and driver for what we came to this country to see - the rain forests with their abundance of often unique fauna and flora. Most of the day was spent travelling to the Andasibe National Park along roads so heavily potholed I now feel quite guilty about the slagging I gave the Armenians for their roads in my blog of last year (qv). The only import terminal for Madagascar is on the east coast of the island so all imported goods destined for the capital, and most of the country, are transported by heavy vehicles along this road. This (along with the frequent heavy rains) has cut it up tremendously and there are clearly no funds available for reparations. Along the way, we passed through many villages that were as basic as any I’ve encountered previously, with the roads lined with such huge numbers of people that you would swear we were a royal entourage, but these are just folks going about their normal daily business. This country is clearly not every traveller’s cup of tea, but I find it enthralling to witness this different lifestyle and environment.
An absolute highlight of the trip was our stop at the Marozevo exotic park, where we were able to view up close over a dozen different brightly coloured chameleons as well as an array of geckos, lizards, snakes and butterflies. I’m no expect on the habits of the chameleon but I would have anticipated that, like lizards, they would scamper as soon as you get up close, but to the contrary, they would eyeball you and almost dare you to take their pic, which we were more than happy to do. They had a range of sizes, with the largest around 30cm long (excluding the tail) and the smallest around only 3cm fully grown.

We ended the day with a night walk to check out some of the nocturnal species of wildlife. These were identified by our ranger guide using a searchlight, which usually resulted in our seeing little more than a set of eyes reflecting back at us from way up high, but we did sight a couple of Woolly lemurs and several Mouse lemurs, the latter looking exactly like their namesake except for the beady eyes. However, no chance of getting any pics of either as they were too high up and at night. For me, the highlight was probably spotting a brightly coloured chameleon out in the wild, but overall I found the night walk a bit underwhelming.

The next day was well and truly ‘Lemur Day’. The morning comprised a three hour hike through the thick tropical rain forest of the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, a hike that would have provided great enjoyment purely on its own merits, despite the regular obstacle course comprising huge trees roots, fallen trees and thick undergrowth. But the bonus was the sighting of several Indri Indri lemurs, the largest of the species, with loud-pitched calls that closely resembled the howler monkeys in Costa Rica. We were advised that they have three distinct calls - territorial, danger from predators, and mating, and I believe today’s were the former! A little later, we ran into a colony of about a dozen Golden Crowned Sifaka lemurs, smaller and much more energetic, who entertained us for a good half hour flying through the trees, although sadly pretty high up and hard to keep still enough to get good pics.

The afternoon was in fact far more exciting. We were taken to a small island in a lake where five species of lemur run wild but with somewhat restricted movement due to the size of the island and the lack of tall trees for them to hide in. But the particular attraction is that both the Ring Tailed lemurs and the Common Brown lemurs are very tame and happy to jump up on your head and shoulders, especially if there is a small piece of banana in your hand. Now I know this isn’t for everyone, but those who know me well know I can’t resist monkeys jumping on me and I had that in spades from both sets of lemurs for a good half an hour.

<br style="color:𶐎 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" />So tomorrow, we take off for the East Coast where we transfer by motor boat to a remote sanctuary, where we hope to see more of Madagascar’s unique animals and reptiles.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Adventurous roads
Be careful.

[Nomad Old Farts]

Adventurous roads
Hi guys, I’m actually back home now as I needed to be able to merge narrative and pics on my home computer. I had some most interesting travels on the safari circuit and then with the tribes in Ethiopia. Have you guys covered these areas? I’m guessing yes.