December 14, 2014
You've seen the overview, but now you want to see the rest. Be forewarned, this is not a short post. And this is only part one. Being concise has never really been my strong suit. Stick with me though, I think this one's worth it...
Of the 23 days we spent in Madagascar, we spent roughly half of our time in the central and southern parts of the country, and the other half in the north. For the first half, we started in the capital city of Antannarivo, known locally as Tana, and slowly worked our way 1000km to the south-western coast of the island. After some remote beach time, we flew back to Tana, and connected onwards to northern Madagascar.
December is considered to be "low season" in Madagascar. In truth, Madagascar receives very few visitors even in peak season, especially in the middle and southern parts of the country. The difference in seasons is really the weather; we were there during the rainy season. That being said, we were fortunate to have great weather the majority of the time, and everything was prospering- it was lychee season in the midlands, mango season in the south, and harvesting season in the rice paddies inland. Everything was so green it was breath-taking. We did have a bit of rain, but mostly just afternoon thundershowers that came and left very quickly (so really, a lot like the highveld thunderstorms Joburg summers are famous for). As a byproduct of being there in the off-season, we had most accommodations and restaurants to ourselves, and were almost always the only ones around as we trekked through a rainforest with a family of lemurs jumping through the trees around us. We definitely were not missing the crowds.
So settle in, get comfy, and enjoy the first half of our trip.
In the Parc National de Mantadia, close to the Parc National d'Andasibe in eastern Madagascar, is where we first spotted what became my favourite lemurs: the Diademed Sifakas. These guys are known as the dancing lemurs, since they are very graceful as they bounce from tree to tree through the rainforest.
I did not anticipate the challenges with photographing in a rainforest- my lens fogged almost instantly after removing the cap, leaving nearly every photo with a sort of "haze". What this photo lacks in clarity though, these guys make up for in cuteness, right?
Seriously, who can resist that face?
The sifakas gave me plenty of opportunities to capture them jumping, but they are just too fast for me, and apparently even for my shutter speed (hence the blurry lemur).
We saw loads of chameleons in Madagascar; it never got old for me. This one was dressed like tree bark for the occasion.
While the lemurs definitely trump everything in Madagascar, there is no shortage of interesting and colourful critters. The guy on the bottom left is a "Giraffe-Necked Weevil", a strange little beetle; the long neck means it's a male.
The national parks had gorgeous foliage and greenery. This is really the only way for Madagascar to protect its natural resources; we saw so much deforestation. It was devastating.
Near the Parc National D'Andasibe we spotted this common brown lemur snacking on the side of the road.
He gave us a little show and tested my jumping-photo skills.
The largest of all lemurs: the Indri. We went to the Réserve d'Analamazaotra specifically to see if we could spot these special creatures; they are famous for their call, which sounds like a very loud wail, and can be heard for miles away. While it seems like they call constantly, apparently it is very sporadic and only for a total of four or five minutes each day.
An interesting fact about Indri: They have never survived in captivity because they simply refuse to eat, and eventually die of starvation. As a result, they have never been seen outside of Madagascar. These guys are often referred to as "a four-year old child in a panda suit" because they are so playful, loud and emotionally transparent.
Like I said, I never tire of seeing chameleons. Florescent green was this fellow's strategy on our night walk.
We saw plenty of these adorable nocturnal dwarf lemurs, but this guy gave us a bit of a treat, and came down the tree and into the grass near the path, and just stared at us. Our guide said that was the first time he'd even seen a dwarf lemur on the ground.
Snap shots from the road (clockwise from top left): pit stop of pineapple fanta; a sac full of fresh lychees; M picking up some chocolate for us from a roadside shop; trying on our Malagasy hats.
A pavement-coloured Chameleon being followed by M.
Roadside farming. On first glance it might look like this man is waving, but rest-assured he was just using a "cow-whip" to urge the zebu on at the exact moment I took the photo. Which brings me to an interesting conundrum: is it called a cow-whip if it's used on a zebu, or is it a zebu-whip? Google was of absolutely no help on this one. I did attempt to ask our guide, however these are not the kinds of conversations one should attempt when English is your common-denominator language rather than your mother tongue (unless of course you want a good laugh and a Madagascar-style rendition of Who's on First?). Eish...
We stopped on the side of the RN7 on our way to Antsirabe to take pictures of the view, and attracted quite a crowd of curious onlookers. The view was spectacular (both of the onlookers and of the rice-paddy-lined-cliffs).
Transporting the day's harvest.
Most of the farmers were packing up for the day and heading for the pathways between the paddies to head home.
Our driver, Heri, insisted that a selfie was simply not sufficient. Thanks for the great pic, Heri!
Stormy skies; the rain clouds were moving in as the afternoon wore on.
Antisirabe- home of the "posse-pousse" (rickshaws).
Getting ready for a ride around Antisirabe. Note the bare feet.
Heading through a street market.
We weren't the only pousse-pousse riders, however we appeared to be the only tourists on this particular day.
We visited a workshop where this man makes tiny pousse-pousse and bicycle replicas from scraps. We also visited another workshop where they polish zebu horn and turn it into jewellery, spoons and decorations.
Every bit of the farming we saw was powered entirely by manual/zebu labour.
Ploughing the fields step by step.
The tiny town of Ambositra is known for its detailed hand-carved wood works. This man showed us how his "thread-saw" worked (as he pumped his bare-foot on the foot petal to bring the string up and down), and made me a little heart-inside-a-heart as an example of his handiwork. While I get that this is entirely for tourist-interest, it was phenomenal to see him create something so intricate and beautiful using only a string and an old scrap of wood.
Arriving in Ranomafana after a very long day on the RN7 and settling into our river-side accommodations. As a side note, this is the last healthy picture of M before a stomach bug got the better of him...thanks to our guide and a local Malagasy remedy of several straight shots of vinegar (or maybe everyone but us already knows about this remedy?), M was back in the game less than 24 hours later.
Brown red-fronted lemur family. Check out the near-hidden baby melding into mama's back on the far left.
Don't you want to just give this guy a hug?
A greater bamboo lemur. These guys and the golden bamboo lemurs are the reason Parc National de Ranomafana was created in the first place, to protect these endangered creatures and their fast-disapearing food source- bamboo (I did also have a chance to spot a golden bamboo lemur, but the sighting was very obstructed and the photos are terrible, so I'll spare you on that one).
And yes, he was eating bamboo. So cliché.
That blob is a black-and-white ruffed lemur. This is the best shot I got of these guys, but I was so enthralled with them that I had to post this photo, even though it's really not great.
More random Madagascar critters. And a cool blue bird.
This red-bellied lemur has his eyes on me. I also saw this type of lemur on my morning walk sans M, but the afternoon was by far a better sighting- no one else was around besides the two of us and our guide, and we had amazing views of these gorgeous creatures.
Whatever you call it, it's a pretty cool waterfall (we think so, anyway).
Heading south from Ranomafana towards Isalo, we stopped on the way to visit a local winery. You may recall from the previous post that we were not blown away by the wines in Madagascar (to put it mildly); when we visited this winery and asked the wine-maker what varietals of grapes they grow/types of wine they make, he said, and I quote, "red and white".
Gorgeous valley in the region of the Bara, a conservative farming region.
Long drive south.
Approaching the sandstone formations and moody skies of the southerly part of Mada.
Réserve d'Anja is known for their ringtail lemurs (we're getting to that, sit tight)- but before we spotted the lemurs we found this little guy resting on a branch.
What the...no, this isn't a lemur, sorry. I have no idea what this is...some sort of grasshopper creature...but he is so cool!
Ahh...the creatures that made DreamWorks' "Madagascar" movie famous...ringtail lemurs!
Check out that tail!
This was actually crazy...
BABY ringtail lemur.
Hello.
Hitching a ride.
For the record, this wasn't a zoo or a trained lemur; This is one of those moments that you have to see to believe...it's like he wanted his photo taken too.
Tree hugger.
Ifaty. This was the last stop on the central/southern part of our trip, and we spent a few extra days here just relaxing in the sun. These Vezo fishermen came in everyday around mid-day and several women would come to their boats and help them sort through their catch. We never quite figured out what they were catching.
