It's NOT just about the Lemurs

It is true, it is not just about the Lemurs but fortunately it is travelers' fascination with lemurs which brings them to Madagascar where they are then exposed to a deeper sense of Madagascar and the history and culture of the Malagasy people.  After spending nine days in four national parks and covering almost a thousand miles, we realized that "chasing" the lemurs was only a backdrop to the Madagascar experience.

The problem for the lemurs is that their environments are disappearing.  

When people first settled in Madagascar, the culture they brought with them depended on rice and zebu cattle, neither of which can be raised in dense forest, so the trees were felled and the undergrowth burned.  Two hundred years ago King Adriana punished those of his subjects who willfully deforested areas. The practice continued however. A century later destruction continued and the first legal protection efforts came in 1927 when 10 reserves were set aside by the French.  Successive governments have tried and failed. In addition to the indigenous peoples continued need for land for  cattle and rice, their reliance on wood for charcoal and housing, outsiders have come to Madagascar to mine nickel, cobalt, gemstones and engage in illegal logging.

In 2003, the president promised to triple the area of Madagascar's protected reserves within the next five years and a program was launched to identify areas in need of protection.  The System of Protected Areas of Madagascar (SAPAM) has three major objectives: to conserve Madagascar's unique biodiversity; to conserve its cultural heritage; and to enable sustainable use to help alleviate poverty.

We saw evidence of these initiatives but all of us felt that Madagascar is in trouble.  We are glad to be here now to experience the remaining forests, the wildlife and the fascinating culture of the Malagasy people.  We learned about all of it while we were in search of the Lemurs.

There are 106 recorded species of lemurs that are found in the wild only in Madagascar. Much like the  indigenous tribes of Malagasy people, they live in specific regions of the country.  One cannot expect to go to just one of Madagascar's many national parks or forests and find all the lemurs.   Different species have adapted to different environments, dependent on food sources found in those environments.

We spent our first two days in the vast Andasibe and Matadia National Parks.  Andasibe, closest to our lodge, is an 810 hectare reserve that is home to the largest of the lemurs, the Indri indri. We awoke our first morning at the Eulophelia Lodge to an eerie wailing sound.  Somewhere off in the forest the Indri were starting their day.  They are the largest lemur and the only one with virtually no tail.  They are only found in this central lowland part of the country that receives approximately 67 inches of rainfall a year.

 

 

The second park we visited in this area was the Mantadia Park which covers an area of 60 square miles.  It was a great hiking day which ended in a celebratory late afternoon lunch complete with South African wine that Sarah & Tom had brought over from Cape Town.  We toasted to the spotting of the Common brown lemur and the beautiful Diadem Sifka.

 

  

  

In addition to the lemurs, there were reptiles of all types,  beautiful birds and a strange little mammal called the lowland striped Tenrec. Our wildlife book described it as having the most primitive mammalian body plan.  They fill the vacancies created by the lack of shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Madagascar has 34 different species of tenrecs.

 

 

It was a great walk.

 

The road back to our lodge took us through a small little village inhabited by a few families who farmed vegetables, rice and other grains.  We stopped to take photos of their primitive but artistically constructed storage bins.

  

We left the next day to start our drive to our third park.   It was a 12-hour trip to reach the Ranomafana National Park in the southeastern park of Madagascar.  The trip was broken up into two 6-hour days with stops along the way including lunch at a beautiful lodge and restaurant in the town of Ambositra.  We were entertained by a troupe of Malagasy dancers and enjoyed a typical Malagasy meal which consisted of two kinds of rice, beans, locally caught fresh water fish, pork cooked in chopped cassava leaves and grilled zebu meat a chili sauce. Pretty tasty!

 

  

The afternoon drive took us through rolling hills, terraced rice paddies as well as lots of little farming villages and, unfortunately, an example of a local destroying the roots of a eucalyptus tree.  

   

We spent the night in the town of Ansirabe, a bustling colonial town founded by Norwegians missionaries.  The following morning, our driver, packed the car and we left the hotel Couleur Coafe to continued our drive.  

 

 

We experienced more Malagasy life as we passed by village after village with stands of fresh vegetables and fruits, we saw the landscape change and in one town visited various shops; one where little toy bicycles and busses were made from recycled materials and another where spoons, other utensils and jewelry was made from the horns of the zebu cattle.

 

  

We arrived at our lodge, the Hotel Thermal, just outside the Ranomafana National Park at dusk.  The hotel gets its name from a thermal pool that is nearby. 

 

Ranomafana National Park is part of the eastern rainforest belt and is one of the wettest areas of Madagascar.  The forest is filled with a variety of frogs, chameleons and very strange bugs all of which we saw on our night walk.

The following morning we resumed our lemur trek and were not disappointed.  At each park our trip guide hires a local park guide who acts as a spotter for the various mammals, reptiles etc.  

  

The park was beautiful consisting of narrow trails under the tree canopy and flowing with beautiful streams and waterfalls.  

 

The lemurs were great: the Greater bamboo lemur, the Black and white ruffed lemur and the Red-fronted brown lemur.

   

Sarah and Tom could'nt resist the ladies outside they park entrance selling various Madagascar spices. I'm not sure if they have mastered their negotiating skills.

 

 We leave in the morning for another long drive to our next destination.