Madagascar Part 3

A Last Impression

After what only could be described as a tumultuous sleep the previous night, I woke up feeling mostly refreshed (thanks, Azithromycin!). I certainly wasn’t able to stomach any food, mind you, but was feeling much improved.

It was time to leave Diego and head for the capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo, (or Tana, for short) to begin our central and eastern Madagascar tour. We said goodbye to Rex, our 4x4 and our driver, Victor (who we LOVED) and boarded our twin-propeller plane. After take off, we were entranced with the birds-eye view of the magnificent and seemingly uninhabited island below.

Touch down in Tana revealed a different side of Madagascar. It’s very obvious that the wealth is concentrated here even by the much improved roads (but still not great in parts). You can see there’s much more commerce, and the prices in markets and in stores are higher.

We immediately hopped into our new 4x4 and headed east along the busiest road in the country toward Andasibe National Park. On the way however, we stopped in to check out a Reserve in Marozevo which contained a plethora of geckos, snakes, and chameleons in captivity, lending us the chance to intimately learn more about some endemic species.

That evening was our scheduled night walk. After dropping our things at our cabin-like accommodation, we were met by a very enthusiastic local guide who immediately began searching for lemurs among the trees. After a short search, Mouse Lemurs were easy to spot. They’re tiny! Lemurs are mostly nocturnal animals, and when light catches their eyes (from a flashlight) they glow a distinct orange colour, not unlike a lit cigarette in the distance. We later found common brown lemurs, chameleons, and more, then headed back to our hotel for the night.

The next morning was an early start to get into Mantandia National Park in search of the Indri Indri lemur, a famously loud shrieking sub-species. Hearing the shriek was almost instantaneous, and spotting them shortly after became an easy task higher in the trees. Lemurs are cool.

As tour buses full of people began piling into the same park we were in, we quickly made our escape and made the short drive to the Lemur Reserve in the same complex. We boarded a canoe and began wading along the river banks. After approaching some small islands, a few lemurs appeared in very close proximity to the boat, and began to jump aboard much to our surprise.

We found out that these lemurs are very familiar with humans and are closely protected in the Reserve. After leaving the first island, we then headed a further down the river. More lemurs! Except this time, it was ring-tailed lemurs!

They too boarded our boat and surrounded us in search of food our guide cleverly placed on his paddle above our heads. It was scrambled chaos, but a fantastic experience.

Shortly after, it was time to head to the local hotel for some lunch, and debrief the morning experience.

Post-lunch, we headed for what would be our final excursion in Madagascar, Vakona Natural Reserve.

We started with a walk along the river, but after a quick look over the fence, it was filled with crocodiles. Huge crocodiles. For me, it was unnerving but incredible to see them up close like this. Watching them swim so calmly and rest so passively is offset by knowing how quickly they could drag you into the water and snap you up as a snack. The ultimate predator.

Next up were ducks, guinea fowl, more chameleons, tortoises, and large pits with baby crocodiles (yet another thing made of nightmares) resting in the sun.

After a short trip to the local village (in search of pineapple Fanta), we headed back to our hotel, and packed our bags for the final time to leave Madagascar to following afternoon.

The drive back to Tana was bittersweet. We enjoyed every minute of this majestic island and hope to come back again some time in the future.

Our tour with Tony was absolutely top notch. I could go deep into all the reasons why, but I’m going to just tell you right now; if you want to visit Madagascar, contact Tony and get it booked.

Just do it.

He is excellent with his communication, with flexibility, personality, contingency planning, and price structuring. For the cost of what a group tour would be priced at, he gives you a true understanding of his home country which he loves including all the warts, and is able to score good deals anywhere you go so you can avoid “vazaha” prices. There’s no more genuine an experience than that.

To Central Asia!

Next: Kazakhstan!

Here are some links for reference:

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