Day 5: Ring-tailed lemurs

I was woken early at 5am by the rainforest chorus so decided to go for a swim in the local pool before breakfast. Hery had pointed it out to us on the way back yesterday, it was a 5 minute walk from the accommodation with a £1 entry fee for international visitors and 50p for locals. The swimming pool is heated naturally by a hot spring and it was a lovely short walk over a rickety bridge to cross the Namorana river. Locals smiled and waved as they set up their fruit and bread stalls for the day. The pool opened at 6am and I was surprised to see a small queue of around 6 local children accompanied by their dads as a man collected their money. The pool was the perfect temperature and I relaxed listening to the sounds of the rainforest while the local children seemed to be intensely training, working on both technique and speed, something I did not expect to see in a small rainforest community. I walked back feeling refreshed in time for breakfast before we embarked on another long drive to the most southern town of the central highlands called Ambalavao. 

The landscape was entirely rural on route and locals worked in the fields with their herds of zebu. Hery explained that there will be no opportunities for official toilet breaks so we were to find “an appropriate bush” if needed and Michele, our driver, laughed loudly as he suggested we pick “a friendly bush”. Some of the group were still suffering from bad stomachs so we frequently stopped and I was grateful for the air and to stretch my legs. As soon as you step off the minibus you are swarmed with local children that sprint towards you from the fields where they work. They wave and smile and perform dances, shouting “madame, madame” to get your attention. The issue is if you are in search of “an appropriate bush”, the children and even in some cases the adults follow you – Hery explained that it is out of curiosity as they rarely come across white people. I distracted a group of locals by taking their photo so Nicky could make a run for a bush. It is clear that Madagascar has a very young population, the average life expectancy is 63 and Hery explained that it is normal for women to have around 7 children. He laughed as he told us his cousin had 19 children, all with the same mother!

We arrived to Ambalavao after a bumpy, uncomfortable ride on rough roads that Hery referred to as a “Madagascan massage”. After dropping our luggage off and eating lunch we continued to Anja Reserve for an afternoon hike. Anja community reserve is a woodland area with a freshwater lake, situated at the base of a large cliff. There are caves that provide habitats for bats and owls and the reserve is the home to the highest concentration of ring-tailed lemurs. We were accompanied by a local guide and followed a well maintained trail towards the base of the cliff. In the distance I could see numerous stripey tails swaying around and that’s when I realised the sheer abundance of ring-tailed lemurs and felt so excited to get closer to these beautiful animals. The ring-tailed lemurs were exactly like I imagined, confident and playful with a cheeky edge and I sat on the grass observing them. Some sat with their arms out-stretched basking in the sun, others cleaned their tails methodically, some cuddled in a pile with 5-6 others with their tails entwined and some darted through the trees chasing each other. They were a delight to watch and I was surprised how close they would come if you remain quiet and still. The reserve is very close to a small village and our guide told us that the lemurs like to eat the fruits from the trees in the village. Every Sunday when the villagers attend church the lemurs will sneak into the village and feed off the trees before returning back to the forest. In addition to lemurs we saw more chameleons, an African marsh owl, a yellow-billed kite soared above us and the lake provided a habitat for a great white heron and egrets.  

After our hike and wildlife spotting we returned to town where we had our briefing with Hery ready the upcoming 4 day expedition to the summit of Pic Imarivolanitra. We were introduced to our mountain team – a group of porters, a chef and 3 additional guides to accompany Hery, as he is not a specialist mountain guide. Each of the guides introduced themselves in turn. Firstly our lead mountain guide Philibert, who had a stoic presence with a calming voice as he explained that he had grown up in the foothills of the mountain and could navigate the region with his eyes closed, saying “my playground became my office”. Secondly Jenoux was younger than Philibert with a cheerful manner and had also climbed the mountain many times, telling us he grew up working in the rice paddies at the base of the mountain. Finally, Fabrice was a young trainee guide and it was his first time ascending the mountain, he had just graduated from a degree in tourism and his wide friendly smile displayed his eagerness. Tomorrow we would travel to the start of the trail and be further briefed about the route. We spent some time organising our camping gear before eating dinner (yet another variation of beans with rice) and heading to bed for an early night.