We left Antananarivo at around 7am for the 160km drive, reaching at about 10am. The roads were winding and curvy. and the worst bit was definitely coming out of the capital city where you continuously turning in one direction or the other. I had taken a motion sickness tablet though and consequently was asleep for the half the journey, which made it a bit easier, but it was still quite uncomfortable. A bit after 10am I was shaken awake by my driver because we had made it to the park. I opted for a 3 hour tour, and after paying a 45,000 ariary entry fee, anDiademed d a 40,000 guide fee, I was in the national park!
The first thing you could hear upon entering the park was the loud, very loud, calls of the Indri Indri lemurs. There are several groups of them within the park and they are a very territorial species. The walk that I would be doing would be passing through the area of 2 of the groups of Indri Indri and I was very excited to try and find them. There was only one other person on a tour in the park (and this is one of the most touristy parks in Madagascar because it's so close to to Tana), so we basically had the whole place to ourself. My guide had some prerecorded Indri Indri noises, so he would play them as sometimes they respond!
There are 11 species of lemurs in the park, and within an hour we had spotted the Diademed sifiaka - a different sifika that had been spotted at the Kirindy forest. These sifikas were on the ground though and "dancing" (what they are said to be doing when they play on the ground". There was a whole family of them and we were super lucky to see them up close, as normally they are up in the trees. They were very fun to watch, and we sat there for about 20 minutes observing them until they went off in the forest.
After that amazing spot, it was time to go and find an Indri Indri. While the Kirindy forest was on flat ground, this national park was on a bit of slope and we spent a bit of time going uphill, then downhill, and off the track searching for lemurs. My guide was a lot more graceful than me as we went through the undergrowth.
Suddenly though, my guide stopped, and up in the tree was one lone Indri Indri who had spotted us before we did. She was a bit far away and I only got one decent shot before she made a very loud honking noise (her warning signal) and sped away in the trees. She was by herself, apparently the last in her group to find a mate.
We kept walking, searching for these lemurs. The other group also hadn't spotted one yet, but we could hear them. After a while, my guide told me stay put while he went off looking for them. I sat down and I could hear him in the distance use the device to play the recorded sounds of Indri Indri. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I heard them, the Indri Indri lemurs! They were very loud so must have been close. I stood up, waiting for my guide, and he suddenly came out of the forest in the opposite direction, and we sped off towards the sounds. Soon enough we spotted a family of 4 Indri Indri lemur in the trees, with a mother nursing a child.
They made noises to one another, before the mother and children went off in the trees. The male stayed behind for a bit, watching for any predators that my follow and making sure it was safe, before following the female to their new spot. My neck was sore from craning up so much to see them, but it was definitely worth it. While they are the biggest lemur, they were not as big as I was expecting, and not as big as several now extinct species of lemur. They also have a short tail, unlike the long tail all other lemurs have, and instead have long legs.
After the Indri Indri family disappeared, we started to head back. The circuit was only about 4km long, with a few steep bits. We went via the home of a boa constrictor, and found it sleeping. Even though there are no poisonous snakes in Madagascar I was still a bit uneasy about being there.
There are very few Indri Indri lemurs left in Madagascar and I feel very fortunate to have been able to see them. My trip to Madagascar was not as I expected, and while I didn't instantly fall in love with the country like I thought I would, spending time tracking lemurs in forests that are like no other in the world was definitely worth it. I think I could have spent double the time I did in Madagascar and seen a lot more, but perhaps during a different season and on a different trip ...
Now - Swaziland!
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