National Parks

During our overland tour we visited two National Parks. Madagascar has lots of these parks and reserves and they provided us with a chance to see some of Madagascar’s amazing wildlife and spectacular scenery.

The first we visited is called Réserve d’Anja and is small (only 37 ha). Here we got our first sight of a lemur. This park only has one species of lemur, the ring tail, but it is the one most people will imagine. They are black, white and grey with a stripy tail (hence the name). The guide explained that the lemurs have a strict daily routine which involved waking up and emerging from the caves where they sleep to sunbathe on the rocks before going down to the forest to eat fruits, leaves and flowers. They then have an afternoon siesta, eat some more and then return to the caves at night. Lemurs are predated on by hawks and snakes and so sleeping in the caves keeps them safe. These lemurs live in family groups and the women are in charge – so King Julien from the film isn’t quite right. We got some good photos of the lemurs and they really weren’t bothered by our presence in their forest.

It was here that we also got to first see something that I was excited about – chameleons. We had literally taken about 10 steps when the guide pointed out a small one sat in a tree. It has changed its colouration so it was the same grey as the branches and so was well camouflaged.

The second park we visited is called Parc National de l’Isalo and is probably the most popular park to visit. It’s also is much bigger and older than the first. We stayed in a hotel in the park and spent the whole day hiking in the area. The landscape is sandstone and so where the river runs is a massive gorge. In the morning we walked across the plain and through the forest to our picnic spot. Here there were lots of very tame lemurs. We saw ringtails again but also brown lemurs. These lemurs were used to humans and would try and steal our food. We also saw a Verreaux’s Sifaka lemur that was a little shyer. However, when we were eating lunch we watched it hop across the ground on its two hind legs.

After lunch we hiked further along the bottom of the gorge, where the greenery was lusher. It felt a little bit like a film set and I was expecting a dinosaur to jump out at me at any moment. It is dry season at the moment so the river was very low. Despite this there were several waterfalls and beautifully clear pools on the way. At the largest one we stopped for a swim. It was nice and refreshing but REALLY cold. I tested out my camera on the big tadpoles that were sat underwater on the rocks. After our long hike we were all worn out on our return to the hotel!