Madagascar - The Lost World

Crowned lemur, Ivoloina Park

Myself with the Indri

Madagascar is probably the closest that anyone could get to a lost world. Regarded as the eighth continent and the fourth biggest island by size, this place followed a different branch down the evolutionary tree from the rest of the world. Madagascar has something to offer for both the tourist and the traveller. It's probably one of the best traveller-friendly countries on earth. Except for the major cities, people are generally very warm and welcoming in the tiny towns and villages. The lack of any major roads and the fact that close to nothing can be pre-booked makes any low budget trip to Madagascar an adventure of a lifetime. Aravind, Srivani and I had one such adventure in december of 2016. We travelled the length and breadth of the island nation like locals, greeting the residents with 'akore' or 'bonjour'. We caught random modes of transport, mostly bush taxis, or taxi brousses as they are called in French-influenced Africa. We were fortunate to be shown around by experienced guides in the national parks, helped by generous folks on the streets and in the taxi brousse stations and be hosted by a homely Dutch couple in Toamasina.

The fort of Antananarivo.

Air Madagascar DHC-6 Twin Otter, Ivato Intl.

Antananarivo.

The statue in Lake Anosy.

Taxi brousses heading out.

Reaching Madagascar is the first hard part. It's a flight of many hops. Bangalore - Mumbai - Mahe - Madagascar. Air Madagascar has a notorious reputation of not maintaining schedules. They are reported to make unscheduled halts and are even said to take off only after the aircraft is full, much like the bush taxies that ply on the roads. We figured out that Etihad/Air Seychelles is the best way to fly in. The capital city of Antananarivo looks more like a hill station from south India. There is no concept of traffic rules and the roads are dotted with French cars, old and new. You see Citroens, Peugots and Renaults everywhere. This is probably the only place where one would expect some sort of English to be spoken. The city gets dangerous by night and is best avoided. According to the plan that we began with, we were supposed to travel to Mahajanga on 23rd December, a few hours after landing in Antananarivo. However, it so happened that all tickets got sold out by the time we reached the taxi brousse station that evening. We had no option but to find a hotel for the night and haggle the next day.

Old Citroen Taxi, Antananarivo.

Downtown Antananarivo.

Ringtailed lemur, Lemur's Park.

Chameleon, Lemur's Park.

Mouse lemur, Lemur's Park.

Black and white ruffed lemur.

On 24th, the hotel's receptionist, Nick, helped us haggle for the taxi brousse tickets for that evening. Taxi brousses which travel a long distance are usually operated by travel agencies, located in a centralized area. All that needs to be done to get a ticket is to go and enquire in every hut. Nick also arranged a visit to the Lemur's Park in Antananarivo that day. The park is pretty neat and was our first contact with lemurs and chameleons in the island. The lemurs in the park are all former pets which were confiscated after it became illegal to keep lemurs as pets. The usual guided tour lasts about an hour. We made it to the taxi brousse station in time to catch our first taxi brousse. A host of vendors sell a variety of objects in there. Power banks to solar chargers to street food to plums and cakes. We stocked up on plums for the night, unsure of what we would find to eat on the way. The taxi brousse was rather comfortable and took a hell lot of time to get out of the city and onto RN1, one of the two highways the country has got.

Cyclist in Antananarivo.

The forested area of Ankarafantsika NP.

Crowned Sifaka, Ankarafantsika NP.

Chameleon at Lake Ankarafantsika

Lake Ankarafantsika

Lake Ankarafantsika

Taxi brousse enroute to Mahajanga

Crowned sifaka, Ankarafantsika NP.

We reached Mahajanga the next morning. We walked a bit to a nearby cheap hotel to bathe and get ready. We noticed a rather Indian touch to the town, right from the Sanskrit-sounding name to the autorickshaws that dot the streets. We reached the taxi brousse station after having a bath and got into a van headed back to Ankarafantsika, our first national park in Madagascar. It's a short 3 hour hop and we reached Ankarafantsika by late morning. Having a quick breakfast we headed out on a lemur spotting trek with a local forest guide. We managed to see crowned sifakas and several reptiles such as chameleons and iguanas. Ankarafantsika is off the beaten path and there are hardly any tourists there. It's right in the middle of nowhere and is hard to reach. Fauna-wise, Ankarafantsika has one of the highest density of lemurs in Madagascar.  It has a variety of landscapes, ranging from grasslands to dry forests and the characteristic tsingy. We took a circuit that took us through grasslands and the jungle. This was the height of summer in the southern hemisphere and thus we avoided the searing tsingy. We hitched a ride on a passing taxi brousse to Mahajanga in the late afternoon. This taxi brousse is a probably a low tier one and was overloaded with farmers and their produce. This was dirt cheap and dropped us off at the Cotisse station. We visited the landmark baobab tree and the seafront promenade before catching the Cotisse back to Antananarivo.

The baobab tree of Mahajanga.

Taxi brousse, Mahajanga

Our little cottage within hearing distance of the Indri's calls.

Srivani and Aravind in the Community Park.

On a cold evening

Srivani at Andasibe

Nick said he could arrange a car to drop us off at Andasibe but it would cost us a whopping 300,000 Ar (about 100 USD). We felt we had enough experience with the country's transport system that we can negotiate a taxi brousse to do the same for a fraction of that money. So we found just that. For 60,000 Ar, we were in Andasibe and checked into a tiny little cottage with 3 beds. Andasibe is about 3 hours from Antananarivo on RN2, which ends at Toamasina. Andasibe is the reason many people come to Madagascar. The heart of the rainforest, this place is home to some of the most endangered animals on earth. The largest lemur of them all, the Indri, numbers about 100 in existence and is found only in the eastern rainforests of the island. These lemurs cannot be held captive and as such there are no zoos in the world which holds them. The Indri's call can be heard kilometres away and was loud and clear in our cottage. We visited the community park, which the local villagers have set up to safeguard two families of Indri. An elderly guide called Nirina showed us around the park and introduced one of the Indri families to us. The majority of the lemurs in the rainforest are nocturnal or crepuscular. So I decided to take a night tour. Aravind caught fever and Srivani stayed back in the cottage with him. I caught up with Nirina and another tourist from the US at Mitsinjo park, which is about 2 Km from the cottage. We saw a wide range of lemurs on this walk. Common brown lemurs, mouse lemurs, dwarf lemurs and lesser bamboo lemurs. We also found a host of chameleons as they tend to stand out from the surroundings after dark (camouflage is useless at night!). I caught up with a group of wildlife enthusiasts from the Netherlands on my way back and spotted some more lemurs on the trees lining up the road.

 

Dwarf lemur, Mitsinjo Park.

Common brown lemur, Andasibe NP.

Indri. Community Park.

Brown mouse lemur, Mitsinjo Park.

Indri, Andasibe NP.

Diademic sifaka, Andasibe NP.

We woke up to the call of the Indri the next morning. At 7am sharp, we caught up with Nirina at Andasibe National Park. He took us on a lengthy half day hike in the park, covering almost its entire length. We encountered another family of the Indri and a group of diademic sifakas. These sifakas are large lemurs and usually stay up in the trees. The name originated from the sound they make, which is 'see fak, see fak'. Incidentally, the name 'lemur' means 'the spirit of the dead' as these animals denoted the souls of the dead in local legends. We also came across common brown lemurs, which are perhaps the most common arboreal lemurs in the area. We could not reach the Mantadia park as we had no means of transport. Mantadia is the primary forest and Andasibe is the reforested area. According to Nirina, Mantadia has centuries old Palisandre trees. Palisandre is a specialty of Madagascar and is highly prized for its hard wood. It takes a century to grow about a foot wide. Eucalyptus has been introduced to the island from Australia and is fast becoming a pest. Nirina pointed out to us the subtleties of the forest such as the battle between the trees and the strangle fig. Aravind and I scouted on RN2 for a pair of torch lights to do our own night walk. We found the lights and set off on a disappointing night walk. We found nothing in the trees and we ended up realizing the importance of a guide.

Chameleon, Mitsinjo Park.

Tree boa, Andasibe National Park.

One horned chameleon, Andasibe National Park.

The lane from RN2 which leads to Andasibe village.

The next morning we walked up to RN2 and caught a Cotisse that was booked for us by Centre Lambahoany (our next destination). Centre Lambahoany is one thing that I'd recommend to anyone travelling to Toamasina. They are very reasonably priced and can organize tours in the neighbouring rainforest for a reasonable price. It's named after the lambahoany, a saree-like garment worn by the women of the country. It's maintained by a very dedicated Dutch couple, George and Marcia. They moved from the Netherlands to Mozambique before finally settling down in Madagascar. They were quite familiar with India as well and have been here before. George is a very strong old man in his late 60s who had absolutely no issues picking up my heavy rucksack. George received at the Cotisse station and picked us up. He dropped off our luggage at the Centre and we proceeded to Ivoloina Park. Ivoloina Park hosts lemurs which are not native to the region. It's mostly a free area where lemurs roam free after being rescued. It was a bit like the Lemur's Park in the capital. We had a very nice dinner overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Star tortoise, Ivoloina Park.

Blue eyed lemur, Ivoloina Park.

Pair of crowned lemurs, Ivoloina Park.

Facing the Indian Ocean.

Bonbon Anglais!

Scenery around Antsampanana on RN2

Severed cattle heads

Wildlife in the bathroom :)

Our last day in the country was spent on a day long hike through the Malagasy villages. Centre Lambahoany arranged a day long hike in the surrounding hills to experience the country's rural life. Our guide confessed that we were the first non-caucasians he ever took on a hike. He explained that Malagasy is not really an ethnicity but is a mix of European, South Asian and African races, brought there mainly by the French. He explained the importance of sacrificing cattle in local culture as a medium of communication with the deceased. We got to taste some of the fruits from the fields. He taught us a few words in the local Malagasy dialect and we were received well by the local villagers when we greeted them in their tongue. The long trek started to the south of the city of Toamasina and ended at the north. One thing that I did not understand is that I never found a single place in the country selling their national flags. We asked around at the local market and found a tailor who was okay with creating a flag for us. For about 5000 Ar, our souvenir got made in front of our eyes. We were glad to find Indian samosas at a local stall and quickly stocked up on them. Marcia put us on a Cotisse bound to the capital.

Villagers stripping cinnamon barks.

Hens at a village.

Around Toamasina

Hills surrounding Toamasina

Slash and burn agriculture

Our flag being stitched in the markets of Toamasina

We reached Antananarivo for the third time on the morning of 30th, at about 3AM. We were to catch a flight out of Madagascar in a few hours. We asked the local taxi drivers to drop us at the Ivato airport and were pleasantly surprised to find that they did not ask for a penny more than what they were supposed to charge. That would never have happened in India. We were quizzed by the local police on the way to the airport, who checked our passports and let us go. We slept for a few hours on a bench and then sat around in a restaurant at the airport for a few more hours before our flight finally departed with us on board.

Police on RN2

Sunrise over the hills around RN1

Srivani at River Ivoloina

View from RN1

Community Park, Andasibe

Almost 80% of the country has no electricity yet. This means one can see the milky way every single night from every single place! Even the Orion nebula is clearly visible with the naked eye. Though a large part of the island has been remodelled in slash and burn agriculture, this country is still a gem to the nature-focussed traveller. It's certainly not an easy place to travel as almost nobody speaks English and there are no well defined roads, save the two highways and the non-existence of a railway system. Airfare is exorbitantly high with a return flight of about an hour's duration costing about a thousand dollars. Nothing beats the sheer thrill of transiting an alien land like a local after getting used to the place for a day. It felt great to see people like Nirina striving to educate people on the importance of the rainforest and its wildlife. Nirina was an inspiration. A retired army paratrooper who spent 26 years of his life conserving wildlife. He has books on lemurs to his credit and is the president of the Andasibe Guides Association. We were fortunate to have him showing us his prized rainforest. I hope we don't lose this lost world.

Andasibe National Park

View from RN1