Lemur Watching in Parc Nacional Ranomafana, Madagascar

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With Joanne and John at Rianala Gite

We met John and Joanne on the train the previous day, and were planning to take a taxi brousse to Ranomafana.  As John's knee was acting up, Michelle and I walked to the taxi-brousse station, and John/Joanne were to follow in a pousse pousse (Vietnam-style foot rickshaw).  To our surprise, they pulled up in a nice big 4x4, that was apparently returning to Fianarantsoa, and was picking up a few fares as extra cash.  It cost the same as the taxi brousse, and was much more comfortable, and quicker.   Good score!!
South of Antananarivo is Parc Nacional de Ranomafana with lush hills and rainforest.  We stayed in a dorm-style "gite" with Joanne and John right outside the park gates - couldn't have been closer!!

Golden Bamboo Lemur

We had a couple of days in the park with a guide (Lorei) watching the golden bamboo lemurs up close and personal. Martin, in spite of feeling yuk with a head-cold was glad that he came out. It was special being that close seeing them preen and groom each other. We also managed another night walk, and Martin was excited because he finally spotted a chameleon on his own - not such an easy task.  We also were relatively close to a tiny little mouse lemur, about the size of a small rodent with long tail.

Onto Ambositra by taxi-brousse which turned out to be our worst one yet - the driver was going just too, fast racing another taxi-brousse about 3 feet  off his bumper (no lie!). After which we got off and kissed the ground. What does our heads in, is that there's absolutely no benefit that we could see - not even in picking up more fares! He was just plain crazy. I was so angry and scared I told him in a mixture of Malagasy and French that he had bad, dangerous driving. Ritza be! (very bad).  Martin just wanted to stay put, as he was in rough shape.  Too bad, as Ambositra is supposed to be the artisan capital of Madagascar, with some beautiful villages to the south that are Unesco Heritage sites, because of the indigenous people that live there.  Oh well, a rest day is required every now and then!!

Sunrise in Ambositra

To make up for this nightmare journey our next Taxi-brousse to Tana to catch a flight up north, was calm and pleasant - which was just as well as Martin was still nursing his cold, although feeling much better. * Mush