Dzaoudzi, Mayotte to Mahajanga, Madagascar 5 - 7 Apr 08

Ankarafantsika National Park

6 April. The west side of Madagascar is quite dry and Ankarafantsika National park is set in dry, deciduous forest. We went on an early morning walk with our guide Tina and saw three of the 86 species of lemur that exist in Madagascar out of which 8 species live in this park: sportive lemur (which is nocturnal but it hadn’t gone to bed yet in its hole in the tree trunk), as well as the diurnal brown lemurs and Coquerel's sifakas.

Suddenly Flemming spotted the rare pygmy kingfisher at the same moment Tina saw an iguana (oplurus cuvieri). Then we saw our first of many snakes in Madagascar, the dromicodrias. Tina reassured us that none of the snakes in the country are venomous. On our return to the park lodge, we saw a bright green gecko (phelsuma madagascarensis) on a banana flower.

After breakfast, we went for a walk via rice fields to three 500-year-old baobab trees which are the only ones of their kind left in Madagascar. They are tall and quite thin, unlike most baobabs that tend to have a wide girth. It is thought that the reason why these baobabs are no longer reproducing is that there was only one kind of bird that would spread the seeds and that bird is now extinct.

In the late afternoon, we toured Lake Ravelobe by boat and saw crocodiles swimming, an Oustalit’s chameleon well camouflaged amongst the reeds, the rare Madagascar fish eagle (of which there are only 2 at Ankarafantsika), glossy ibis, 2 malachite kingfishers, bee eaters, paradise fly catchers, crested drongo, sickle-billed vanga, a harrier hawk, and several kinds of heron: purple, night, squwacko and green-backed. It was a most enjoyable tour: the light in late afternoon was just right, we had the lake to ourselves and it was a delightful spot with water lilies and water hyacinths and the breeze was a godsend in that sticky heat.

We then headed off on a nocturnal walk with Tina near the lodge and saw grey mouse lemurs, the eyes of a mongoose lemur, several Oustalit’s and rhino chameleons and the smallest species of gecko, as well as the green gecko.