Antsiranana to Maroansetra, Madagascar 16 - 18 April 08

"I'll show you an aye-aye, Sir"

17 April. Seraphin took us on a full-day excursion to nearby Nosy Mangabe Island. We knew we wouldn’t see any aye-ayes there, but Seraphin found several white fronted brown lemurs for us in the trees by the coastal path, in addition to the ones that hung round the campsite in order to snatch the tourists’ fruit.

The black and white ruffed lemurs are much more difficult to spot as they are very shy and stay in the hilly interior of the island but Seraphin was successful in finding a couple for us on the hillside after our picnic lunch. The north-east of Madagascar is the wettest part of the country so the vegetation on the island was very lush. Apart from the lemurs, we saw a paradise fly catcher, a drongo (bird), a crab occupying a snail house, many black crabs with red claws, a large lizard eating a crab, frogs and several leaf-tailed geckos.

18 April. We went for a walk on the beach beside our hotel before breakfast in the early morning light. It was a spectacular scene with mountains behind, dug-out canoes and people bathing and fishing. We felt a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful country with such friendly people.