Madagascar Day 13 (12? I think I lost track along the way) - Mantadia
Outside of Tana, this is the first place I've stayed where I didn't have the actual ocean a few feet away, lulling me to sleep. I had to use one of my sleep apps to play waves crashing in order to fall asleep. But once I figured that out I didn't wake until morning.
Left the lodge this morning at 8. Met William, my guide here in Mantadia-Andasibe. William, Dadi, Fan, and I start the long drive up a very bumpy road to Mantadia national park. It's only about 15 kilometers away, but the road is so bad it took us close to 90 minutes to complete the trek.
We finally get to the trail head, I don my very chic leech socks and we head off into the rainforest. Little did I know...unlike everywhere else I've been in Madagascar, there are a shit ton of people here. Fan says I am lucky, because in the high season there will be hundreds of people here. I'm annoyed with the 6 to 10.
Luckily everyone else is either solo or in pairs. No large groups of Dutch, Germans, or Chinese (who will later become annoying today). So while there are more people than I'd like, most are quiet and not total assholes.
Birds were few and far between today, but, we hit the Lemur jackpot: common brown, black and white ruffed, diademed, and, in a nice surprise Indri. Indri are the largest lemur and they have one of the most interesting and mesmerizing calls in all of the animal kingdom. I will get to see them tomorrow as well, but finding them in the primary forest is rare and I am lucky to have done so. (This is also the only place in the world you can see Indri. Period. They don't survive in captivity, so this is it.)
The diademed is nearly as rare. Per my Lemur book (which is horribly out of date) there is only one diademed outside of Madagascar as of 2010 - and it's at the Duke Lemur Center (I will fact check this as soon as my WiFi connection is stronger).
Side note about leeches: they are tiny! And sneaky! Pulled several off my neck area before they latched on. And had to swipe several off my camera along the way.
We finish our hike (which isn't very long, to be honest), have lunch at a picnic area in the reserve, then start the long drive back to the lodge.
Once back at the lodge I reorganize my stuff and count my remaining dollars and ariary (I do this almost every day. I am forever scarred by my experience in Ethiopia). Once that is sorted I decide to head to the main lodge for fire and wifi. And who do I see there? Shereen and Gangagee, the two Americans I met at Anjajavy, then again at Moramanga where I gave them ariary. They insist on buying me a Three Horses Beer. We sit down, have beers, they order lunch, and their guide and driver join us. They are an absolute joy. And, in their defense, they have spent the previous 3 weeks on mainland Africa and dollars were accepted everywhere. However... Shereen knew. Women always know. She wanted to exchange money at the airport inTana and Gangagee insisted they didn't need to. She was rightfully smug about this. Especially when I had to front them ariary again because the lodge doesn't take bills smaller than $20.
They are celebrating their 47th anniversary this year. Which means I am totally in the 'totally age appropriate to be their daughter' range. I might make them my new parents.
Anyway!
I meet my dudes at 5:30 to head off on our night walk. William has made promises. All five of the local chameleon species. Fan laughs at him. Dadi laughs at him. I told him that I expect nothing less than 5 chameleon.
William came through.
We saw:
The Brown Leaf Chameleon;
Parson's Chameleon (the largest Chameleon in Madagascar);
Big Nose Chameleon;
Elephant Ear Chameleon;
Perinet Chameleon.
I find two frogs and a really creepy cricket. We see one mouse lemur. There are so many people on this road it's beyond annoying. William, Fan, and I walk in virtual silence. We only speak when we have to. But JFC the Germans and the Dutch. They can't shut the fuck up. At one point there is a whole group of them - numbering at least 20, headlamps shining up a tree. William says it's a lemur and heads over to investigate. I have to call him back. I don't care what is over there. I'm not clamoring with those assholes. I told him that the only way I would deal with such a thing is if there was an aye aye. He laughed and said okay. Later, in the car after we dropped William off, Fan said "tomorrow will be more people, but now that William knows you don't like other people, he will find a way."
I'm back at the lodge. My Zebu carpaccio was delicious, as was my Zebu and cassava leaf stew. I'm gonna head back to my room, turn on wave sounds, and, hopefully, sleep all the sleep.
