Monday, October 10, 2016: Mantadia National Park
So unfortunately, we slept fitfully overnight until about 3AM. Then I woke up for good and couldn’t get back to sleep very much after that. I was a little worried that I'd be too tired to enjoy today's activity, but luckily for me, I had a nice cold shower waiting for me which helped a lot!
Chris had a nice warm shower, but I didn’t realize that the in-room water heater had a fairly small tank, so I waited too long to get in. I didn't stay in too long, though, so we were ready fast!
We headed down to the dining room for breakfast which was quite nice. They didn't bring pitchers of brewed coffee; instead, they made specialty cups fresh from a machine, so we had double espressos to go around. And, we looked at the dinner menu to put in our orders for tonight.
In addition to the usual cold items (meats, cereals), they had eggs available cooked to order. They had very nice bread too, with lots of butter and delicious mango passionfruit jam for making tartines. One thing I've noticed about all of the bread so far is that it seems to be made with low-gluten flour. It's very soft and not too chewy.
We headed out for our morning hike in Mantadia Park. It took over 1h15 to drive there, as the entire distance (14 km) was over extremely bumpy dirt roads which were in pretty rough shape. Luckily, this is the dry season, or the road would be truly impassible! All along the way, we saw people walking along the road, carrying heavy loads. We also saw zebu carts. Other than tourists, nobody seems to have motor vehicles here.
We arrived at the trailhead and saw maybe 6-8 other vehicles with tour groups already here. Though it looked a bit crowded, it really wasn't an issue at all.
Our guide started out with a bit of a tough climb up to a scenic viewpoint, which was a bit of a shock to the system. But we kept up and were rewarded with a nice overview of the forest.
Time for a breather! That was a good climb. Especially with all of those big lenses in tow...
The vegetation is fairly dense and there are many vines and assorted mosses growing on the trees. It's a very pretty landscape, though we were definitely not here to just see trees.
We headed down from the viewpoint and wandered through the forest looking for lemurs. We had several very good sightings today. We spent about a half an hour watching a group of black and white ruffed lemurs, who were high in the trees gorging themselves on fruit.
They are fairly large and heavy, but very agile as they maneuvered through the canopy. They could walk on amazingly thin branches, and would even hang upside down to reach a tasty piece of fruit.
As we were watching the group, a red-bellied lemur put in an appearance close to ground level. I was impressed with the beautiful light blue color of its eyes.
He eventually got bored with us and wandered off into the jungle canopy.
Our best sighting of the day had to be the golden (diademed) sifaka, though. They seemed curious about us, too. This guy stopped for a closer look.
We were mesmerized by a large group of them who were casually making their way through the forest. They soared gracefully through the air, just below the treetops.
They obliged with some great poses. I broke out the 500mm lens and snapped away.
This mother and baby were adorable. They made many nice poses for us.
There were probably 10 in the group, and they slowly made their way from tree to tree, pausing along the way to do whatever it is that lemurs do - usually, eat!
Unlike the other groups we had seen previously, these lemurs were closer to the ground so the were easier to photograph, without all the backlighting.
It was hard to top the lemurs, but on the way out of the park we saw various other species of birds, frogs, and chameleons.
All pretty, colorful, and interesting in their own right. The camouflage of some of these lizards is very impressive! They have mastered the art of looking like dead leaves.
One of our group even held a small snake! Not for me...
After we finished the hike, it was time for lunch. The lodge had provided picnic supplies, so we grabbed our sandwiches and headed over to the side of a lake to sit in the shade.
We ate our sandwiches while watching the various birds that lived nearby.
We also had some fresh fruit to go with lunch - small, sweet, bananas were gone in just a few bites each. And some tangerines that looked like they were all dried out, though when you peeled them, they were juicy and quite tasty.
Then it was time to brave the terrible road back to our lodge. I actually fell asleep during some of the ride home, but certainly I didn't sleep very well with all the bumps that we hit. When we arrived back at the hotel, it was warm enough to change into shorts, so we did that and then had some few pre-dinner drinks on the back patio.
Soon it was time to head out again for our night walk. We planned to walk along the forest edge at dusk to see what wildlife was out there. Luckily, the location of the night walk was only a few minutes from the hotel, because I don't think I'd like to do that long drive back to Mantadia again today!
We walked along the edge of the forest, mostly paralleling the road.
There were lots of chameleons and insects in the lush vegetation.
We also saw nocturnal lemurs out in the trees, but there was no way to photograph them. You could see their eyes, glowing in the distance, but not much else.
So we looked at the colorful frogs instead. They were easier to capture on camera.
Back to the hotel for dinner, which was a very nice three-course affair like yesterday. I had the tomato mozzarella salad for a starter, a chicken leg with a tasty tomato sauce for my main, and the crepe stuffed with vanilla ice cream and covered in chocolate sauce for dessert. I had been eyeing that crepe since Chris had it yesterday, and it didn't disappoint.
Chris started with a vegetable tart, and then the same main and dessert that I had. We went with South African wine tonight which was quite a bit better than yesterday's choice.
We were in bed asleep by 10:00, hoping for a more restful sleep tonight! Tomorrow, a morning hike to look for more lemurs, and then a 4-hour car trip back to Antananarivo.
So unfortunately, we slept fitfully overnight until about 3AM. Then I woke up for good and couldn’t get back to sleep very much after that. I was a little worried that I'd be too tired to enjoy today's activity, but luckily for me, I had a nice cold shower waiting for me which helped a lot!
 |
| Ready for Breakfast. And a Hike! |
Chris had a nice warm shower, but I didn’t realize that the in-room water heater had a fairly small tank, so I waited too long to get in. I didn't stay in too long, though, so we were ready fast!
We headed down to the dining room for breakfast which was quite nice. They didn't bring pitchers of brewed coffee; instead, they made specialty cups fresh from a machine, so we had double espressos to go around. And, we looked at the dinner menu to put in our orders for tonight.
 |
| Beautiful flowers at Vakona Forest Lodge |
In addition to the usual cold items (meats, cereals), they had eggs available cooked to order. They had very nice bread too, with lots of butter and delicious mango passionfruit jam for making tartines. One thing I've noticed about all of the bread so far is that it seems to be made with low-gluten flour. It's very soft and not too chewy.
We headed out for our morning hike in Mantadia Park. It took over 1h15 to drive there, as the entire distance (14 km) was over extremely bumpy dirt roads which were in pretty rough shape. Luckily, this is the dry season, or the road would be truly impassible! All along the way, we saw people walking along the road, carrying heavy loads. We also saw zebu carts. Other than tourists, nobody seems to have motor vehicles here.
We arrived at the trailhead and saw maybe 6-8 other vehicles with tour groups already here. Though it looked a bit crowded, it really wasn't an issue at all.
Our guide started out with a bit of a tough climb up to a scenic viewpoint, which was a bit of a shock to the system. But we kept up and were rewarded with a nice overview of the forest.
Time for a breather! That was a good climb. Especially with all of those big lenses in tow...
The vegetation is fairly dense and there are many vines and assorted mosses growing on the trees. It's a very pretty landscape, though we were definitely not here to just see trees.
 |
| Moss everywhere. Mantadia NP, Madagascar |
 |
| Leaping Lemur |
We headed down from the viewpoint and wandered through the forest looking for lemurs. We had several very good sightings today. We spent about a half an hour watching a group of black and white ruffed lemurs, who were high in the trees gorging themselves on fruit.
 |
| Black and White Ruffed Lemur |
They are fairly large and heavy, but very agile as they maneuvered through the canopy. They could walk on amazingly thin branches, and would even hang upside down to reach a tasty piece of fruit.
 |
| Lemur acrobatics |
 |
| Red-bellied Lemur. Gorgeous eyes! |
As we were watching the group, a red-bellied lemur put in an appearance close to ground level. I was impressed with the beautiful light blue color of its eyes.
He eventually got bored with us and wandered off into the jungle canopy.
Our best sighting of the day had to be the golden (diademed) sifaka, though. They seemed curious about us, too. This guy stopped for a closer look.
We were mesmerized by a large group of them who were casually making their way through the forest. They soared gracefully through the air, just below the treetops.
They obliged with some great poses. I broke out the 500mm lens and snapped away.
This mother and baby were adorable. They made many nice poses for us.
There were probably 10 in the group, and they slowly made their way from tree to tree, pausing along the way to do whatever it is that lemurs do - usually, eat!
Unlike the other groups we had seen previously, these lemurs were closer to the ground so the were easier to photograph, without all the backlighting.
 |
| Brown leaf chameleon (superciliaris) |
It was hard to top the lemurs, but on the way out of the park we saw various other species of birds, frogs, and chameleons.
All pretty, colorful, and interesting in their own right. The camouflage of some of these lizards is very impressive! They have mastered the art of looking like dead leaves.
 |
| A cute snake...from a distance! |
One of our group even held a small snake! Not for me...
 |
| Lakeside Picnic, Mantadia Reserve |
After we finished the hike, it was time for lunch. The lodge had provided picnic supplies, so we grabbed our sandwiches and headed over to the side of a lake to sit in the shade.
 |
| Keep an eye on your lunch! Aerial attack... |
We also had some fresh fruit to go with lunch - small, sweet, bananas were gone in just a few bites each. And some tangerines that looked like they were all dried out, though when you peeled them, they were juicy and quite tasty.
Then it was time to brave the terrible road back to our lodge. I actually fell asleep during some of the ride home, but certainly I didn't sleep very well with all the bumps that we hit. When we arrived back at the hotel, it was warm enough to change into shorts, so we did that and then had some few pre-dinner drinks on the back patio.
Soon it was time to head out again for our night walk. We planned to walk along the forest edge at dusk to see what wildlife was out there. Luckily, the location of the night walk was only a few minutes from the hotel, because I don't think I'd like to do that long drive back to Mantadia again today!
We walked along the edge of the forest, mostly paralleling the road.
There were lots of chameleons and insects in the lush vegetation.
We also saw nocturnal lemurs out in the trees, but there was no way to photograph them. You could see their eyes, glowing in the distance, but not much else.
 |
| Elephants Ear Chameleon |
So we looked at the colorful frogs instead. They were easier to capture on camera.
 |
| Tomato Mozzarella Salad, Vakona Forest Lodge |
Back to the hotel for dinner, which was a very nice three-course affair like yesterday. I had the tomato mozzarella salad for a starter, a chicken leg with a tasty tomato sauce for my main, and the crepe stuffed with vanilla ice cream and covered in chocolate sauce for dessert. I had been eyeing that crepe since Chris had it yesterday, and it didn't disappoint.
 |
| Chicken Leg with Tomato Sauce. It also came with Fries! |
Chris started with a vegetable tart, and then the same main and dessert that I had. We went with South African wine tonight which was quite a bit better than yesterday's choice.
We were in bed asleep by 10:00, hoping for a more restful sleep tonight! Tomorrow, a morning hike to look for more lemurs, and then a 4-hour car trip back to Antananarivo.
I love the pictures -Zara
ReplyDeleteI like the frog! -Anja