March 3 – Taolanaro, Madagascar

We have arrived in Madagascar today, land of lemurs and other interesting creatures.  Our excursion today took us by un-air conditioned school bus (it is HOT and HUMID today) to the Nahampoana Private Reserve.

The scenery along the drive is very beautiful as this area is quite mountainous and we are on the wet side of the mountains so it is very lush and green. 

There were many farmers working the fields…

and we saw a lot of zebus, the local cattle. 

The zebu's ancestors came from India so they have the hump on the back that is characteristic of many Indian cattle.  Our guide said that this hump is quite prized as food because of its high quality of fat.

We passed through a number of small villages.  Madagascar is one of the poorest countries on earth and these villages were obviously very poor.  There were a few roadside stands selling produce.

Most of the homes in the countryside were very small and obviously made by hand. 

We also passed a small church where Sunday services were in progress.

The guide said that many of the farmers required all of their crops for feeding their families and consequently they had no income. Some had a side business carving rocks out of the nearby mountains and bringing them down to their homes where the members of the family crushed (by hand) the rocks into gravel that was then sold.  It sounds like a hard life.

Along the road we saw what looked like cemeteries.  The bodies aren't buried here but the family does erect monuments to the deceased.  For those who had some wealth (typically in cattle) the family would have a feast for everyone who came to the wake and the skull of the cows would be hung on the monument.  

The bus occasionally had to slow down and stop and there was almost always one or two boys with chameleons on sticks that they were holding up for us to see.

Our main destination today is the Nahampoana reserve.  The walk into the park was along a pathway lined with large bamboo.

There were quite a number of flowering shrubs and bushes.

We saw a number of women working the fields growing vegetables.

We stopped briefly at an enclosure where they had a few land turtles.

Then it was on to see the lemurs.  We had two guides on the bus and when we went into the reserve they were joined by a scout who was able to locate lemurs for us.  The first lemurs we saw were White Sifaka lemur.  Most were in trees...

but a few were on the ground eating and hopping around.

Later we saw the iconic ring tailed lemurs…

and a lone brown lemur but couldn't get a picture of it.

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More Photos of Lemurs
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After the walk through the reserve we stopped for a bathroom break and a rest in the shade.  There were a number of local people performing their native dances and others selling beverages and souvenirs.

Then it was the long bumpy road back to the ship.

We both took a shower (we were soaked from the heat and humidity) and went up for a late lunch and chocolate milkshakes.  Great treat to help cool us off.