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Living on Reunion island, I am only one hour away by plane of what we call here ‘the big island’ or the ‘the red island’; the Republic of Madagascar. It is quite big, with its 587000 square km compared to our 2511 square km…and has a lot to offer for nature’s lovers.
I recently had the opportunity to go there with two scientists, one being a herpetologist (batrachians and reptiles specialist) and the other an environmentalist who were to visit two natural parks. So we first flew to Antananarivo, the capital, situated in the central highlands. We then rented a car and drove to Periney-Andasibe, which is only 150km east, on the way to Tamatave, a quite good road. The Periney-Andasibe reserve consists in remaining of rain forest where the ‘indry' lemuroids can be found. The reserve also hosts several artificial ponds which were set up for fish raising and actually attract many batrachians amongst which the amazing dwarf frogs Mantela and Heterixalus which are about two to three cm long. Heterixalus punctatus is white with black spots while Mantela displays green arms, black body and orange stripped with black legs. Some other weird creatures are the Uroplatus which are related to lizards but are much slower and lack eyelids, so they have every once in a while to stick out the tongue and lick the eyes to moist them. Those animals have an amazing camouflage system and can be quite difficult to spot as they look just like a piece of lichen. As for camouflage the numerous species of chameleons are champions at this game, some being no more than a few cm long. Of course, besides animals the forest itself is a real treat for plants enthusiasts, with incredible tree ferns, palm trees, giant lianas growing all the way up to the canopy, and many orchids, both terrestrial and epiphytic.
After three days roaming through this forest we drove back to Antananarivo and then down south towards Ranomafane, which lays some 460km away. The last 40km consist in a terrible dirt road with holes the size of a car, either dusty if it is dry season or muddy if it is rain season, and four to five hours drive will be necessary. The passengers can take advantage of the slow motion to spot chameleons or boa snakes crossing the road. Ranomafane (which means ‘hot water' as there are hot springs there) is a small village in the middle of the rain forest, the reserve itself is 40000 hectares large and is host to Microcebus murinus, a dwarf nocturnal lemur which can be spotted at night provided you have a strong flashlight. As in Periney, many frogs, lizards (like the colourful Phelsuma) can be seen, as well as birds, numerous butterflies and snakes. The plants world is again very rich and we spotted a few unknown species.As in every nature reserve in Madagascar you have to pay an entrance fee of 50000 Malagasy francs (about 9 US$) for three days. Then it is compulsory to take a guide for the hikes, the price depending on whether the guide is a beginner, semi professional or fully professional. Those guides have a training given by the ANVAR, a state organism that is responsible for all nature reserves. Some of those guides will only be able to distinguish a fern from an orchid but some are very good, mainly those who worked on the field with foreign scientists and gained good knowledge. The main problem is malaria and those rain forests of course tend to be quite mosquitoes-friendly so anti-malaria drugs are necessary. Another annoyance comes from the numerous ground leeches, which are of the small kind but will crawl up your legs as soon as you stop, paraffin liberally sprayed on the shoes and socks will prevent most of the problem. Now, this area has basically two seasons, the dry one and the wet one. Although it may rain during the dry season, it will rain heavily during the rain season and of course mosquitoes and leeches will be much more numerous, but so will be all kind of frogs and birds. Dry season is between May and October while rain season is between December and April.
Last be not least, Mada (as we lazy tropical folks usually call it) being a former French colony, French is spoken through the country, which helps as Malagasy language is in no way the sort you can guess (it has got African and Indonesian background). Very few people would speak English as tourism is not very developed.
About Jean-Jacques Segalen
I am a Parisian born professional horticulturist specialized in tropical seeds producing, set on Reunion island (just between Mauritius and Madagascar) 17 years ago. I spend a lot of time gathering seeds in the wild, the ones I do not grow that is. Also a dedicated Tai-Chi practitioner and tree climber!
Posted by TexasPuddyPrint (from Edinburg, TX) on May 8, 2008 at 9:58 PM:
JJ...
Great photos and description of the terrain. Ya'll have such a nice diversity of critters. Cute little frogs and lizards.
Why is it the critters in Texas either bite, sting, burn or do other things that hurt!?
Ya'll get malaria and we get dengue fever, west nile virus and encephalitis. Is there any benefit to mosquitoes? Wish I could find a way to get of the hordes in my yard!
~ Cat
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on May 9, 2008 at 8:29 AM:
Hey Cat,
Yes, diversity is the word and this was just a tiny part of Madagascar, could spend years there and keep discovering marvels!
Those Texas critters must be some Redneckus kind I reckon...
The only benefit for mosquitoes is that they feed bats which in turn make some nice manure.
JJ
...
Subject: for jjacques
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 23, 2008 at 12:48 PM:
JJ. Even peaceful animals confined under stressful conditions are likely to exhibit violence. This is my buddy Albert from the San Diego Zoo in the 1960s. He was such a sweet fellow, but he hated psychologists who were constantly subjecting him to I.Q. tests. He could spot one of them at quite a distance in the crowd. When he did they were likely to get a faceful of fresh gorilla doo.
Photo: courtesy San Diego Zoo.
This message was edited Apr 23, 2008 11:49 AM
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 24, 2008 at 9:56 AM:
Gloria,
This perfectly makes sense to me, as a kid in Paris I was fascinated by animals and would ask to go to the zoo but then felt so sorry for the caged animals I would want to turn back...I remember of wolves in a small cage that were clearly turning crazy, just like people in a small cell. Poor Albert probably dreamed of his Central African home every night.
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 24, 2008 at 11:36 AM:
jj. The students in the class i was teaching petitioned the zoo for more private space for the animals. There was an especially bad situation that they observed. Some gelada male monkeys were in a cage next to females in estrus. They were banging their head bloody against the cages. My students were probably not the only reason for improved conditions at the zoo, but the San Diego zoo now has very humane housing for the animals.
Still no animal including humans likes to be starred at. It is very stressful.
Anyhow, I hope we can look forward to another one of your trips.
Really, enjoyed it.
gloria
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 24, 2008 at 12:06 PM:
Gloria,
Yes, zoos are a difficult topic, they are a wonderful tool to show animal diversity to the ones who cannot afford to travel but on the other hand they are nothing but jails. I would favour open places where animals can roam and people either drive cars or are driven in mini-buses like in reserves but of course this cannot be held in the middle of Chicago or L.A. As for students, to me studying animals in a zoo is like studying plants in a flora, the whole environment is missing and any living being is definitely a product of its environment, correct me if I am wrong as I am not a scientist but a nature lover and forests roamer...
JJ
...
Subject: Lemur
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 22, 2008 at 1:32 PM:
Here's one of the little one's. I think most are the size of a large cat.
Photo from Wikipedia/National Geographic
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 22, 2008 at 11:54 PM:
I think this one is a Microcebius, they are probably the smaller ones and weight some 30g, the Indri which are daylight animals weight up to 7kg.
...
Subject: Madagascar
Posted by moniquedigs (from Toronto
(Canada)) on April 21, 2008 at 8:35 PM:
Thank you, Jean-Jacques for bringing some 'Malagasy' into our life! My son and I really enjoyed reading about your flora and fauna - great photos. I am also a fan of Malagasy music, in particular a guitarist whose name escapes me at the moment. Looking forward to future posts.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 22, 2008 at 8:38 AM:
Monique,
They do have some special music, all is not fantastic because of the commercial side but they also have the traditional music with the 'Valy' a king of tubular string instrument made with a chunk of bambou, some people are virtuoso!
...
Subject: Magnificent!
Posted by wee7341 (from Aiken, SC) on April 21, 2008 at 2:49 PM:
Hi Jean-Jacques, Thank you so much for your article on Madagascar! I hope to visit there in 2009 so am anxious to read everything I can about the birds, reptiles, lemurs, moths, butterflies and plants! I hope you will soon write another article with even more information. I agree with the person who said, "another 12 pages would be good!"
Merci beaucoup mille fois,
Ruth Marie
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 22, 2008 at 8:35 AM:
Hi Ruth Marie,
You should be able to find good books on both flora and fauna of Madagascar as the country has been studied by naturalists for a long time. As the endemism rate is fairly high you will see plants and animals seldom found abroad, like the various Baobab trees, all the spiny plants of the South 'la forêt d'épineux' and many many things! People are also very open and friendly though they are so poor. Do you already have a route scheduled?
Bring old clothes which you can leave behind, people will be very grateful.
JJ
...
Subject: Merci beaucoup
Posted by soive2000 (from Austin, TX) on April 21, 2008 at 8:45 AM:
Ce etait magnifique!
Thank you so much. It was beautifully written.
Anita
...
Posted by Horseshoe (from Efland, NC) on April 21, 2008 at 10:46 AM:
Another fine journey and adventure! Great pictures to go along with the words!
Thanks!
I wonder if ya'll camped in the rainforest those 3 days or are there accommodations of some kind?
Shoe
(Oh yeh, what is that pretty purplish flower, bottom right? I love it!)
...
Posted by KiminPL (from San Diego, CA) on April 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM:
Perhaps in Ranomafana you stayed at Cent-Rest, Lilia's place? She has quite an extensive collection of anthurium at her hotel. In March this year, I spent a whirlwind week seeking rare palms in Mada, in areas around Ranomafana and Parc d'Isalo, so I am very pleased to see your article. I wish you had written a dozen more pages with photos! It's a fantastic country, with tremendous plant and animal richness, but the constant destruction by fire in unprotected areas is disheartening.
This message was edited Apr 21, 2008 8:01 AM
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 21, 2008 at 1:50 PM:
Merci Anita!
Shoe, no, we did not camp, there are some (rather basic) accomodation. The worse in Mada comes from transportation, it took me 24h to go from Ranomafane to Tananarivo which make some 460km...
Kimin,
We did not stay at Lilia's but some shabby place up the road. Palms are a special treat in this country, I guess you know the book on Malagasy palms by Dransfield and Bentje? Flying over Mada is awful when you see all the fires and smoke it is like the whole place threatens to burn down, sad.
...
Posted by ooojen (from Lewiston, MN) on April 21, 2008 at 2:34 PM:
That was a wonderful article, and magnificent photos to accompany it! I agree with KiminPL above; a dozen more pages would have been welcome. Thanks for sharing your tour with us!
...
Subject: A threatened paradise
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 20, 2008 at 2:34 PM:
jjacques: I was especially interested in your article because years ago I studied the Madagascar Lemurs at the San Diego zoo and I always wondered what their home would have been like.
Are there any preservation projects to save this habitat? And how are the lemurs doing?
Thanks for the article.
gloria
...
Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on April 20, 2008 at 4:06 PM:
JJ, I enjoyed reading your article. I found it very informative.
Thank you.
Good one JJ. I love that white frog. Great read & great pictures.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 21, 2008 at 1:56 PM:
Gloria,
Some people in Mada do try to preserve forests and lemurs but it is a very hard task, even forests who have been bought and are therefore supposed to be private and off-limit are still vsited by poochers. Folks would basically respect lemurs are they are 'fady' or taboo so they are not hunted and eaten. In national reservations they try to attract as many tourists as possible in order to get some money so trails are all over the place, ground stamped which is very bad for plants regeneration hence natural life habitat. And as people are too poor to buy gas they rely in charcoal for cooking which means more tree felled...
Ian,
Those frogs are amazing, tiny things (say 5cm long) but so noisy!
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 21, 2008 at 2:02 PM:
jj: Sounds like it is not a good perspective for the lemurs.
I got to know several on quite a personal basis at the zoo when I was working with the primates there. I always wondered where and how they lived and what they ate.
thanks,
gloria
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 21, 2008 at 2:11 PM:
No good perspective for the lemurs, the forests and the people over there...They do live in forests (the ones I have seen) and are vegetarians (leaves, fruits, barks) and live as groups. In Mayotte (French island of the Comoros Archipelago, North-West of Madagascar) the Catta lemur is a common sight in the forests and they often come close to the houses to get fruits, some would even come and fetch bananas from you hands. Lovely animals.
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 21, 2008 at 2:38 PM:
Thank you JJ. I hope you will take us on a return visit someday.
I am with Gloria in being fascinated by Lemurs. Their behaviour seems so similar to monkeys but I suspect there must be some differences. Would you say they are as smart as monkeys?
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 22, 2008 at 8:28 AM:
Of course, next time I head for Mada there will be an article for you guys, I am writing one on Mayotte island.
Yes, lemurs are very different from monkeys. They never seem menacing and always act extremely softly (maybe not during mating season but this is another subject!). I have seen many baboons when traveling in South Africa but never felt like patting one! Another very special feature which both humans and lemurs share are finger prints strangely enough. Many people in Madagascar believe that lemurs are some intermediary between men and spirits or they are some kind of ghosts, loss souls or whatever. And then you get the nocturnal lemurs which are just incredible.
JJ
OK. Very interesting. Apes have fingerprints too but I have no idea if monkeys do. I know what we would prefer to believe, but I have to wonder if a lemur's passive nature makes it more or less like us. The nocturnal ones remind me of tree kangaroos. I wouldn't go near a baboon either. They seem a bit like possums, but about 10 times worse.
Ian
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 22, 2008 at 11:58 PM:
I do not think monkeys have fingerprints but they sure are closer to men if you think in terms of agressivity and competity. An adult male baboon can easily tear you up with his arms and fangs, they are reputed to be a real hazard. And they are clever too, just like men...
OK. Sounds nasty. Do you have large fauna on Reunion besides rats & lemurs?
...
Posted by gloria125 (from Greensboro, AL) on April 23, 2008 at 10:25 AM:
yeh. It seems many primates have multimale groups that can be quite aggressive, including human populations where football, basketball, army, marines, etc are institutionalized. Gorillas and chimps are the least aggressive and males tend to be loners.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 23, 2008 at 12:31 PM:
Hi,
Nothing large here, all the big animals (dodo, ground tortoises and parrots) have been eaten by the first settlers.
You are right on Gloria, male groups have the fascinating ability to produce a sum of stupidity and violence more important that all the individual stupidity and violence added, amazing! You know why gorillas and chimps are quite cool? They never watch TV...
...
Subject: Wonderful
Posted by onewish1 (from Denville, NJ) on April 20, 2008 at 7:03 AM:
Interesting story & lovely photos... Thank you
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 20, 2008 at 8:18 AM:
Thanks for your mail, this country has amazing natural beauties but it is getting destroyed at an alarming rate and no solutions in sight as it is one of the poorer countries in the world...
...
Posted by onewish1 (from Denville, NJ) on April 20, 2008 at 8:27 AM:
It is a shame... but I love your vanilla beans!
...
Posted by Dutchlady1 (from Naples, FL) on April 20, 2008 at 9:53 AM:
What an exciting place to visit.
...
Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 20, 2008 at 10:54 AM:
How wonderful! Thanks for writing about it.
...
Posted by McGlory (from Southeast, NE) on April 20, 2008 at 2:04 PM:
Oh, that article was really great! I love all the photos of the dwarf frogs. Thank you for sharing your trip with us.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 20, 2008 at 2:28 PM:
Thank you all, I know few of you will probably go there some day so I am happy to let you enjoy it.
