On Easter Monday there is not much to do in Tana so we just stroll along the city. After two days of sitting in a car it is nice to be walking. On this holy day there are barely any cars in the capital. Good thing for a city like Tana where air pollution is a problem.
Next day we are sitting in a taxi-brousse again. In less than 5 hours we go from hotel door to hotel door, about a 140 km done. Not bad! LOL We sleep in a little bungalow near the Andasibe national park. We’re here to come and see the rare Indri, the largest lemur known for its wailing cry that you can hear up to 2 km further. This kind of lemur is called Babakoto in Malagasy. The name ‘Indri’ actually means ‘Look up there’. It was mistaken for the animal’s name by a European explorer when the locals showed it to him. : )
The biggest lemur but with the smallest tale: the Indri
We walk for about three hours in the park. It is so great to see these animals life in their natural habitat, to watch them jump from one tree to another. The Indri is by the way the only type of lemur that has never ever survived in captivity. Even when they were given the same food as they would eat while living in the wild, no Indri has stayed alive. Therefor it is not allowed anymore to keep Indris in captivity.
Another kind, the second largest ; )
The cutest of them all, the greater bamboo lemur. Smaller than the ones in Ranomafana but the same species.
The highlight of the day was without any doubt the moment when the Indris started to do that typical cry and we were standing right under the trees where one group was lingering. Yes, I can even say it made me a bit emotional. There I was sitting on the ground, witnessing this Indri family communicate with another one somewhere further in the forest. The fact that nature is so overwhelmingly beautiful and that Kosta and I get to experience so many magical moments while travelling, really touched a soft spot in me. The two of us are so damn lucky to see all of this!
In the evening we also do a night walk. That gives us the opportunity to see the smallest lemur of them all: the mouse lemur. No pix of these little ones as they are to quick to be eternalised with our little camera.
Snoozing in the tree and therefore not adapting colour at night
And then, after two days here it is time to go back to the capital. Time to catch a flight to South Africa and pick up our very much missed Landcruiser! Being in Madagascar was not always easy but was great. If you are backpacking like us, you appreciate your car even more. LOL Travelling on public transport here is returning to hard core backpacking, it is experiencing what true backpacking is all about. It’s a lot of waiting and wondering why people are not more logical, it is sitting uncomfortably for hours, looking at your watch and begging for time to go faster. It is eating the same over and over again in local restaurants, holding your breath while using toilets that you would never use at home or preferably peeing in bushes when the bus stops for this kind of break. But it is also enjoying more than ever that you have arrived, that the mattress in the guest house is surprisingly good and that cold coca-cola is available. We had forgotten what energy backpacking takes out of you, but Madagascar has definitely been worthwhile!
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