Dispatches From The Field

10 June 2003 -- Chris Golden

This morning Pierrot and I woke up around 7:00 am and went to get breakfast at the lodge. I was pretty tired after our long day yesterday. Pierrot and I had left on a taxi-brousse from Tana at 8:45 and hadn’t gotten to Ranomafana until 8:30 pm. A taxi-brousse is the Malagasy word for a bush taxi. It is a minibus or big truck that packs in between 12 and 18 people and heads off to a destination. Instead of leaving at regularly specified times, it leaves once enough people have bought tickets and the taxi-brousse is full. The ride down to Fianarantsoa was beautiful but the leg room was definitely lacking. Being 6’1”, I definitely am one of the taller people around in Madagascar and I had to contort myself and keep adjusting my position in order to maintain any feeling in my lower body. But, it was a great experience and the scenery was beautiful.

At breakfast in Ranomafana, we had French bread, papaya and crepes with honey (tantely in Malagasy). After breakfast, we walked up to meet Kimberley, Boris, and Ted. I met them in their room and Kimberley decided to go on the hike with Pierrot and me. We went on about a 3 and a half hour hike and saw two species of lemurs: brown red-bellied and common brown. The group of common brown lemurs was about 10 in number and we got to see them very close up, within a few feet. We also spotted a red-tailed vanga and a paradise flycatcher. After the hike, we went back to the lodge for lunch and had some great discussions. We relaxed until we left for Fianar in the Fosamanga at 5.