August 4, 2004
"Wonderful Diversity"
by Allison Schwartz

The Day began with an early wakeup and an egg omelet. It was going to be a long morning filled with lush landscape and colorful animals. I was the CNT for JBB; that is, I would take care of the bait in the forested area of the park. The forest was cool that morning and alive with different chirpings. Every few minutes we would stop to observe a new vibrantly colored bird, most of which were only to be seen in Madagascar. As we followed the twisting path through the forest and reached the opening at the lake our guide offered to take us another way. This route went around the lake avoiding the hot humid road, and allowing us to enjoy sights of species and vegetation that we had not yet witnessed. We came close to the shores of the glassy lake able to observe various fish. We saw a meiosphis, a sandy colored snake that was friendly enough. Neon green geckos stood silently on logs and trees. Thick vines were braided together swinging from the trees. As we made our way we came to a special tree. Although there were no leaves, the tree towered tall above us. The tree was so enormous that I could barely fit its span into my camera lens. It was truly a sight to be admired in person. It had great big thick branches aimed at the vibrant sky. We headed back to camp, crossing a wired bridge, which added to our adventure. We walked through the rice paddies passing a fruit tree with a chameleon resting on a branch. Soon we were back at camp resting our legs for our next adventure.