Day 4: on the way towards the massif of Itremo

Departure early in the morning because 140km separate us from our day destination, the massif of Itremo.
It can appear not a lot, but we don't still know how will be the tracks...
 

 

 

In fact the tracks are not good, so we progress slowly, but as usual we take advantage to scrutinize the edges of the track in search of orchids.
 

The rainy season is late again this year, so even if some orchids are late too, the tracks are not so moddy as they should be...

 

 

Here the deforestation is nearly total and sometimes we can see some "lavakas",  big holes in the ground which become bigger years after years because of the rain.

 

 

The landscape becomes more in more steep as we get closer to our objective.
We arrive in the field of quartzits, mica-schists, dolomitic marble  and from hills covered with a of tapias ormerly used as feed for the breeding of a silkworm or big aloes with palm trees' shape, which raise themselves among masses of fallen rocks.

 

 

It is a vegetation adapted to the sometimes extreme conditions of this sector and rare are the epiphytic orchids to like it.

Nevertheless, we find an Angraecum sp. and a Jumellea densefoliataToutefois, nous trouvons quelques Angraecum sp. et Jumellea pandurata nested in the armpit of big branches, in the shade of the foliage, so taking advantage of a maximum of freshness and of residual humidity.

 

 

The " road infrastructures ", as this old bridge, let think that this road is only very rarely borrowed by motor vehicles and we prefer to get out of the car to let the care to the drivers to cross it quitly.

 

 

 

Finally, after long hours on the tracks, we arrive in the village of Ihasifotsy, just a stone's throw from the Itremo, where we are welcomed by the team of Madagascar Preservation Centers, the Malagasy office of the Royal Botanical Garden of Kew which works on the process of obtaining of a status of area protected from the Massif of Itremo.

 

 

 

The sky becomes dark and this night we have to sleep under the tent, that is why we decide to go quickly to the place where we suggested us installing our camp.

The time to arrive there, the thunderstorm is on us and the installation of tents is made under a steady rain, but without comparison with what will fall us above throughout the night.