Day 15: 2nd day in Anjozorobe reserve

At dawn I am surprised by shouts coming from the forest, just in front of my bungalow.
In fact it is  lemurs indri which "communicate"!!!
...fact a pleasure to hear that...
 

We take advantage of this last day in a forest and our eayes search the smallest nook in search of orchids.
 

During our ride we cross wet primary forests, but also drier, but each time we are lucky to find blooming orchids.

Aeranthes nidus

Angraecum clavigerum

Here the forest doesn't suffer too much of devastating fires we saw during our trip.

Even if of course near from the villages, there is no more forest but rice fields, ,the culture is reasoned and here everybody is aware of the role of this reserve and of the interest of its conservation today.

Angraecum dryadum et Polystachia bicolor

Oeonia rosea et Polystachia mautiiana

 

The day ends, the trip also because we leave our last primary forest. By returning to the lodge, we cross a last small chameleon hided in the grass.

Day 14: the Anjozorobe reserve

The end of our trip is close, but we still have nevertheless to spend two days in the  Anjozorobe Reserve, which is in hundred kilometers in the North East from the capital. This reserve, about 10 000 hectares, represents the last vestiges of the natural forests of the Malagasy highlands between the savanna and the east wet dense forest.
Since 1998, the NGO FANAMBY manages, with a ministerial approval, the remaining 40 % of the initial surface of this forest.

After a lot of nights spent under the tent, it is this time a magnificent lodge that waits for us, the Mananara lodge.

 

 

We live in individual bungalow, formed by a part hard containing the toilets on which is connected a tent canvas to form the bedroom.

The owner of this lodge, worried about questions touching the environment, set up some measures in this sense.
 

The hot water is supplied every evening at a set time, for every bungalow, thanks to individual boilers placed outside and fed by wood fires, when in the electricity supplied by a generator and is available only a few hours a day in ranges defined in advance.

In the afternoon we decide to go and look for orchids in a forest very close to the lodge, but we find some...
 

 

Disa buchenaviana et Cynorkis madagascarica

The lodge is situated in side of a hill, at the foot of which is a swampy zone where abounds a very nice-smelling plant of the family of the ginger

 

From this past wet zone, we penetrate quickly in the primary forest and we do not delay finding the first orchids in flowers there.

Angraecum sp.

 

Angraecum vesiculiferum et Bulbophyllum alexandrae

And typicals animals too...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night is close and we end our loop which will return us to the lodge, but before it we fall on a magnificent natural pond around which abound the bundles of papyri.

 

 

After a good meal, we go each in our bungalow for night deserved well before our big rideof the next day which will make us penetrate a little more profoundly into the reserve.

Day 13: return at Antananarivo

 

 

The day gets up hardly when we leave Fianarantsoa.

 

Our day program, to return on our steps of the first days, that means return at Antananarivo.

 

 

The journey is long and the road, although still in rather good condition, is also borrowed by the herds which are going to serve to feed for the inhabitants of the capital and by carts pulled by zebus, full of various foodstuffs or charcoal.
 

The more we approach the capital and the more we see some, everybody converges on the big city to try to sell of what he had with difficulty managed to produce.

 

Only one stop today, in a place well known by my friends because here we can find two very rare orchids!!

 

 

 

Cynorkis gibbosa et Liparis microcharis

 

At the end of the afternoon we arrive at the Villa Amy, where arrived our first day in Madagascar.
After a good diner, everybody go in his sleeping room to sleep in a good and real bed.
 

Day 12: return at Germain's home

The previous day wasn't so hard so I wake up early, what allows me to photograph our camp when everybody is still sleeping

 

 

 

Germain waits for us for lunch time, so this morning we have to hurry!!
 

The forest is very humid here, with a lot of little rivers everywhere.

 

 

We still discover not yet seen orchids, but also chameleons, spiders and even a boa...

  

 Angraecum curnowianum

 Boa madagascariensis

 

 

But once again we fall behind because the distance to be walked is long and orchids to be observed are numerous

Aeranthes adenopoda et Angraecum sp.

 

Oeonia volucris

 

After a few hours of walking we find the savanna. As there are only few orchids here, we can thus accelerate the step but the sky covers itself and the rain, once again, begins to fall...

 

 

The last small break, the time to photograph all our small team and we arrive to Germain with 3 good hours delay.

 

We feast with the crawfishes whom he prepared for us, but already it is necessary to take back the road in the direction of Fianarantsoa, where we shall sleep in the hotel, in a real bed... finally...

Day 11: on the way back

As every day we wake up in the first lights, still exhausted by the efforts of the day before.

We distinguish finally this village where we slept but where, by arriving at night, we did not  have time to discover.

Just after the breakfast, everybody is ready to leave in the direction of the Highlands.
It is early in the morning but most of the people are already working in the fields and we leave a quite empty village.
 

After a few hours we discover a beautiful and peacefull river...it is already moist and hot, so we stop to have a good bath...we are not too much in a hurry today, we take our time.
 

During this time the carriers continued the road, taking little beforehand to find us a "local fuel" which, according to their own statements, is going to help us to walk a little faster!!

It is in fact a local rum made with sugar cane and with maceration of bark of tree.

Not being really persuaded that this drink will have on us the expected effects, we only drink a little, promising to droink more in the evening.

Once more, as soon as we leave the cultivated areas, we quickly find the first orchids.

Polystachia tsinjoarivensis et Calanthe sylvatica

This time it is not a snake which cross our road, but a really big frog!!

Finally this day of walking was rather short and it is in the afternoon that we arrive at our third camp, what allows us to relax a little by having a nap or by relaxing us in a very cool river

 

The evening ended around a fire, with some rum and songs... very pleasant!!