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4 may 2004

Madagascar 2004: Nightly Walk (day 16)

DylanL
2006-04-25 19:35:16

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us a wild river flows and there are forests all around us. Because of the climate it rains 270 days per year here, so the east of Madagascar is particulary green.

In the afternoon we arrive in Feon'ny Ala, a complex of pretty bungalows on the edge of the rainforest of Parque Nationale de Perinet. After nights of crab and lobster the familiar chicken is hard to consume this evening.

After the sunset we go for a nightly walk through the rainforest. Accompanied by a guide and equipped with flashlights, we make our way through the pitch black forest. All around us sounds the deafening noise of thousands of undefined insects. We're walking for a while and our guide is on the lookout, but finds nothing. It's my own girlfriend who discovers several mouse lemurs. These tiny nocturnal animals are the smallest mammals in the world. They measure the size of a thumb and weigh only 25 grams. We see their eyes illuminate in the light of our flashlights as they make small noiseless jumps over mini-branches. They remind me of those small stuffed toy animals with squeezable arms you used to attach to your schoolbag.

My girlfriend, who could by now be an acclompished guide, also discovers a baby Tenrec, a little black-yellow endemic hedgehog, fumbling for insects. Our guide makes an attempt to catch up by showing some spiders, a dragonfly and a frog, but it doesn't make much impression. It starts to rain gently but soon it becomes a shower of extreme proportions. Where are those ponchos when you need them? Right, in the bungalow. I desperately try to keep my camera dry, and fortunately i succeed. The shower lasts and we're soaking wet.

Then suddenly Dina, with car, appears out of nowhere. He brings us back to the bungalow, where a colony of ants has taken possession of our food. We attach our bag of food on a hook up in the air, out of reach for the insects. I see an insect hopping on the floor. Closer inspection reveals it's actually a frog. It has the size of my little finger's nail.

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