The Red Island - I have itchy feet to go back!
In 2007 I, together with my good friend Kareemah embarked on a holiday - THE HOLIDAY of a lifetime.
We started working together in Nature Conservation in 2005 and soon realized that we both shared an insatiable need to visit Madagascar. Both of us are rather herpetofauna crazy (we have a love for reptiles and amphibians) and Madagascar is a nature lovers paradise. We aren't the usual kind of tourists though and we steered well clear of the usual spots - sandy white beaches with umbrellas and long chairs to sunbathe your worries away for a few days. Hell no! We wanted to raw experience - we wanted to dive head over heels into the depths of Madagascar's wild side. And oh boy, did that island deliver a trip of a lifetime and memories I will take with me until my last breath with a massive smile on my face.
Before I take you with me along this journey, I'd like to highlight that the photography in this post leaves a lot to be desired by today's standards. I was shooting with a small point and shoot camera (I can't even remember the make) and a Minolta Dynax 404 film camera...Most of these photos were developed and scanned at high resolution (well what was high res in 2007 was not high res by today's standards) and I've done what I can in terms of editing to bring them to their best.
While looking through these photos I was flooded with the feelings that were evoked on this trip. It has been nostalgic and warm and has left me with an urge to one day return and take my favourite people with me to explore.
Kareemah and I being the off the beaten track adventuring types that we are decided that a standard tourist holiday would leave us wanting...I must say that I have always admired and loved Kareemah's way of seeing and interacting with the world - and she has incredible negotiation skills. She found a travel company called True Blue Surf Travel and somehow talked them into a tailored vacation according to what we wanted to do. We had 10 days and they delivered! The cost of the entire holiday was actually laughable by today's standards for the value that they packed into it for us. It was also so weird when I went to collect our travel itineraries - from a long standing friend Jacques who I went to primary and some of high school with.
Our holiday visited about 4 different National Parks in the Northern region of Madagascar, we had our own field guide, our own driver (you need a very well maintained reliable 4x4 to go where we went) and we even had our own cook. We were truly spoiled on this trip!
For years I had been collecting field guides on Madagascar and reading up (and dreaming) about this trip. It stated in one of the articles I read that it is a nature fundi's wet dream and if you're a photographer, be prepared to take kilograms worth of film rolls because there is something to photograph every 2 seconds. I was a bit skeptical about this claim but it actually proved to be true. Needless to say that a large portion of my carry on luggage consisted of film rolls.
The landscape in Madagascar is indescribably beautiful, no matter where you go. We spent a day in the capital Antananarivo and saw some of the usual attractions, but we headed into the wilds and fell in love with this island.
The wildlife is truly amazing, strange and practically everywhere! You can look under a leaf or on a stick anywhere and you're bound to find something interesting. One of the animals that I have wanted to see for years was the Leaf Tailed Gecko. I wasn't disappointed and our guides actually found at least 3 different species. They are magnificent animals with insanely good camouflage techniques.
We hiked through a rainforest while it was raining and we got attacked by leeches (their bite is actually bloody painful), I had butterflies and fruit flies land on me and we visited many of the sacred waterfalls and shrouded trees. It was magical. This place felt like a place I could easily settle down in.
The people are humble, gentle, polite and unbelievably welcoming. They show hospitality and genuine interest in where you come from, what stories you can share and they too share stories with you. They even taught us a few of their Malagasy phrases. They have 7 different "tribes" across the island each of which have a different dialect of Malagasy as well as a different signature hat which sets them apart. The people are very proud of their heritage and their natural resources. While I won't go into the threats that their biodiversity faces because it is depressing, at that stage the president of the country had done extensive work in securing the future of their National Parks and indigenous forests.
We saw so many animals amongst the stunning backdrop landscapes that this island consists of. Our guides were amazing and because we were in conservation, they were quite happy for us to catch a few frogs and snakes so that we could get a good look at them. No animals were harmed and they were all released safely back into the wild.
So many of the animals and birds seem to have myth and legend attached to them as well. The Drongo is known as the king of the forest and watches over all the animals. He can see and hear far and wide and is considered a good omen.
Now any of you that have followed some of my other posts about birds, you'll know that I have a bit of a thing about birds with funky hairstyles. I was born in the 80s ok? It's not a great excuse but I'm sticking with it for now.
Well this next bird doesn't only do awesome 80s hair - but has bodacious Boy George eye makeup too lol. It's called the Crested Koua and it has amazing eye shadow skills.
In Ankarana Special Reserve there is an alien landscape that is ridiculously old - like 150 million years. It consists of limestone which through time has been eroded and apart from the really strange texture that it lends to the area, it is dotted with some interesting caves.
So of course, we went spelunking because deep down, there's a cavegirl/caveman in each of us. The one that we visited had glistening crystal formations as well as stalactites and stalagmites. These are all part of the heritage of this reserve and are well protected. You cannot go into these reserves without a guide.
We stuck around in this cave until just after dusk and while standing at the entrance, I swear I had a spiritual encounter as hundreds of bats comprising 7 different species flew around me exiting the cave emitting high pitched squeaks (yes, they were audible) yet not one touched me. Those little dots in this photo below are bat eyes.
And well, Madagascar is known for it's LEMURS. Unfortunately none of them answered to the name King Julian. I know, I know, the movie hadn't been made yet lol.
But the lemurs weren't the sneaky ones. We stayed overnight in a hut in the reserve where we did our night walk.
This little hut was home to a very mischievous little day gecko! While Kareemah was unpacking one of her bags, she suddenly yelped with fright because the little blighter had gone to investigate what she had brought with her. We had to chase this little bugger out of our bags at least four times that evening and when we left, we double checked that it hadn't stowed away to come home to South Africa with us (although I wouldn't have minded, it was a freaking cool little critter!)
We saw some many of the geckos and skinks in different places. There are even skinks that live along the shore lines and dart around the rocks and tidal pools catching bugs.
And the chameleons! Madagascar has one of the most diverse assortment of chameleons in the world. It is also home to the worlds largest and smallest chameleons. We were fortunate to find many of them in different shapes, sizes and colours. The Brookesia species of chameleon is the family of the smallest in the world. They are stupidly small and are only found in certain areas and are endangered. They live amongst the leaf litter of the forest floor and are in the process of essentially losing the use of their tiny stubby legs. If they fall over, they apparently might not be able to get back up again and can die as a result. This was told to us by the field guides and to be honest I'm not entirely sure I believe it but it could be a good way to stop people from chameleon tipping. Not that that is a thing in Madagascar that I know of. You can see if you look really closely at the bottom image that the chameleon is only slightly bigger than a thumb nail.
On the other end of the spectrum there were some bigger ones. Ones that I wasn't going to touch because they bite - hard. A respectful distance was maintained but they were always watching us.
During the 10 days that we were there, we stayed over in a Benedictine Monastary where we were co-erced to drink various Madagascan liqueurs. We stayed up late having broken conversations with the nuns who were extremely funny and warm hearted. I think they enjoyed the company as much as we did.
I teared up a bit when we left them.
We bought copious amounts of hand made souvenirs hand-carved out of the most beautiful sustainably forested wood, hand embroidered curtains and stunning oil paintings of Baobab landscapes. We even visited two of their biggest markets where I bought myself two facetted stones - an amethyst and a garnet which I had set into a ring and a pendant. These are absolute treasures of mine that I will pass down to Lory as family heirlooms.
Our guides were wonderful, they were exceptionally well versed in the wildlife, they knew the reserves like the backs of their hands and they went above and beyond to make our stay memorable. These people work tirelessly to promote conservation through well policed tourism to protect the animals and habitats. I have the utmost respect for them and will never forget how well they plied their trade with grace and a huge smile.
The entire experience cannot really be relayed here, but it is one of only a few places that given the chance, I would drop everything to travel there now.
These photos only represent about a fifth of the photos that I took in 10 days - on film. If you get there, be sure to take like a gazillion memory cards with you, I guarantee you will need them.
All images are property of Ranger Andy unless otherwise stated and may not be used without permission
