Nosy Be - lemurs and spiders and snakes

First a quick recap of three days at sea. With the down day in Maputo we got caught up with our school schedules. Thomas decided to give needlepoint a go and has joined the morning “coffee and needlepoint” group. Devin has joined the “Sing Out Loud” group at the behest of around-the-world host Carolyn. I was very pleased that he went on his own to the rehearsals with all the adults. They’ll be performing near the end of this leg. We also had an around-the-world dinner in the Grand Dining room. This got pushed back a couple of days due to rough seas. On Tuesday and Wednesday we had some of the roughest seas of the trip, courtesy of a tropical depression that was spinning south of Madagascar. None of us got physically sick, but it was certainly less comfortable than other days.

On Friday we anchored off of Nosy Be, an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Our excursion for the day was to the Lokobe Nature Preserve, where we hoped to see lemurs. We were a bit delayed in getting started due to tender priorities, but we finally got going about 8:30. We had a small boat that took us to the preserve, where we had a “wet landing.” That meant a choice: wade ashore in hiking boots or take them off on the boat, wade ashore, then put them back on on the beach. I chose the former. That meant soggy shoes, but the thought of putting boots back on while sitting on the sand seemed unpleasant. I’d rather have wet feet than sandy feet. I find footwear choices to be difficult on these outings. You know you’re going on a jungle hike and to a “beach,” but you have no idea what that really means. I like boots for a jungle hike as you have better ankle support, you’re less likely to slip, you’re protected from pokes and scratches, and you are defended against ankle biters. As it turned out it was fine – my feet were wet but it didn’t bother me in the least. The only negative was that I’ve got very wet boots that are going to take days to dry.

Back to the trip. Immediately upon reaching the beach we saw lemurs in the trees. These were black lemurs, the largest of the lemurs. Males are all black while females are a reddish-brown. They were eating fruit off a tree and largely indifferent to our presence. It was a treat to see them there as we were able to move around on the beach to get good views. Much harder to do that on a jungle trail.

Heading into the jungle proper, we soon saw several different leaf-tailed geckos, another Madagascar endemic. These geckos lie flat against tree trunks, against which they are incredibly well camouflaged. We also came across two large boa constrictors, both napping. The first was at the base of a tree and the second, a different species that is able to climb trees, was perched atop a tree stump about four feet off the ground. On the day we wound up seeing four snakes, which was very cool.

We did see one other lemur high up in the trees, but he was tough to get a good look at. There were also birds calling all around, but the only one I got a good enough look at to identify was a Malagasy Paradise-Flycatcher. Like many birds here, and many species in general here, it is endemic. Madagascar split off from Africa so long ago that evolution has had time to drive the flora and fauna in different directions than what has happened on the mainland, resulting in a bunch of unique species.

After the jungle hike we were taken to another beach where some of the local women performed a dance for us. We were able to relax and enjoy some local fruit and sodas, then walk around or wade in the ocean. Then it was back to the ship.

It was a great day seeing native Madagascar life. While it was hot and humid, it was not as hot as I was thinking it might be. There was also a pleasant absence of bugs. So far we’ve been remarkably bug bite free on this trip. Fingers crossed that continues!Read more