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Alaotra Mangoro Region

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    • TravelerA Francophone Adventure
      Day 11

      Afternoon and Night Walking Safari

      November 4, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      Everyone except Mike (he had travellers sickness) went on the afternoon walk through the Community Reserve in Andasibe. Our guide there was Liva, a cool guy who talked to the animals just for fun instead of trying to allure them. Going in the rainforest, I felt a little confused, as the forest didn't look that much like a rainforest. But then again: Who am I to judge? We wandered into the green for about half an hour, until we found a small group of common brown lemurs. One of them actually came as near as 50cm away from me, unbothered that I was doing a photo shoot with her and her baby. Then we moved on to find the Indri, the biggest lemur of all. And we did find them, however they haven't read the manual how to please tourists and stuck to their spot high up the trees. It was actually quite annoying that we'd stick around for so much time, hoping that they'd come down. I was just thinking "Please leave the poor animals alone".
      Then we found the most special tree on Earth: It's not identifiable, as it changes the leaves, fruits, blossoms and seeds every other year. Scientists can't say which kind of tree it is, but I most certainly can say that whoever found out that the tree is not identifiable must have magic eyes, because to me it looked just like the tree next to it. Moving on, we found a huge chameleon right in front of us, that was named after its discoverer Parson. It moved so slowly and still was so visible. That was really cool.
      We finished our afternoon walk and got back to our Lodge, we're we had some time to freshen up before the night walk. Liva was guiding the night walk as well and spotted some great things like chameleons and cool looking geckos. However, the most saught after animal (for the group) was the mouse lemur, also known as pigmy lemur, the smallest lemur there is.
      They were crazy about finding it, leading us into the jungle where we hit yet another group trying to find the smallest of its kind. These were way too many people for our liking, so Seb and I distanced ourselves a bit from the group and searched for insects. In the end, we found some dwarf and mouse lemurs and the others were happy. We were happy to be in bed asap.      Read more

    • TravelerA Francophone Adventure
      Day 12

      Andasibe NP - The Real Rainforest

      November 5, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

      The next morning, we bought some breakfast and headed out to the Andasibe Nationalpark, where we'd do yet another walking tour with Liva. This time though, the walk was included. But even before leaving the Lodge, we discovered a brown praying mantis, looking exactly like a crumbled leaf. Liva told us, that once a polish photographer paid him for 2 weeks to find this kind of mantis, but never did. And there it was just in the lodge. Lucky us.
      We got to the national park and we're led to a disclosed area, where fish was farmed (very weird for a national park), because they've discovered a black boa there. It was trying to warm itself up again, it seemed. And it definitely was much cooler in the rainforest than we've expected. We froze in our bed tonight.
      Moving on, we found the special, endemic giraffe of Madagascar, and no, I'm not talking about Melman from the movie, but from the insect. This was very cool! Honestly, I'd never expected myself or Seb to be so fascinated by insects, but they impressed me way more than the lemurs did.
      We did see some though. Again some Indris, and common browns, but also the golden lemurs, which were new.
      The coolest discovery on this walk must be the millipedes, though, as it was red like fire and just casually crawling over the forest floor.
      That was a strong end to Livas expertise. The afternoon, we could do some optional activities such a going to yet another Indri Reserve (45k), go ziplining (that didn't look neither special nor safe, 30k per jump) or go canoeing (30k). We decided to relax the afternoon and instead played some cards with Mike and Roger. They taught us the card games 9-5-2 (strictly 3 players) and Jooker (a team game), we taught them Durak our favourite Russian game. That was lots of fun. But for the evening, we've convinced Sulufo to do yet another night walk but only for insects. As only Seb and I wanted to do that, that would be fun.      Read more

    • TravelerA Francophone Adventure
      Day 12

      Hunting Insects Like No Other Pt 1

      November 5, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌫 18 °C

      As Liva didn't have time tonight, his assistant took care of us. We started for 35k p.p. (just as the last night walk), and quickly found a bunch of things. There were so many fascinating tiny creatures in Madagascar, and no one else was looking for that. We asked our guide whether he liked hunting lemurs or Insects more. Lemurs was his answer. Well, that reflected on his abilities to spot insects, as Seb and I found way more little creatures than he did. However, he found the pigmy Chameleon, the smallest of its kind, and a scorpion which was deadly. However, luckily we discovered a trick to save your life whenever a scorpion should cross your way during the night. Just light it right in the eye, then it should try to hide itself quickly. But hopefully, you'd never need that advice, and me neither.
      We searched metre for metre and we're slowly ticking off boxes with all the insects we found. It was a very calm yet exciting walk, as behind every leaf a new species could wait for us. And as nobody else cared for Insects we had them for ourselves and didn't need to fight for the best picture.      Read more

    • TravelerA Francophone Adventure
      Day 12

      Hunting Insects Like No Other Pt 2

      November 5, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      And then we discovered just the best thing I've ever seen: On moldy looking trees wasn't mold, but hundreds of insects. They just looked like snowflakes or cotton, it amazed me so much. These are the coolest creatures ever and nobody else cares about it.
      Now we know about it and care.
      We would get a very good rest tonight, I thought, because I suddenly felt the exhaustion of focusing and searching for Insects for 2hrs straight. We called it a day and drove back home to fall into bed and asleep.      Read more

    • TravelerAfrica
      Day 50

      11 Hours later

      November 28, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Today, we travelled from Antsirabe to Andasibe, and despite only being 300km, we would only arrive at the destination at 6 pm, 11 hours after we left. This was painful and reflected the conditions of the roads in Madagascar and Africa in general. There isn't much to mention today as it was just simply driving and listening to podcasts. Even reading or doing journals was hard, given we were constantly getting thrown around the bus. As such, it wasn't a particularly fun, interesting, or productive day. But I had to post a journal anyway.Read more

    • TravelerAfrica
      Day 51

      Sickness

      November 29, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Today, we spent our last day within the Madagascan National Parks, and I was eager to make the most of the final day. When we started our first walk, though, it was clear that there was a bit of sickness going around. Although I wasn't feeling great, I attributed it moreso to the malaria medication that can make your stomach upset if not taken with food. But, eventually, the nausea started to kick in, and I knew i was in for a long walk. I managed to hold it together and see some incredible lemur activity, which made the walk definitely worth it. But, in the end, what got me was the same thing that had been pissing me off all tour. On our way out, I felt fine while walking, but as soon as we stopped, I would get nauseous and dizzy. Not great when you have a group of elderly people who can not help but ask 40 questions every time they see anything from a lemur to a butterfly. So, in the end, we stopped to look at a spider, and when the questions started to somehow deviate to questions about cooking them, I knew I may as well just face the music and go be sick. Because we weren't gonna start moving any time soon. It was not a fun vomit, but I did feel better after the fact, and it meant I could get back to the hotel without risking being sick on the bus. My main fear. In the end, I skipped lunch, and the driver was nice enough to take me and one of the other ladies back to the hotel while everyone else continued doing the walks, many still battling sickness. Although we missed more lemur activity, it sounds like I got the best stuff of the day, so I have no regrets. It allowed me to rest and recover. We had a long bus trip the next day and then A LOT of travelling on planes, so I really wanted to get well asap. It was my first time being sick on my trip so far, and it wasn't horrible in hindsight. I was just a bit neasous and sick a couple of times, but by the end of the day, I was feeling much better, and so I was glad to have missed the activities and recovered properly.Read more

    • TravelerSummer Of Yes
      Day 111

      Waterfall and Lemurs

      October 29, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

      We got an early start to fetch Ali and head to the primary forest in Mantadia.

      Inconveniently, the ticket office opens at 7AM (ish) so our early start was foiled. But we grabbed our guide (whose name I did not write down and have forgotten) and headed up the 18km (11 mile) rough double-track road to one of the last chunks of virgin rain forest in Madagascar. (90% deforestation. Awful)

      Along the way we stopped to enjoy some Indri Indri calls (which are amazing) then watched some really rambunctious bamboo lemurs hopping through the bamboo.

      As we got near our trailhead, we took a quick detour to find a pygmy kingfisher (bird). It is small, reddish, beautiful, endemic to Madagascar, in danger of extinction, and generally considered a prize amongst birders. Having the right guide helps... We found the bird in mere minutes.

      Having spiffy binocs also helped. I'm very happy to have them.

      We tromped through rugged forest terrain for a few hours, spotting birds and bugs and lemurs like crazy. Today's cast of characters includes the Indri Indri (vid of their call, attached), the Bamboo Lemur, the Red Bellied lemur, and the Black & White Lemur. I've mostly stopped taking photos as they really aren't good on a phone (at a distance), and professional photos are easy to find online.

      We wrapped the day by taking a swim in an idyllic waterfall pool after seeing some more beautiful birds (including the Paradise Flycatcher).

      I dozed lightly as we bumped along the sunny road, spotted a chameleon or two, and generally enjoyed the natural beauty of the landscape.

      Tomorrow I'm off to the coast.      Read more

    • TravelerSummer Of Yes
      Day 110

      Ask And Yea Shall Receive

      October 28, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

      It never hurts to ask.

      I arrived in Madagascar through an indirect and largely unplanned route.

      Being in a country renowned for biodiversity and endemic species means: nature hikes!

      Normally, nature hikes means: binoculars!
      I love the magic of bringing beauty right up close.

      My travels to date weren't of the birding persuasion and while I have occasionally wished I had binocs, I hadn't had a strong enough need nor opportunity to obtain decent quality. Until, that is, I was faced with a large group of friendly Scandinavians who were here having a lovely time with long camera lenses and... Binoculars.

      So when it came up that they were leaving for home, I asked someone if she would be willing to sell her binocs to me ... I'm delighted that she agreed.

      After a little logistical struggle, I've transferred an entirely reasonable amount of money from the USA to Norway, and am the proud new owner of almost-new swarovski 8x25 field glasses.

      This is the sort of feel good moment that makes me happy that I was raised by Bonnie Broyles- a woman who has never shied away from meeting her new friends at any destination.

      Let the adventure continue!      Read more

    • TravelerMadagaskar 🇲🇬
      Day 6

      Tag 6 - Andasibe

      April 20, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

      Zeit, den Nationalpark zu erkunden und den vielen Lemuren auf den Pelz zu rücken. Davon gibt es eine ganze Menge.

      Danach geht's noch ab zur Lemureninsel und zum Crocodile Park. Die Krokodile sind weniger beeindruckend als die unglaublich gut getarnten Geckos.Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerMadagaskar 🇲🇬
      Day 5

      Tag 5 - Ankan'y Nofy ' - Andasibe

      April 19, 2023 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

      Transfertag. Heißt auf Madagaskar viel Zeit für wenig Strecke.

      Aber es gibt immer viel zu sehen.

      Am Anfang vom Winter und direkt nach der Regenzeit ist noch alles herrlich grün. Auch auf dieser Strecke sind umgekippte und brennende Trucks an der Tagesordnung.

      Zum Lunch gibt's Zebu und "Schnitzel".

      Am Nachmittag nach Ankunft ist noch Zeit für einen Spaziergang durch Andasibe. Hoffentlich verwertet das Restaurant im hotel nicht das Fleisch vom ortsansässigen Metzger. Der europäische Magen würde das wahrscheinlich nicht verkraften.      Read more

      See translation

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Alaotra Mangoro Region

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