Ranomafana to the Indian Ocean!

Once Joushia got our rooms sorted out and we dropped our bags, off we headed to the park.  Time for another night walk.  Our local guide here was Linda, as pretty as her name suggests and with eyes that I'm convinced can spot anything!  She (and other local guides) were smart enough to bait the mouse lemurs with little bits of banana this time and encouraged everyone to be quite.  Anytime the lemurs got spooked, the lights were put out until they had time to settle back down.  We got some amazing looks!  And I got some nice shots.  They move so quickly, it was difficult to get any stills, but I got several wonderful videos.  

After some time with the the Mort look-alikes, we headed on to see what else we could find.  And we found so many reptiles and insects!

Bright-Eyed Frog

Nose-Horned Chameleon

another Bright-Eyed Frog.  You can see his eye better.

We think this one was a baby, potentially a Parson's or Panther, but were not sure.

Stick Insect

Google Images says it is an O'Shaughnessyi Chameleon, but Linda said Parson's Chameleon.  The two are very closely related, so it could be either one.

And then we got this little bright-eyed frog doing his throat thing!

We saw a lot more reptiles and bugs than most of the other people who were on the night walk.  It started sprinkling, so most of them went back after seeing the mouse lemur.  We, however, decided we were neither sugar nor the other, so we stayed out.  The reptiles seemed to like the sprinkles.  We went so far that we had to call Niko to pick us up at a different spot!  And we were late getting back to the hotel causing the restaurant guy to huff when serving our dinner that we had ordered before leaving.  Then he pretty much ran us out of the restaurant.  I mean, it was closing time, so I can't really blame him, but he could have been a little more pleasant about it.

So, off to bed, where the mosquito net didn't fit the bed and the extension cord was wonky.  Between bug bites and having to jiggle the cord to get the BiPAP working again, it wasn't a good sleep.  But, I was still ready to go see some lemurs!  And I have learned to carry the hydration tablets with me!  I got a couple of nice shots after breakfast while Joushia and Niko were loading the car.

Rice paddies

Red-Legged Golden Orb Weaver (golden because of the yellowish-tint to the web)

We picked Linda up in town and headed to the park for a more significant hike than I was expecting.  While we were still in the easy part, she pointed out lots of the plants and insects, and we came across this beautiful weaver!

Good thing I had my hydration!  At one point, she gave me a choice to either follow the tracker to the Red-Fronted Lemur that was moving quickly and may or may not be well seen or follow her to the Red-Bellied Lemur that was sitting still, but also a pretty good hike away.  I chose to go to the one that was most likely to be seen instead of the one that had already run from us several times!  I did send my camera with the tracker for some pictures.  These were the best shots he could get of the red-fronted lemur, so I think I made a good choice!

She wasn't kidding when she said it was a steep hike to get to the red-bellied lemur!  At one point, she was pulling me uphill while Joushia was pushing!  I hope the seat of my pants hadn't already split by then!  (When I got home and did laundry, I noticed I had split out the seat of my pants that I wore on the more intense hikes, like the chimp, gorilla, and golden monkey treks, and most of these park hikes in Madagascar!)  But, I'm guessing I probably split them when I had to rest and sat on a rotten stump, which was perfectly positioned to take a bunch of shots of this beauty!  And we got there at about the same time the tracker made it with my camera!  Worked out great!

When we finished the trek and took Linda back to town, we headed east to the beach.  This would be my first time at the Indian Ocean, so I was kinda excited!  We decided for lunch that we didn't want to stop at a tourist place, where the options were spaghetti, vegetable soup, or something else we could get just about anywhere.  We wanted authentic Malagasy food, like what the guys ate.  So, we were able to convince them to take us to lunch with them.  OMG!  It was delicious!  It looks like nothing special, but the local restaurants aren't catering to tourists who may come from places where food is bland.  For the locals, they aren't afraid to use the spices and other seasonings!  It's not served spicy hot, but spices are used liberally and expertly for a very satisfying taste experience!  The choice was zebu (beef), chicken, or pork.  I chose zebu.  The local common lunch is rice, meat in sauce, and a broth that can be put over the rice.  There is chili on the table to be used at your discretion if you want a spicy hot.   Joushia warned me to use it sparingly, and he was sooo right!  It was some good stuff!  A little dab will do you, even if you like spicy food!  So, I put a little bit more in and mixed it with my rice!  I think that was the one of the best meals I had on the island!

We got to our cabins right on the beach in Manakara with plenty of time to take a swim in the Indian Ocean!  Definitely an active ocean, and I enjoyed every second of it!  A great session of hydrotherapy on my joints!

The intent was to go back into town for a local dinner, but you know me and a beach!  So, I washed out some underwear and socks to put out on the deck overnight with my bathing suit, and spent the evening at the restaurant staring at the beach and loading pictures.  Maybe we'll eat in town tomorrow, but tonight, I have the ocean, and I will sleep like a rock!