October, 2023

Madagascar isn’t just a cartoon, it’s an unbelievable country. The fourth largest island in the world, the Malagasy call it the 8th Continent. It is difficult to get to and it’s difficult to get around (few asphalt roads and many bad dirt roads). It has birds, wildlife and plants that are not found anyplace else in the world.

Sadly, they have been actively cutting down their forests for firewood. This has lead to the decline of many species of plants and animals. Our guide said they were once able to see 180 species of birds and now they are lucky to find 80-100.

Planning the Adventure

Errol DeBeer of Cheepers Birding, África made all of the arrangements for our trip. Guides, hotels, park passes, flights, driver and car were all expertly handled by Errol. We have traveled with Errol to South Africa, Lesotho, Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda and truly enjoy him as a guide and as a friend.

Let’s Begin

After a 17 hour flight to Johannesburg, an overnight stay and then another 3 hour flight, we finally arrived in Antananarivo, Madagascar. (Tana by the locals). We spent a couple days here checking out the city before we met up with our local guide and driver.

Lemur Park

We booked a day trip from the city out to Lemur Park about 22 miles away from the city center. While 22 miles isn’t that far away, it took us just about 2 hours to reach the park. Yes, the traffic and roads are that bad.

This private lemur reserve is working to conserve the plants and lemurs of the Malagasy environment. You can observe 7 species of lemurs as you stroll through the 10 acres of trails with a guide. Afterwards, lunch is provided in the terrace. We saw 5 species of lemurs (2 species are nocturnal), chameleons and local lizards.

We were able to see the lemurs up close before we headed to the forests that they call home and they become more difficult to see.

Dinner with Locals

It’s a small small world as we met two GHS graduates and their family for dinner in Tana. Jacob Livingston and his wife, Jenny Hutchens, along with their children, Miles and Olive, live in Tana. How cool is that! Jake teaches at the American School and Miss Jenny is the Middle School principal at the American School.

We had a wonderful meal while catching up with them. It’s fun to see your good friends’ kids have grown up into such wonderful parents and tremendously interesting people. Clindy would be so proud of Jake and his family. ♥️

Sadly, we chatted and forgot to take a pic.

The Anjozorobe Forest

We headed out of the city to visit the Anjozorobe Forest where we will be hiking and searching for lemurs and bird species. This forest is home to 11 species of lemurs and 82 species of birds.

The trip took a couple hours before we arrived at the Akiba Lodge parking lot. At this point, we didn’t see anything that looked like a building. That’s when we met our two local guides, Valisoa and Mevasoa. They walked us through a beautiful valley for a ½ mile before we arrived at the actual resort.

We went on multiple day and night hikes through the forest. We saw 31 species of birds and 5 species of lemurs.

Visiting the Royal Palace

Madagascar has a history of royalty. The UNESCO World Heritage site, Ambohimanga, shares the summer residents of Kings and Queens with visitors. The fortification was built in the early 1500’s and last occupied around 1861. Multiple Kings and Queens ruled until the French arrived.

To the Coast

We have concluded our adventures around Tana and will fly to the SW corner of the country. In Tulear, we will get to enjoy some sea time along with our next birding and lemur adventures.