Lemur Country

The city woke up early and so did we. A short stop at the supermarket for oranges and bread and we were off for a quick tour of the city. As we wandered down through the market absorbing the atmosphere and taking a few photos one of our group had her cell phone snatched by a young man who was a lot faster than any of us or the two security guards close by.  She took it reasonably well but has been without her camera, phone, alarm clock, games and address book for the rest of the trip. I pretty quickly realised how lost she must feel when everyone is taking photos and trying to connect to wifi.  To help out we are all taking photos and letting her use our email.

Talking about wifi - we have been with out it for five or so days.  Most places we stay have it - intermittently that is. So, these blogs I am sure will have reflections from other days intertwined into this days activities.  After the stolen cell phone incident we decided to attach mine to a cable to go round my neck.  Someone else bought some elastic for the same purpose.  We have called it the Cynthia Cable - named after the victim - are planning to patent as soon as we get home.

The market was our first experience of street food.  We didn't sample any. Eggs and noodles, raw meat hanging in mid 20's heat, sweet delicacies like banana mashed with peanut butter, lots of fresh fruit and veg some looking a tad tired. Lots of clothes, shoes, fridge m as gnets and toy cars. And heaps of people all doing their own thing. It breaks my heart to see young children in need. We wandered past the world war two memorial and looked up at some fine houses belonging to previous presidents.

We experienced our first ATM. Using our travel card has been interesting. In South Africa we could only get money out by saying it was a credit card and if course we got charged a fee. Here the ATM assumes it is a cheque account and we get charged zilch.

We wandered past the old railway station. Like so many railways now converted to a business complex as the railroad is no longer used. The consequence is too many heavy vehicles on the road and lots and lots and lots of pot holes.

Then out of the city. Our first of many experiences of Madagassy roads. Pot holes big enough to fit a small truck. Young children attempt to fill them with dirt in the hope of some money. A rather dangerous occupation. It is good to see drivers prepared with some small change.  The pot holes register on our pedometer so we have done lots of exercise with little physical effort. Little villages scatter the country side surrounded by rice paddies, market gardens and brick making kilns.

Travelling is tough along these roads. At least the driver seems to know what he us doing. I have found a seat in the middle of the bus - 10 tourists in a 20 seater there is plenty of room. From my seat I can see the countryside pass by but not all the near misses negotiated by our driver.  Do I remain a calm passenger. We are always pleased to get out of the  bus and this time it was for our first sighting of Camellions.  The reserve had a number of varieties as well as a few frogs and snakes. The photos speak for themselves - we were fascinated by them especially their eyes that can rotate 180 degrees in different directions.  Contrary to popular opinion their colour does not reflect their surroundings but rather their mood. I couldn't get a clear answer about what colour was "happy" or "sad" so I guess it might depend on the Camellion

And a dead leaf lizard. I imagine we will walk past hundreds of those during our holiday.

And another lizard that camouflages well.

 Our accommodation is a cute cottage in the middle of nowhere. We sat with our fellow travellers under the shade until some rain passed through. We moved to the lounge to play "up the river down the river" before dinner

Then it was time for our night time walk. I was looking forward to this. Torch in hand we wandered through the bush under an impressive African sky.

 The guides rushed here, there and everywhere looking for the nocturnal lemur.  The walk lost its enjoyment when were joined by a number of other lemur hunters. The guides pointed lasers at the poor lemurs and we were pushed and shoved  to ensure we could see lemurs. A guide views success as "seeing lemurs" but we viewed success as a "fun walk and if we were lucky we might see them". We said no to future lemur spotting evenings.