River Cruise and Little Tsingy

A group of German dirt bike riders crossing the river.

Our dugout canoe.

A large stalagmite in a cave.

A family burial plot on the cliff above. We could see three skulls.

The bizarre limestone formations of the Little Tsingy.

Sarah, me, Margaret and Ryan.

Re-crossing the river to get back to camp.

The nocturnal Red Tailed Sportive Lemur in our campground.

Sunday, October 29^th.

While we were having breakfast Morgan had a local man paddle him across the river in a canoe to pay our the fees for our entrance into Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park and to hire a local guide. When he came back we all walked down to the river and boarded a 'tourist' canoe, which was two wooden dugout canoes tied together with a couple of wooden planks across for us to sit on. This is a safer canoe for tourists and older people I suppose, plus we had heard the story of how in September a 13 year old girl was taken not far from here by a crocodile while swimming.

We met our guide DeeBee on the other side of the river and he joined us in the canoes and we began an hour long pole up the river past the some high cliffs to two caves. We stopped and walked into the two caves and saw a couple of large stalagmites. On the way back up river we saw nesting egrets on the cliffs, a kingfisher and a grey heron. We also saw high up on a rock ledge the famous tomb of the Vazimba tribe. Three skulls were clearly visible.

When we got back to the park entrance we began our hike and exploration through the Little Tsingy (means tiptoe because of the sharp rocks and edges). Right at the entrance I managed to photograph a paradise flycatcher and its young. This is a very unusual place in that the limestone rocks have been eroded in a very strange way and there are thousands of ribbons of sharp pinnacles. We clambered over various formations, using natural steps, ladders and chains. It was extremely hot going which sapped your energy. We walked for about two hours through this area before continuing through a forest area looking for lemurs without success.

Then we took the canoe back across the river to the camp for lunch. The food here is quite good, no choice of menu but quite edible. Then we had the afternoon to do relax. There is really nothing to do here and the weather and humidity makes it hard to want to do anything. I went back to the cabin and started a John Grisham book that Margaret gave me. Then I fell asleep in the chair so I went and lay down inside. It was hot, and the village on the other side of the fence was pretty noisy but I drifted on and off for a few hours. Then I got up and sat outside again reading until I couldn't see. Ryan and Sarah invited Margaret and I to the restaurant to play crazy eights. We did that for a bit and then Morgan came to get us because he found a nocturnal Red Tailed Sportive Lemur in a tree in our camp.

After that it was dinner time. We ate with a Dutch couple, Carl and Lydia, and swapped more stories before everyone retired for the evening.