Anja Reserve and Ringtailed Lemurs

The dry plain as we head north again.

 A typical roadside scene.

Many of the people we pass wave at us.

 Ringtailed lemurs.

The razor back chameleon with tongue aimed at a grasshopper.

 Me and my room mate, Florien.

Our guide extraordinaire, Patrick.

Saturday, November 11^th.

Today was a long driving day and we are heading back north on the same highway that we came down. There are very few paved roads in the country and this one is the major north-south artery. We left the Isalo NP area, which is the furthest south we were going, and began to drive north. We spent the first two hours driving across the barren plain again before we got the mid country highlands. We drove for another two hours before we stopped at Anja Reserve. This is an animal protectorate. The local people were cutting the trees and killing the lemurs (because they eat the communities crops) until some conservationist educated them about the need to spare the trees to save the lemurs. Then they told them that tourists would pay to come here to see the lemurs. The government thought that the tourists were coming to the area for the sapphires and gems, but when they realized that they were interested in the lemurs they set the entrance fee. Half of that fee is for taxes and the other half goes to the local community. Many of the local men are now guides in the park. So now the local people have a reason to protect them.

We had lunch first in the restaurant there, and I had the first really tender zebu I've had. Then we met our local guides and they took us into the park. Immediately we met a family of ringtailed lemurs. Because people come here regularly and don't harm them, the lemurs have become habituated and trusting and don't run away. They go about their business and just keep an eye on us. We watched and photographed their antics for a long time.

Then we continued on our walk and soon came across a large razorback chameleon. The guides caught some grasshoppers and put them on a stick one at a time and put it within sight of the chameleon. We watched as the eyes, moving independently found it and then the tongue shot out and grabbed it. Amazing! We watched it do that several times. I had been thinking that would be a cool thing to see and now I have. I have a couple of excellent videos of him launching his tongue.

After that we continued our walk, and climbed up a bunch of rocks to an excellent viewpoint. We sat up there and took photos of the area and ourselves. Then we descended back to the van using a few ropes. We set off again for the remainder of the drive to our new accommodation. We are staying at La Riziere, which is a training hotel. All the employees are being trained for the tourist business. So we'll see how the meals go. We are here for two nights. The hotel itself is probably the nicest one we have stayed at yet.

The dinner was excellent, but the service was a bit slow. However, we happily yacked away the time. After the meal ended the whole cooking staff came out to meet us in their white outfits and chef hats. It was very cute. The waiter however, could have used some deodorant, as he had that unwashed African male smell. Everyone was in their room again by 9:30.

During the night one of the slats in Florien's Ikea type bed collapsed with a loud crash and he had to fumble around for a while putting it back together.