#kirindydryforest


Thursday September 7 – Kirindy to Bekopaka

 Managed to sleep fairly well last night,  despite the multiple trips to the toilet.   The power came back on shortly before I was about to get up.  Got all packed up and headed to the breakfast area where I had an omelet,  some bread and some great honey.    We then got into our jeeps for a walk around the Kirindy Forest Reserve to spot some birds and lemurs.   Had some amazingly close encounters with some brown lemurs that sat low in the trees right in front of us and even walked along the ground!  Managed to get some great photos.   We saw a few interesting looking birds as well but I wasn’t able to get any really good photos before they flew off.  We then got in our jeeps for the long ride to Bekopaka.  We first stopped at a sacred Baobob tree that was around 1,500 years old!  Afterwards we carried on on the bumpy dirty road until we came to the first “ferry” crossing,  which essentially was a couple of boats with wood slapped on top.   We drove on and they loaded it up with 5 cars,  which left little room to move around the”ferry”.  It also didn’t allow any room to open the doors for the cars on the inside so some people had to climb out the other side.  I had expected a short crossing but the ferry headed down the river and was probably 20-30 minutes long.   At the other end we “docked” at the end of 4 other “ferries” tied together and walked off since there was no way to get into the cars.  As we walked off there was a guy hammering nails into the ferry! After the ferry we stopped in a village for lunch which appeared to be a popular lunch stop for tourists as the road was lined with jeeps.  Had an amazing and very nicely plated lunch of river prawns with fries and vegetables. We then headed back on the road to Bekopaka in the afternoon heat.  Along the way we stopped at a small village where there was another jeep broken down.  Our drivers attempted to assist with the repair while we hung out with the villagers who seemed keen to hang out with us and have their photos taken.  It was getting pretty warm so I spent more time sitting in the jeep with the AC. We headed back on our way for a few more hours until we reached the second “ferry” which was shorter as it was just across the river; however, this ferry required the vehicles to drive through the river out to the ferry.  The ferry “workers” then move the tire ramps to allow each vehicle to get up onto the ferry.  After the short motor across the second half of the river we drove the last few minutes to our lodge,  which was a serious of bungalows with a nice pool.   I was in a big bungalow with 4 or 5 different rooms and mine had two levels – the downstairs had a set of bunk beds and the bathroom,  which appeared to double as a frog hotel in the evenings!  Upstairs was the main bedroom with a large bed with a canopy mosquito net and a wrap around terrace. After a brief cleanup in the room and an attempt at a shower with very little water pressure, we met for dinner in the hotel restaurant.  I had the duck for dinner with onion soup for a starter.  Another tiring day and, once I returned to my room, I only had enough energy to download my photos to my tablet and make some rough notes for my blog before falling asleep.


Wednesday September 6 – ‘Tana to Kirindy Dry Forest via Morondava

 Managed to wake up in time for breakfast and had a few bites but wasn’t overly hungry given the time.   We left for the airport around 4:45 with the plan to arrive around 5:30.  It was amazing how many people were up at that time and appeared to be starting their day.  The airline we were using was apparently a private airline,  which operated out of a hangar.   We walked in and “checked in” and went through “security”, which consisted of stepping up to the two desks inside the hangar.   Showed my passport and put my bag on the scale.   It was a few kilos over the 18 kg limit but they didn’t seem to care.   I then proceeded to the security desk, where a guy looked through my bags; although he seemed to get tired after looking through a few pockets and just had me pass.  We then watched as they started up the planes and load the luggage.   Looked like they left the door opened!  Given the hangar and the security I was surprised that the seats were assigned given there were only about 24 or 30 seats on the plane.   They finally started the boarding,  which seemed to be boarding by group,  with our group going last.   As we walked up the stairs I was even more shocked to see a flight attendant!  Got on and there was another one! We took off for the 1 hour flight and they actually came around with snacks, which included a bunch of little snacks including a quiche and a muffin.   Flight landed safely in Morondava, where our jeeps picked us up.   Went to the hotel we would be staying at in a few days time and did a walk along the beach.   Was a really nice beach with no one but fisherman and a few locals.  We had lunch at the restaurant where I had some garlic shrimp and fries,  which were also tasty.   We then headed out to see the baobobs at Baobob Alley before heading on to the Kirindy Dry Forest.  The road was bumpy and a bit slow but now at bad as we were expecting.  On the way we stopped to pick up our “road snacks” for our lunch in Grand Tsingy in a few days.  After getting to our camp we prepared for a night walk.   The camp is located in the middle of a very dry forest and is home to a few species of lemur.   The rooms are tents,  which are covered by a bamboo structure, with a bathroom in the back,  which did not include a door so the view from the toilet was into the forest!  The toilet seemed to be a swimming pool used by ants and every time I opened it there seemed to be a few hanging around the bowl! The nocturnal walk was in the forest around the camp and we were able to spot a few mouse lemurs,  which were hiding in the tree.   We also spotted a furry white lemur in the trees above my tent and a few brown ones hanging around the dinner area.  After the walk we headed to the diner hut for some food.  I had the vegetable soup to start,  which was probably a poor choice given the heat and the fish as the main.   It was tasty but given the early flight,  I had a difficult time staying awake.   Headed back to the tent and fell asleep quickly.