Unusual Destinations Blog

The only things Madagascar and South Africa have in common are sirens and whale song. Except, on the Red Island these sounds hail from the treetops. And that’s just the beginning of the bizarre and quirky wildlife that lives on the island. Of the over 200 000 living things there, virtually all do not occur anywhere else on earth. And new species are still being discovered all the time.

Singing Indris

Madagascar Wildlife: Indri Lemur

I awoke dazed and confused. The shrill sound of sirens mixed with lilting whale song bounced across the forest canopy. What could possibly be going on? A wildlife emergency? The locals were tickled at my surprise. “It’s just indris calling to their mates and marking their territories at the start of the new day,” they laughed.

Later on I tramped the well worn paths of Perinet’s (Andasibe) montane forest in search of these unusual creatures – biggest of Madagascar’s lemurs. I found giant black and white teddy bears, sitting high in the treetops. They gazed down at me quizzically, and every so often rounded their mouths and played their siren songs. Somehow the sound just didn’t match the animal that looks like a cross between a panda bear and a large monkey. I sat listening for hours and recorded their calls, so friends at home could also be amazed.

I took photos of harmless, but huge, boa constrictors and bright red tree frogs for the same reason. And a Parsons chameleon tipping the scales at 2kg, which is a whole lot of chameleon. I’m sure I walked past dozens of leaf tailed geckos, because their camouflage is identical to tree bark – you simply can’t see them unless they blink.

But even if I missed a lot, there’s plenty to see in this park, not even mentioning the unusual birds – some in iridescent attire. Plus wild roses and trumpet lilies that grow along the waterways.

Dancing Sifakas

Further south in Berenty, the landscape looks like a science fiction movie set. The spiny forest is a mass of tall thorny cacti that look like waving cat’s tails. An array of lemurs live in the forest and have especially soft feet so the thorns can penetrate their soles without hurting too much. It makes perfect sense if you have to live in a thorn thicket.

Madagascar Wildlife: Berenty Sifika

But a completely unexpected and surreal sight greeted me early one morning. Still bleary eyed, I was convinced I was having Madagascan dreams. The creamy coloured sifakas were dancing a lemur tango. Really. If the trees are too far apart for sifakas to jump from one to another, they hit the ground and dance to get there. Their special feet are for grasping branches so they can’t walk. They have to dance, sideways, before leaping into the next tree.

The mobs of ringtailed lemurs that live there swagger along like outback cowboys, and to them dancing sifakas are everyday. But I’d never seen anything quite like it. I was captivated. Gobsmacked. And amused. For me it was the most quirky wildlife experience ever.

Chameleons giant and dwarf

Well, Madagascar has way more different species of chameleon than the rest of the world put together. And none of them are ordinary. Some are enormous – the size of a Jack Russell – and others are just as big as a finger joint. I held a Parson’s chameleon that filled my arms, and his tail hung down my leg. Some take camouflage to the extreme and resemble rusty armour plating, others impersonate rainbows. The variety is astounding.

To see a whole lot of different chameleons all together I went to Mandraka sanctuary, en route to Perinet. I held big and small, fed them flies and looked into their eyes. It was a truly moving experience, and I felt like I was touching antiquity. Chameleons, I think, know more than we believe.

Rainbow Bugs and Beetles

Madagascar's Wildlife: Giraffe beetle

If you think of a colour combination, there’s a bug or beetle to match it. And you won’t even have to look very far. For me, giraffe beetles took the prize. Red bodied average size beetles, they have a black crane like neck that makes them appear contrived – and not from this planet.

But there are hundreds, thousands, maybe more, that will have entomologists agog. Around every corner I was wide eyed at what I saw. And even if you don’t like wildlife much, Madagascar will change your mind. Stick insects, twig snakes, polka dot worms, giant moths and insect-eating plants. I was more than captivated. I was entranced by the weird and whimsical creatures that live there. It is a world apart. An island alone in the stream.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.