We just got back from 5 days in the new protected area of Maromizaha, which is about 3 hours outside of Tana. The rainforest is BEAUTIFUL. There are no words to describe it - I tried to think of how I was going to write this post while I was on the bus coming back, but I really could not come up with a good way to talk about how incredibly amazing the rainforest is.
We camped in Maromizaha for 4 nights, spending the mornings hiking and the afternoons in lectures before going on night hikes. Now, I thought I had gone on some pretty intense hikes at home, but... hiking in Madagascar is a whole new ballgame! Going up and down mountains like that is no joke! I'm in pretty good shape and enjoyed myself a lot, but I was one tired girl by the end of the day. My group was the first group to hike out and see the singing indri, which is one of the largest species of lemur and is critically endangered. I took lots of photos and videos of the indri, but I don't have enough bandwidth to upload them, so you will have to wait to see those until I'm back in the States in November. The indri (Indri indri) are monogamous and live in family groups of usually 4. They are truly awe-inspiring to see.
On our night hike, we went up the mountain again and saw several chameleons, a giant spider, a sleeping bird that really looked more like a ball of fluff, and a sportive lemur (Lepilemur mustelinus), who was watching us from a tree. I'm not very comfortable at night because I have terrible night vision, but it was pretty cool to be out seeing all of the nocturnal creatures. I just wish we'd seen some snakes!
I was supposed to go out and see the diadema sifaka the second day, but I was unable to go. 2 weeks prior to coming down to Madagascar, I ruptured a disc in my back (L5/6, for those who are wondering), and I was actually not sure I would be able to go. I spent a lot of time lying on my back on the couch with a heating pad and had only just gotten back into riding right before I came down here. So.. hiking for approximately 6 hours a day on really tough terrain MIGHT have been overdoing it. A lot. And I was in a whole lot of pain by the end of the night. I was actually in tears - which says something, as I am definitely not a crier - and was afraid that I would be told to go home if I couldn't hike. That's not the case and I'm still here, but it was tough to stay behind while everyone else went out.
On the third day, I was able to go out and do the morning hike, where we did some crazy tough terrain (as in, I slipped and fell and was hanging onto a tree to keep from falling down the side of the mountain!), but we saw a whole group of the sifaka (Propithecus diadema)! As a bonus, we saw some of the indri on our way back down the mountain. Our final activity of the day was one that made me feel like we really did something useful, even if it was a small gesture. We each got to plant a tree sapling in the rainforest. Even if it was only one tree, we got to do SOMETHING.
Today, we returned to Tana, and as we drove back, I looked out at all of the mountains and had a lot of thoughts about Madagascar. This country is so incredibly beautiful, but when you realize that it used to be all rainforest and now there is hardly any left, it's very disheartening. When you're surrounded by mountains like this, it makes you realize how small we are...yet the amount of environmental devastation that humans have inflicted is incredible. Madagascar is now in the difficult situation of needing to conserve what rainforest is left, but also needing to feed its people. Most of the rainforest has been destroyed by slash and burn agriculture, called "tavy" down here, which is how people grow rice. Rice is the staple crop down here, but the country doesn't grow enough to feed its people and has to import rice from Pakistan and India. I don't know what the solution is.
To end, I can't believe that I've been here for a week already! Only 9 more weeks in my stay before I head back to New York. Time just flies...it's unbelievable.
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