Madagascar — Lemurs and rainforest

2023

Most of Madagascar was once covered by rainforest, home to an abundance of animal species found nowhere else in the world. Today only a small fraction remains — just 10 percent of the island’s original rainforest is still standing. The original large, lush wetlands have also been severely affected, as forests are felled and enormous quantities of silt and sediment wash down from the mountains, gradually filling in the wetlands.

Deforested mountain slopes with charcoal production smoke — The picture shows a large area that just a few years ago was rainforest — now only the bare mountain slopes remain. The small columns of smoke visible are where local people are making charcoal.

Charcoal producer heading to market — One of the local charcoal producers on the way to market to sell his charcoal.

90% of all hot food is cooked over charcoal, so every day charcoal is used for nearly 30 million meals (population of approximately 33 million). For cooking alone, enormous quantities of timber are felled in the forests every single day.

Carl, Karin and a lemur — who is probably most interested in whether we have a piece of banana. Reserva Analamazaotra, which covers 1×2 km, is a reserve where the lemurs are accustomed to being close to people.

Lemur in the reserve — Reserva Analamazaotra — where the lemurs are used to humans and come very close.

We landed in the capital Antananarivo and drove in powerful four-wheel-drive vehicles towards the eastern coast. We made several stops at small reserves where locals were trying to protect lemurs. Some reserves are so small that only a few lemur families live there; others cover several km² and support larger populations and multiple species. Madagascar has so far recorded 112 different lemur species. When walking through a reserve you always have a guide with you — they know where to look for the animals, and some carry pieces of banana to lure them close.

Lemur in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park — Andasibe-Mantadia National Park — where the lemurs are used to humans they become very curious.

Lemur jumping onto Freja's head — Where they are used to people they are very inquisitive — here one has jumped down onto Freja’s head.

Market street outside the larger towns — A busy market street once you get just outside the larger towns — here you can buy all the fruits grown in the local area.

Right out on the east coast lies Aye-aye Island (searchable on Google Maps). The local community has tried to protect a nocturnal lemur species called the Aye-aye, which had been hunted by locals due to superstition. Tourists now pay to visit the island where surviving individuals have been released. This is how they hope the species will survive.

Watch a short film from Aye-Aye Island →

We stayed at Palmarium Hotel Ankanin’Nofy — a very special place because it is now owned by locals. The tourists who visit the hotel thereby support approximately 100 people who live around the hotel in a small village.

Local fishermen in dugout canoes — All the local fishermen sail around in hollowed-out tree trunks, made from a type of black wood that does not crack when it dries in the sun.

Local fishermen — All the local fishermen sail around in hollowed-out tree trunks, made from a type of black wood that does not crack when it dries in the sun.

Caves with bats and spiders — There are some fascinating caves you can climb down into, if you feel like seeing and smelling large bats and large spiders tending their offspring. You must bring your own headlamps down into the caves.

Madagascar was governed by France until the late 1950s, and much of the infrastructure from the French era is still in use. It has not been maintained, however, and has been deteriorating for the past 60 years. The only practical way to get around is in powerful four-wheel-drive vehicles, and even then the average speed on the main arterial roads such as the N2 is around 20 km/h. In Madagascar, distances are not measured in kilometres but exclusively in how many hours it takes to get there. Our journey from the coast back to Antananarivo was 285 km and took 12 hours. The roads can only be used from sunrise to sunset because they are simply not navigable in the dark. Half-metre-deep potholes, no road markings and no signage are entirely normal.

Ox carts carrying goods and people on the roads of Madagascar — The only people travelling by car are tourists — a great deal of goods and people are transported on carts pulled by oxen.

Single muddy wheel track towards the east coast — Leaving the main N2 highway and heading towards the coast, there is often only a single wheel track, and if it has been raining they can be extremely difficult to drive. We saw lorries stuck in a metre of mud, where they were fighting with bamboo poles trying to get them out again.

Narrow bridge designed for ox carts — Here we have reached a bridge, which was most likely designed for ox carts — our guides did not dare to drive across and they found a place where it was possible to ford the small river.

Here we drive around the small bridge and continue the last 10 km out to the east coast.

Montagne d’Ambre National Park

Hiking in Montagne d'Ambre — On a hike through Montagne d’Ambre National Park in the north of the island, where vast areas of forest remain intact and the wildlife is extraordinary. Our guide was impressively skilled at spotting even the tiniest creatures.

The second part of our trip took us to the northern part of the island, where there are still some large nature reserves spanning 40×40 km. Wild lemurs and a host of other remarkable animals still live in these vast areas. Our guide found the world’s smallest chameleon — less than 3 cm from head to tail, yet otherwise resembling a perfectly ordinary large chameleon. The chance of actually seeing lemurs in these ancient forests is small, but you can easily hear them calling. The large black lemurs can be heard several kilometres away on a morning.

World's smallest chameleon — Montagne d’Ambre National Park — we found the world’s smallest chameleon species here, in the process of changing colour to pale/skin-tone. It was placed back down again very carefully.

Freja with a chameleon, also found in Montagne d’Ambre National Park.

Half of all entrance fees paid by tourists go directly to the local community. This ensures that the forest is preserved and that animals are not used for food.

Can you spot the animal? Try zooming in — the eyes are the first thing you notice.

The Litchi Tree hotel — On the edge of Montagne d’Ambre National Park sits a small hotel, The Litchi Tree, run by a Belgian. When we were leaving after a couple of days, they asked if we wanted to see a large snake — we said yes, of course. It turned out it had been living in a trellis directly above the door to our room. The owner said it was very useful for keeping rats and other pests away.

Large spider in the rainforest — If you venture into the rainforest alone at night you must wear a headlamp, because there are enormous spider webs — square metres in size — if you stray from the main paths.

But you can encounter animals you would never otherwise get near — here a Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher flying into the forest to sleep on a branch.

Luna with a chameleon, from a small protected area near Réserve spéciale d’Analamazaotra.

Luna and Christian, Réserve spéciale d’Analamazaotra.

Driving from the highlands in the interior out towards the coast you can see that the rivers run completely yellow with mud, and the mountainsides are bare — because most of the soil has been washed away. It is infinitely sad to see, knowing that the entire island once looked like the lush little reserves that still remain.

Lemurs come in all sizes and colours, and each species typically lives only within a small area of Madagascar, because they depend on specific trees or plants. They cannot simply be moved to another area if the forest is felled. The large black lemur is the biggest species and has a very powerful voice it uses frequently.

Family making cobblestones by hand — Everything is done by hand — even when bedrock is crushed into paving stones, road chippings or concrete aggregate.

Family making cobblestones — Here a family is making cobblestones and chippings from the offcuts. The only tools they use are a chisel and an old hammer. When the whole family — including children as young as three — is hammering stone just to put food on the table, the ecosystem is not what you think about at the end of the day.

We spent the final days on the beach island of Nosy Be — pure relaxation, swimming and snorkelling alongside large sea turtles.

As a European it is very hard to understand how a country of more than 30 million people can allow such extensive destruction of nature — in a way that makes it impossible for centuries to come to grow crops on the bare mountain slopes. People earn money right now (they survive), but make it impossible for future generations to work the land. According to one of our guides, a number of aid projects are under way — building schools, for instance — but without paying bribes they cannot get an occupancy permit. In the parts of the country where gold and other valuable metals are found, the Chinese are very skilful at gaining influence in order to exploit the resources, and sadly again without the local population benefiting from it.

Travel tips for Madagascar

It is essential to engage a local tour operator. We found one with local contacts — it worked superbly. We would not have been able to get around the island without a guide.
You need a very large quantity of small banknotes worth just a few Danish kroner each, to pay porters, room attendants and all manner of small services. For us it was a constant battle to have enough small notes — so change money into small denominations at hotels or wherever you can.
If you are a photographer, bring a macro lens and possibly a dedicated flash unit. There are so many fascinating small creatures just waiting to be photographed.

Travel map of Madagascar — We visited two main areas: east of Antananarivo out to the east coast, and then the northern part of the island. The red marked areas show what we managed to cover in just under three weeks. We flew between Antananarivo and the northern part of the island.