[Madagascar] Chapter XXIII: In which our pause becomes outrageously long

From Morondava we returned to Antananarivo, the capital, where we stayed a couple of days, as R had some WD work to complete, and then continued into Eastern Madagascar.

If central Madagascar was red (hills), its south yellow (savannah), and its west grey (tsingy), its east proved to be very green (forest), at least along the way from Antananarivo to Andasibe.

Our primary reason for going to Andasibe was to first hear and then see the indri --- hear because its territorial cry is quite remarkable, filling the rainforest for miles --- see because it is quite large in Madagascan terms, the largest extant lemur in fact.

However, our experience of the Parc National Andasibe-Mantadia (Réserve Spéciale Analamazoatra) was not unlike that of Ranomafana, especially in that one has in essence only two options: either walk along with the tourist crowds and see some indris up in the canopy, or try the less-well-trodden path and risk seeing less or none. Our guide, a veteran with more than 30 years of experience opted for the latter, aiming to locate a less habituated family of indris away from the common circuits, and we were only too glad to tag along. Unfortunately, the indris proved that day to be too elusive even for him, and after a wild romp through the rainforest, he eventually conceded defeat and felt honour bound to cross paths with the throngs of camera-wielders, just so we could catch a glimpse or two of the indri.

Still, we did hear its wail reverberating around us again and again, sometimes eerily close, and we did see other things while seeking the indri --- geckos, frogs, spiders, birds --- as well as many medicinal plants and trees, which might not necessarily be too photogenic, but are apparently quite beneficial (our guide uses two such plants on a regular basis, a couple of times a year, to treat his recurring bouts of chronic malaria to great effect).

Our foray into eastern Madagascar was brief, though. After two nights in Andasibe we returned to Antananarivo to stay there for five whole days until our flight out of Madagascar --- mostly because we needed to pause after two months of almost continuous travel, to take care of pending chores that had accumulated over that time, and to plan for the months ahead --- but also in small part because the rainy season seemed to be at the door, with heavy afternoon and evening rainstorms becoming a matter of course, rather than the exception.

And so, more or less, ended our Madagascar adventure. And if one examines the route we had taken in the map above, one may notice an uncanny resemblance to the three-legged triskelion, the symbol of the Isle of Man, where we had another --- rather more stolid --- insular adventure more than 10 years ago, in preparation for writing R's first novel.

Accommodations:
- Hotel Le Logis, Antananarivo (3 nights; our go to hotel in Tana)
- Mikalo, Andasibe, Andasibe (2 nights; not so good, but the owners and staff seemed eager to please nonetheless)
- Hotel Le Logis, Antananarivo (6 nights; we obviously found this hotel to our taste, as we ended up staying there a total of 12 nights throughout our Madagascan tour)

Photo captions: (a-c) indris; (d) woolly lemurs; (e) red-fronted kua; (f) tiny tree frog; (g-j) green geckos; (k-l) spiders; (m) ants' nest; (n) a trail in the park; (o-p) mushrooms; (q-t) flowers; (u) traveller's palm; (v) strangler fig