October 14th

It was another hot night which surprised us because last night arriving the outside air was actually crisp. But this hotel did not have a fan and so little air circulation, it made for rough night sleeping even though I was so tired. Breakfast was fruit plate of small banana, ring of pineapple, and papaya. Next we were given an omelette and bread with butter and pineapple jam. We also had a juice, and tea. George showed up at 720 and said he was infromed of change of plans, this morning – we will not be coming back to this hotel tonight. Soo… we went up and packed to load up and move on.

We will be going to Ranomafana National Park. Our guide is Linda, she started by introducing our animal spotter (I don't remember his name.). It's supposed to be a 5-6 hour trek. We leave the research headquarters and cross a river right off. We see couple of birds from a distance and hear the alive forest. There is all matter of sounds: bird calls, critters chirping, grasshoppers crepit-ating. We saw a leaf chameleon – smallest chameleon, well it's the size of a leaf; a leaf gecko; a tree snail; the eggs of a Paradise Fly-catcher; and different caterpillars. Now for the lemurs. We saw five different ones: Red-fronted Brown Lemur, Golden Bamboo Lemur, Greater Bamboo Lemur, Red-bellied Lemur, and the Milne-Edward's Sifaka (which is different than a lemur, because it moves on the ground with its two leg limbs, not all four limbs.) Anyway, it looks like a lemur, so I put it in as a lemur. The Greater Bamboo Lemur that we saw is the only one left in this rainforest. Linda said they have tried to bring in Greater Lemurs from around the island, but they don't eat Bamboo. Soo… she is the last one here! The Golden Bamboo Lemurs only are found here. They were discovered in 1986, and they are the reason this forest became a park – in 1991 – to protect their species. Anyway, they are fascinating to watch, as with everyone else (including us) in the park scrambling to see them. I often think who is watching whom??

It was a grand visit and we took about 4.5 hours. I know Linda took us on a lighter trek, but I was okay with this. The trail was easy enough but quite a bit of up and down. My knees were already uncomfortable from yesterday's 3 hr hike. I had even put on my knee braces today – and so glad I did. Linda is 25 and mother of a two year old, but she made it seem effortless. Well, I guess when I was 25… Anyway, she speaks five languages – Malagasy, French (they have to learn in primary school), English (they learn in secondary school), and Spanish & Italian (she learned these on her own). She said she is working on German and Chinese!

Finished, we left Linda and our animal spotter guy. Now we have some road time to put in. We drive to Ambositra. As we go, we follow the road along the mountains and skirt with the winding road around valleys. We stopped at a viewpoint about midway through our four hour drive, and George touched on the deforestation that is happening. Unfortunately, you can see musch of the ground stripped and burnt leaving the bare red clay like soil. They are doing this for agriculture. It is a no win situation. Also due to the burning there is a lot of smoke hanging in the air. We actually dug out our masks, because it was getting so hard to breathe!!! I can't imagine living here.

We arrived at Ambosita. George offered an artisanal tour involving woodworking, but we opted out due to just going on a HIKE – my knees were tender; and we don't buy souvenirs. He was okay with this. Next we pulled into our hotel, L'Artisans. Checked in and we meandered about the hotel grounds, due to having some reliefs lining the walls. Went back to our room and showered.

Supper by 630 pm. Starters: salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and cabbage with a vinaigrette; and zucchini soup topped with cheese. Both hit our spots. Mains: Zebu kebobs with side of roasted, herbed and garlic potatoes; chicken in a dijon mustard sauce with same side. The Zebu kebobs weren't as tender as we have had, but good flavor. Chicken with the mustard sauce , so good. Dessert: creme brulee; and mini dark chocolate brownies with chocolate drizzle and dusting of powder sugar. It was a enjoyable meal – top level, but not the best. We also had some Malagasy musical entertainment.

After supper caught up on blop and bed. It was another good Mad Tour Day!!!