Andasibe and Analamazaotra Natural Park

We drove from Lake Alaotra to Moramanga.  Moramanga can mean either slow blue or cheap mangos, depending on how you read it.  Mora means slow or cheap and manga means either blue, mangos, or an elderly person you respect.  The color blue has many meanings in the Malagash language and the exact meaning of the word depends heavily on the context.  While Moramanga has many mango plantations, unfortunately we came in the wrong season and there were no mangoes to be had.

We spent 4 nights in Mikalo Lodge, about a 20 minute drive east of Moramanga.  But first, we had to stop at a car repair shop.  A part of the car was malfunctioning and sending too much electricity to the battery, which made the battery smell like sulfur. Thankfully it was a quick fix. The stop actually work out to my advantage, as I was able to see and sit in a real Karenjy.  Karenjy are cars made entirely in Madagascar, designed specifically for the treacherous road conditions.  It is very rare to see one, as they only made about 5000 each year, and they haven't made any in about 5 years. They stopped making them in 2008 or 2009 after the last political coup, though I read that they were planning on making more this year, and that production has already started.

After we arrived at our hotel we had a relaxing evening.  We were lucky to have a fireplace in our bungalow, and Caryl and I fell asleep to a roaring fire.  We were again awoken by Indri cries in the morning.

The next day we went to the Analamazaotra National Park where we were finally able to see the Indri.
They are also different from most lemurs in that they don't have tails. Instead, their legs are really long. They were a lot of fun to watch, especially since one of them had a little baby.  We also saw a juvenile Cifaka lemur. He came very close to us and appeared to be watching us.  We were convinced that he was posing for pictures, stretching out his arms and legs and sitting in strange positions. Eventually he got tired of us and went to sleep.

In the evening we went on your first and only night hike in Madagascar. I very, very strongly recommend night hikes. We were able to see many bugs, frogs, and of course nocturnal lemurs.  It was really fun to look for them.  Our guide would shine his flashlight into the trees and if we were able to see two reflecting orange dots, it would mean there was a lemur.  We would then have to hurry to get close enough to are him before he moved on.