Saha Forest Camp

We again left Tana, this time heading northeast towards Lake Alaotra, about a two days' drive. We stopped near Anjozorobe for three nights in between, staying at the Saha Forest Camp, which is inside the forest.  It's about a half a kilometer's walk from the parking area to the lodge and "tents," which are really more like bungalows made out of heavy tarp, but really nice.  This place was definitely made with rich tourists in mind.  But since we came in the off season and there was only one other couple staying there, we were able to negotiate a cheaper rate.  I think it helped that Tosoa and Rondro speak Malagash (and are super sweet).  There were two lodges in the area we were considering - the other was a bit smaller and cheaper, though not as nice.  It turned out we made the right choice - on our final morning, our hotel keeper shared that the other lodge has burned down overnight - the security guard had fallen asleep by his fire and it got out of control.  Thankfully no one was hurt.

We all really enjoyed Saha - good food, lovely primary forest, Indri calls every morning.  Indri are the largest lemur species.  There used to be giant lemurs the size of humans, but we ate them all and now they are extinct.  Indri are unique in that they are the only territorial lemurs - all other lemurs migrate throughout the day.  Indri stay in one area, and to protect this area, every morning, and sometimes throughout the day, they sing loudly.  There really is nothing like being awoken at 7am every morning by Indri cries - it's both lovely and chilling.  The best way I can think of to describe it is that they sound a little bit like whales, but sing in a group.

Pictures 1 and 2 show women replanting rice on our way to Saha.  They first plant all the rice seeds in one small area and when the rice gets to be a little longer they replant it.  They told us a field this size takes about two days to replant.

Inside the primary forest we were able to see many plants, birds, and bugs that are unique to Madagascar (and even a nocturnal lemur!). We saw ancient fern-trees, tons of vines, mosses, lichen, and fungi.  The little red bug is called a giraffe bug because the males have long necks (this one's a female).  They mostly eat leaves.  Sadly, many such forests on the island are being cut down or burned, either to plant rice or make charcoal.