Following in the footsteps of my hero: Part 1 – Babakoto Day 1

 

In 1961, Sir David Attenborough visited Madagascar for the first time to study the island’s rich and unusual flora and fauna. As a child, I read about his adventures in his book ‘Zoo Quest to Madagascar’ and was also captivated by ‘Attenborough and the Giant Egg’, a follow-up documentary in which he returned to the island. Ever since, I had been desperate to visit this incredible location full of endemic species.

The island of Madagascar became detached from mainland Africa around 20 million years ago and, consequently, its species evolved in isolation and without competition. For example, while ancient lemurs were out-competed by monkeys in Africa, the lemurs in Madagascar were able to evolve and diversify. However, there are more than just lemurs in Madagascar. The island is also home to more than 300 bird species, two thirds of the world’s chameleon species and numerous endemic fish, plants and insects.

After multiple delays due to the global pandemic, I, along with my husband, was finally able to make the trip to my dream destination in the summer of 2022 and it did not disappoint. However, it was interesting to observe how much the island had changed since Sir David Attenborough wrote his book.

Like the Zoo Quest team, we flew into the capital, Antananarivo (often referred to as Tana), from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and I was awestruck to be able to look down on the snow-capped peak of Mt Kilimanjaro en route. Our view at take-off, however, was somewhat different from the ‘skeins of wildebeest’ and groups of giraffe, running ‘slowly away from the moving shadow of our plane’ that they experienced. Sadly, like most of the world, Kenya is now much more built up than it was 60 years ago.

In the 1960s, there were thought to be around 20 different species of lemur in Madagascar. It is now known that there are in fact more than 111 species and still more continue to be discovered. It was these charismatic and unique creatures that I was most eager to see on my expedition.

Our most memorable encounter of the trip was with the largest living species of lemur, the indri. Having heard the incredible calls made by these animals on one of Sir David’s programmes when I was a child, I was keen to enjoy this experience at first hand.

After a couple of nights in the capital, we made our way to the small town of Andasibe (formerly known as Perinet), about 140km to the east of Tana, where I knew Sir David and his team had stayed when looking for indri. Andasibe lies on the western outskirts of the Analamazoatra National Park, a region of protected rainforest 8.1km²  in area, known to be a stronghold for the species. 

We could not have made the journey to Andasibe without the help of a local driver, as roads on the island are in very poor condition, with potholes that more closely resemble crevasses in a glacier. The journey, which took about 6 hours overall, gave us the opportunity to take in the fascinating changes of landscape en route. We passed through numerous villages, with their fragile huts and rice paddies, and vast areas of eucalyptus, a tree species we had not expected to see. Unfortunately, many areas of land that had once been primary forest had, within the last few years, been cleared and replanted with eucalyptus, for the purpose of burning its bark to make charcoal.

As we neared our destination, the scenery became more jungle-like, with beautiful rivers and lush vegetation. Our jovial driver pointed out many weekend ‘picnic’ spots popular with residents of Tana.

 

As we arrived in Andasibe, a small but bustling town with numerous food stalls selling exotic produce, we could already hear the calls of the indri in the forest. Despite these being familiar to me from the TV, nothing could compare to hearing them in real life for the first time. It was a truly moving experience.

Once we had settled into our accommodation, freshened up and had a bite to eat, we headed to the V.O.I.M.M.A Community Reserve, just north of Andasibe, where we were met by our guide, Liva. Leading us into the seemingly impenetrable jungle, he shared with us his encyclopaedic knowledge of the local flora and fauna, to the accompaniment of sweet, melodious birdsong from the dense rainforest canopy.

It was not long before we encountered our first lemurs, hearing them before we saw them. A bizarre snorting sound coming from high in the trees above us, perfectly mimicked by Liva, heralded their appearance. 

I held my breath as they leapt through the trees towards us. These were common brown lemurs and they seemed as curious about us as we were about them! Keeping very still, we looked on in amazement as one of the troop came right up to me and sniffed my shoe.

They were beautiful creatures, with little black fox-like faces and intense orange eyes.

Unusually for lemurs in the Eulemur genus, both males and females look identical. We encountered several troops of this species during our explorations that day. Although common here, brown lemurs, like most lemur species, are currently listed as vulnerable to extinction.

As we continued through the unspoilt wilderness, we spotted all kinds of beautiful birds, such as the blue coua and the pygmy kingfisher – a kingfisher that doesn’t eat fish! 

One disadvantage of the thick vegetation was that, despite the sunny weather, little light could penetrate the lower levels of the forest, making photography challenging.

                             

Despite this problem, I was very pleased with the spider holster (Spider Holster – Spider Camera Holster) which I had purchased before this trip, as it enabled me to bear the weight of my heavy camera and lens on my hips rather than on my back or neck.

This picture shows me trying it for the first time at home before leaving. 

After a few hours of trekking, our guide whispered with excitement, ‘Babakoto!’ Thanks to Sir David’s book, I knew this to be another name for the indri, roughly translating as ‘father of the child’. He pointed high up in a tree, where we were able to make out the sleeping form of a solitary male indri. My first indri. Although this was not the best view, we could clearly see the lemur’s characteristic black and white markings and I was overjoyed to be finally seeing one in person. We stayed and watched him for a while as he snoozed the afternoon away. He looked so soft, almost like a teddy bear, and it broke my heart to be reminded that his species is critically endangered. The indri is the largest of Madagascar’s lemurs, but its population continues to decline rapidly. As well as habitat destruction, indri also face the threat of hunting, despite being a protected species.

A brief moment when the indri looked down at us.

When it was clear that this indri was not going to move any time soon, we continued our trek and saw numerous other fascinating species, such as the incredibly camouflaged mossy leaf-tailed gecko. Can you spot him in this picture?

Look out for my next blog entry to find out whether we saw any more of Babakoto.