Encountering the Indri Lemur in Madagascar’s Rainforest

Our trip through Madagascar continued the next day as we left for Antsirabe. It was another long day on the road. Luckily we stopped in a little town for lunch where we were provided with singing and dancing by the locals. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of opportunities for work outside of Antananarivo, so I assume this was probably considered a good job, especially when they can receive tips from foreigners.

After our lunch (I had noodles and a Youzou – the local version of Sprite), we continued the journey to our hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, I decided to do laundry in the sink. This wasn’t the best idea as A. The power went out so I had to wash my clothes in the dark. B. It was cold, which doesn’t help clothes to dry, and C. There was no wind or breeze. Washing my clothes in the sink in Madagascar proved to be more challenging than I expected. We ate dinner at the hotel like always and called it an early night. The next day we would be touring a local village.

Touring the local village was an interesting experience. The village was spread out through the rice fields. We walked along what I would call a path, but was probably their main road. A zebu cart passed us a few times on the road. We also got followed by a group of children. Once again, Jill, the child whisperer engaged with the children and made them laugh and smile. The walk was long and hot, and we were ready to be done with it.

The walk ended at a local community center where they had prepared lunch for us. We walked into the room for lunch to find the table set up like the last supper. All the chairs were on one side of the table. I think they sensed we thought it was a bit awkward, and they brought in a bench and rearranged the seating so we could actually see and talk with each other. I don’t exactly remember what the meal was, but it consisted of meat, vegetables and rice. Oh, there was avocado! It was delicious.

After lunch they showed us how to make a banana leaf dessert in a banana leaf.  We helped prepare it, and it was very simple: flour, nuts, bananas, banana leaves… That is all I can remember. While waiting for it to cook (steam), they danced for us and made us dance with them. If there is one thing that all my trips have in common (besides being with a group of teachers), it’s dancing. Most places in the world seem to connect and engage through dancing, which is nice.   

The next morning we left for the rainforest, our final destination on the trip. When we arrived at our hotel, we had the option of going on a night walk to see the nocturnal animals. I of course opted to go because this is why I came to Madagascar. After we unloaded our suitcases, ordered our dinner (from the hotel because that’s where you eat and ordering in advance is a must), asked the hotel to fix our toilet because it didn’t flush, we were back onto the bus to head to the rainforest. However, we were excited to find lemurs playing in the trees right outside our cabin!

We took a short drive to where we would be doing the night walk. Our walk started along the road, which didn’t feel very authentic. However, our guide was able to point out a frog and a walking stick. I must say; we would always question if the animals were fake because they would seem to be able to spot them from a mile away.

We then headed into the rainforest to search for the famous nocturnal mouse lemur. We were lucky because we were able to see one! This was by far the highlight of the night walk. Another lemur to add the list of other lemurs we had already seen. The walk ended shortly thereafter, and we went back to the hotel where dinner was waiting for us (fried rice with an egg for me) and then to bed we went.

The next morning we were back in the rainforest with the same guide from the night before. We met him at a different location and started our day at an informational center. There we briefly learned about indri, my favorite lemur that I had never heard of before. This was the rainforest where the Indri lives. The indri is the largest lemur and is black and white. It kind of reminds me of a panda. I am partial to pandas because they are my school’s mascot. So the objective for this rainforest trek, find the Indri.

The first animal we saw was very unexpected, a little owl. We then saw our first lemur, the sifaka. They are so cute! It’s interesting seeing how the lemurs sit in the trees and cuddle with each other.

After the group felt satisfied that we got enough photos, we continued on our trek to find the indri. No more than ten minutes later, we found one! I was shocked at the size. Even though I knew it was the biggest lemur, it was still surprising to see how big it was. All the other lemurs have been raccoon size or smaller. Not only are the indri known for their size, but for their ability to jump in large strides. We were lucky to not only see the indri jump, but we heard them make their distinctive call. (For best view of videos, click the four arrow symbol in the lower right hand corner)

Once the indri jumped away, we continued our trek to find more. We did have another indri sighting, but it wasn’t as good as the first. We couldn’t get a clear view like we did the first time. Before leaving the rainforest for lunch, we saw a grey bamboo lemur. 

Some of us then returned for round two because the alternative would be sitting in the hotel. I didn’t fly all the way to Madagascar to sit in a hotel and miss out on the incredible nature! We had the same guide, but he took us to a different part of the rainforest. Here, we saw a lot of chameleons.

We also saw a mossy gecko that has the most incredible camouflage! Seeing a photo of camouflage is one thing, but seeing it in nature is a whole other experience. I think we were all in awe of the mossy gecko. However, we were more in awe that our guide was able to spot it, but I guess that’s his job! Our only lemur on this trek was the common brown lemur which ran on the ground quite close to us! That was the only lemur we saw, as the focus on that part of the trek was the chameleons. 

The next morning we had one more opportunity to visit the rainforest and try to see more indri before we headed back to Antananarivo. Of course I opted to go as the indri is now my favorite animal! A few people decided to stay behind as the weather was a bit chilly and wet. Anyway, we had the same guide again (we joked that he must be sick of us by now), and we started our final hike through the rainforest. I’d say it was a successful final trek as we saw more indri and chameleons.

We also had a couple students with us, two young ladies in college, who were visiting the rainforest for the first time. It was fun to see their excitement when we saw the lemurs. This was their first time seeing these animals that seemingly live in their backyard.

Returning to our hotel it was time to pack our belongings and take our last van ride back to Antananarivo for our final night in Madagascar. We arrived in Antananarivo in the evening, and we were all pretty exhausted. We said goodbye to our fabulous bus driver and then had a final dinner together as a group.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes, and I attempted to do some laundry. Once again, the weather was not cooperating and getting my clothes to dry was a challenge. I sat outside on the terrace and hung my pants in the sun, but I guess that was not allowed as a staff member quickly showed up and took them someplace else. I then covered my lap in wet socks in hopes he wouldn’t take those. They didn’t dry. Desperate times call for desperate measures. That evening I sat by the fire in the restaurant (at the hotel of course) for one more attempt to dry my clothes. They needed to dry because my flight was heading out at 2:00 am the next morning, and I needed to pack.

Fortunately someone else on my trip was also on my same flight so I didn’t have to take a taxi alone to the airport at 11:00 at night. I was so thankful as our taxi got pulled over in a rather sketchy part of the city. While we made it out alive (I’m not writing this from the grave), it was definitely a white knuckle, what is going to happen? moment!

Stay tuned. My African adventure is far from over. Zimbabwe bound!

(Steve) Thanks to Andrea for sharing the first of her two group tours in Africa. She is a busy teacher so she is going to take a two week break before coming back with posts on her second African trip. In the meantime I will be sharing about my African experience this past summer. Be sure to join me these next two weeks. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already, and your questions and comments are always welcome..