Tolaria

Toliara (Tuléar) is a very busy port city in Southern Madagascar. The dusty streets are crowded with pousse pousse ( hand drawn or bicycle taxis),  Zebu carts( the local cows are called Zebu), bicycles and people.  Local commodities are transported in by Outrigger canoes, Zebu carts and trucks. There is no shortage of excitement as commodities are moved from one mode of transport to the next, often with loud heated exchanges but are quickly resolved business continues per normal. The people of this town although poor are quick to smile and friendly.

This little piggy goes to market

 A serious  game of Dominoes

Zebu carts

Plants of the Arboretum d'Antsokay

Reptiles of Antsokay arboretum

Madagascan Spiny-tailed Iguana, (Oplurus cuvieri)

Warty Chameleon (Furcifer verrucosus)

Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) 

Arboretum d’Antosaky

Arboretum d’Antosaky is an excellent facility that is dedicated to the preservation of Madagascar’s Dry Forest plant species. More than 90% of the species maintained here are endemic to this area. The bungalows are clean and well-kept with mosquito nets in good condition. The entire facility is predicated on sustainability with Solar power, water reuse and minimalist practices.

A phalanx of Geckos guard the walls of the bungalow at night, I feel well protected from any nasty night crawling insects J. I rise every morning at 5:00 am to walk the property before the heat of the day becomes oppressive. It takes approximately an hour to walk the trails longer when encountering some of the local fauna highlights. I find that taking two circuits in the morning then two later afternoon is sufficient and always rewarding.

It is absolutely surreal to realize that most of the species one encounters here both of flora and fauna are not found anywhere else in the world. This surrealism is only magnified when you begin to observe the species diversity found within the reserve.

On my first day here I had the enjoyable experience of listening to the group of biologists with which I had traveled to Toliara. This group was made up of some of the most knowledgeable Madagascar plant ecologists in the world. One of this individuals excitement was palpable as he walked the grounds observing the incredible range of species. This was a Mada plant biology 101 course worth the price of admission. I was lucky to be a fly on the wall for this one to be sure. Very cool!!

Antananarivo

Antananarivo (pronounced ant-an-an-a-rivo and from this point forward I will use the Malagasy short form Tana) is a large sprawling city that has definitely seen better days. It is evident by some of the impressive architecture that at one time this was once a beautiful city.  Most of that past glory has been allowed to deteriorate. The drive in to town from the airport is a sensory onslaught, coal smoke burns the eyes, smoke from burning wood piles and exhaust fumes strain the lungs. The rivers are open sewers strewn with garbage and refuse.

The rice patties are well maintained however the water flooding them is questionable at best. You have to pass some of very poor areas of town, children have swollen belly’s from malnutrition as there only food is rice, as meat and fruit is affordable. Petty crime is rampant and overall Tana is a great city to get the hell out of.

I had the fortune of lodging with a group of senior Biology Fellows from the University of Connecticut , obviously a favorite of mine, the UConn Huskies and all that. Dinner was interesting to say the least, I definitely had to up my game to try and stay in the mix with these academics and avoid being exposed as the Neanderthal that I am. Thankfully my sinister past was of benefit especially the research I had done on water purification and aquaculture-horticulture recycling systems. At the worst I could always pull out a good old Yukon Grizzly story.

As it turned out we all were travelling to a lodge in the south on the same flight. 

Hiking the highlands of Itatiaia National Park

I intended to hike up to altitude today so an early start was key for a couple of reasons; firstly to minimize climbing in the oppressive heat of midday  as well as increasing the probability of spotting larger wildlife and birds during their most active period.  I wanted to be at the trail-head well before 700 am breakfast was served so I asked the hotel staff if they would prepare couple of snacks the night before. Although I should not have been surprised the “snack” they prepared for me was humongous. Excellent, but more than I would eat for breakfast and lunch combined. I ate what I wanted, selected a few choice snacks for second breakfast  then gave the rest away to the Park workers just starting their day at the trail-head. Smiles all around.
The trail was in perfect condition albeit quite steep, and it provided a stark contrast in vegetation on leaving the rainforest and entering the "Campos de Altitude" which reminded me of the Altiplano of the high Andes, a grassy lichen rich environment with few trees and shrubs.
I was glad that I managed to get a few conditioning hikes in at home although due to circumstances out of my control  I was not able to prepare as much as I would have liked. My new backpack configuration containing camera gear/tripod/ camping stool worked out flawlessly.
I was totally drenched in sweat in no time and quickly determined the one glaring error in my pack component selection; I should have bought the three liter hydration pack instead of two. I had to start rationing almost immediately.
In terms of wildlife I came across a troupe of Capuchin monkeys in the treetops, a few Toucans, and a fantastic assortment of other birds to numerous for this blog entry. I will post a single blog with my Brazilian bird count once I collate my notes.
I had to take one last trip by the abandoned Hotel Simone and the nesting site to see if the Cotinga was ready to show off. Thankfully when I arrived back to the hotel late afternoon I finally got that picture of the Slaty-breasted Wood Rail.

Saffron (banana) Toucanet (Pteroglossus bailloni) 

Red-rumped Cacique (Cacicus haemorrhous)

Red-rumped Cacique on Tibouchins sp.

Swallow-tailed Cotinga

Swallow-tailed Cotinga

Hotel Simone (abandoned)

Slaty-breasted Wood Rail (Aramides saracura)

Itatiaia National Park

Itatiaia is Brazil's oldest National Park that sits within the Mantiqueira mountain range approximately two thirds of the way from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. Itatiaia means "many-pointed rock" in the Tupi language.
It took a while to get to sleep the first night as I was enjoying the night sounds of the forest. The next morning began at dawn prior to my alarm going off with a cacophony of incredibly loud bird calls raising and lowering in intensity.  They were birds, so obviously I had to get up to see what was going on. There were four large rails about the size of a large rooster chasing each other around the chalets all the while screaming. It turns out that they do this every night at sunset and every morning at dawn. Sweet a natural alarm clock!

I decided to embark on an exploration of the hotel grounds to try and find the rails and see what else may be roaming about. There are about 20 chalets in approximately 10 Ha cut out of the Forest with good sized green areas and trees busy with birds. The forest edges of the property is dense secondary succession underbrush with many small trails leading through the thickets, unfortunately none that are human navigable. There are several rivulets running through te property as well, one running right under my chalet window so it is a spectacular setting.

I was able to ID the noisy rails as Slaty-breasted Wood Rails, I spent more than an hour stalking a couple of them for a photo but it was an effort in futility, whenever I got close they scurried into the underbrush.
I spent the rest of the day after lunch hiking the lower altitude trails along a long series of waterfalls in the southern reaches of the park, As with most rainforests there are two key challenges to photography; a good percentage of the fauna resides in the treetops and the dense foliage cover limits light making photography difficult. Most of my time was spent with the trusty Leica Binoculars in hand instead of the camera.

Quite the maze of trails in this area but my experience in the similar forests of Ecuador and Peru certainly added to my comfort level and of course the Oregon 300 GPS made navigating in and out of the forest a breeze with limited backtracking. In the pre-GPS days I would have been leaving small landmarks along the trails and intersections to simplify my return. I love technology! To be honest though, even without the GPS all I would have had to do was climb to altitude to pick up the sound of waterfalls to regain my bearings.
As hiking in the heat and humidity of this forest had me drenched in sweat in no time so rehydrating was absolutely critical.

Just prior to supper I took the opportunity to drive up to altitude to find the trailhead for next day’s hike and explored the area around a large abandoned hotel called the Hotel Simone. I found out later that I walked extremely close to a hive of extremely aggressive African bees. Lucky…..
I encountered two species of nesting birds here, the single beautiful Swallow-tailed Cotinga and the Red-rumped Cacique, which nest in colonies of long, hanging, bag-shaped nests suspended from branches.
I should note that in order to minimize disturbance the nesting bird pictures are taken at distance with 600mm lens config. The Cotinga pictures are heavily cropped.

Dusky-legged Guan (Penelope obscura)

Green-cheeked Parakeet (Conure) (Pyrrhura molinae)

Green-cheeked Parakeet

Heliconia psittacorum

White-winged ( Canary-winged) Parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus)

Swallow-tailed Cotinga (Phibalura flavirostris) 

Red-rumped Cacique (Cacicus haemorrhous) at nest