Day 13 - Tuesday 15/09/2105: Perinet
After breakfast we set off on the 4-5 hour drive to the Vakona Forest Lodge in the eastern rainforest. Until now we have used a bus for transport, for this trip we used three 4-wheel drive vehicles, as the roads at Perinet were expected to be poor. Having left the environs of Tana we passed along some winding mountain roads through some wooded areas interspersed with the inevitable paddy fields. The woodland along the route was largely non-native pines and eucalyptus and again little roadside wildlife was seen. We stopped at one major river crossing at a site that was previously good for Madagascar Pratincole – until the locals started eating them.
The Vakona Lodge is set in beautifully landscaped grounds with a lake full of (non-native) Talapia (a fish that I have enjoyed eating on other African trips, but was not on the menu here). We looked forward to a pleasant 4-night stay.
After lunch we returned down the road towards the Indri Special Reserve at Perinet. All national parks in Madagascar are closed to the public after 4pm in an understandable effort to reduce poaching of wild animals. This meant that we were too late to make it worthwhile entering the park today. So, having met our guides Patrice, his son Thiery and their colleague Lala (discussion about the teletubbies was not avoidable), we birded the roadside and some tracks outside the reserve until dusk. We were taken to roosting sites for Madagascar Rainforest Scops Owl and Madagascar Long-eared Owl, and shown the astonishingly well-camouflaged Sikora Leaf-tailed Gecko and two new lemurs, Eastern Avahi and Diademed Sifaka, in quick succession. On our walk through the forest tracks we also added Red-breasted Coua, Crossley’s Vanga (which was previously thought to be a babbler and went by the name Madagascar Groundhunter, reflecting its skulking terrestrial habit) and Stripe-throated Jery.
After lunch we returned down the road towards the Indri Special Reserve at Perinet. All national parks in Madagascar are closed to the public after 4pm in an understandable effort to reduce poaching of wild animals. This meant that we were too late to make it worthwhile entering the park today. So, having met our guides Patrice, his son Thiery and their colleague Lala (discussion about the teletubbies was not avoidable), we birded the roadside and some tracks outside the reserve until dusk. We were taken to roosting sites for Madagascar Rainforest Scops Owl and Madagascar Long-eared Owl, and shown the astonishingly well-camouflaged Sikora Leaf-tailed Gecko and two new lemurs, Eastern Avahi and Diademed Sifaka, in quick succession. On our walk through the forest tracks we also added Red-breasted Coua, Crossley’s Vanga (which was previously thought to be a babbler and went by the name Madagascar Groundhunter, reflecting its skulking terrestrial habit) and Stripe-throated Jery.
Because the parks closed at 4pm, all our night walks had to be done along the roadsides and this probably limited the range of wildlife we were able to see on these walks. Only Alison & I had the stamina to stay for today’s night walk. We saw several species of frog and a new chameleon, Madagascar Nightjars flying around and we heard but did not see Madagascar Crested Ibis flying over.
We returned to the lodge for a late dinner and bed.