Friday, August 18, 2017

Madagasikara - Day 04

#ThisDayIn2016

After waking and freshening up, we found this laid out for us on a wooden table+bench right next to our tent. There were several other tourists around us--about 3-6 different groups--and they had breakfast in/near their tents or in their motorboats, but our guide and boatmen seemed to be so much more cooler spreading a treat out this way for us. We just felt so blessed!




Soon after we cleared the table, it was Lemur time! Scores of brown lemurs flocked the very table+bench where we ate a few minutes ago.



A guide from another group brought them fruits and fruit peels. Tourists are told not to feed them so that they do not get dependent on humans, but once in a while some locals indulge them. People used selfie sticks to take pictures of the lemurs from up close. Thankfully, they weren't as cheeky as monkeys and didn't grab anyone's camera. :)



We set off after drying our tents and cleaning up the site, with bright West views ahead of us and a brilliant sun behind. We crossed a few tourist motorboats that were coming back upstream after completing the river safari. Those complete the journey in half the time, but I guess they don't have as much fun as us because they camp for only one night on the river. I'm conflicted about this, because this way, our boatmen get paid well, but it's a LOT of physical effort for them.


We saw a lot of migratory birds in the trees where the terrain was hilly.



And then some gorgeous view like these...


A few minutes later, our boatmen spotted the house of an acquaintance who made oars, so they made a quick maneuver and docked the boat. They checked out a couple of oars and settled on one, which they would use immediately.


Later, we watched as locals went about their day--washing clothes, bathing, fishing, cooking...



This one in particular caught my eye... see how coolly she's swaddled her baby and tied it up on her back so she can go about her day? Amazing!


Further ahead, we saw a few boats docked near a group of huts/houses. Our guide mentioned that this was a popular spot for lunch, but we moved on...


Because he had better plans for us. He knew we liked calm, uncrowded places, so the boatmen stopped at a private spot next to someone's miniature farm. A bunch of kids surrounded us, but we gave them some eatables and then they left us alone. The meal, needless to say was amazing--they made pasta and a simple salad and we also had chilled juice from the cool box!



Post lunch we encountered large flocks of birds gathered on the banks and on trees and shrubs...



And some lone wolves, erm... birds, trees, men...



And some kids loafing about...



Until we got to the spot where we'd spend the night. For about a mile before this spot, we ran into really shallow waters. The boatmen asked us to walk along the sandy bank while they pushed the boat for a bit by hand until they reached deeper waters and took the long-winding route to our camping spot.


While the sun set beyond the west bank...



The moon appeared on the east...



While, we found a lone, dead tree branch some distance away as a cover to erm... cover our behinds while we relieved ourselves, the boatmen and the guide went about preparing our dinner. We asked for plain french fries, so they gave us exactly that. And then made a dessert out of banana, sugar, and wine! Man, those guys were resourceful!




The full moon that night was a beautiful synchronicity. It was just the 5 of us in two tents, with this heavenly orb watching over us.


Magical!

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