Th most amazing Comet moth - it was HUGE
Now left the rainforest behind for a short time and headed into a dryer, hotter area towards the south. The view from the window of the minibus as I write this is green paddy fields - every scrap of land is cultivated where possible and there are no trees! The houses are built with red mud bricks and have tiny windows. Pitch black inside presumably to keep them cool as it is incredibly hot outside at the moment. Laundry (and people) all smell of woodsmoke as these houses appear to have no chimneys and therefore the cooking fire smoke just hangs around....Bags of charcoal line the road, along with stalls selling tiny bananas, passion fruit, mangoes and everything in between. Stopped to look at family tombs which are important to the Malagasy people who believe that if the dead are remembered by the living then their spirits thrive in the spirit world and therefore help to protect their relatives! I like that.
Market day.
Armed with a smile, plunged into a local market in a small town which was very colorful and packed with everything from fruit & veg (all the usual) to squealing piglets and vivid Lycra clothing. Everyone you smile at smiles back and speaks French to you which is of course no good to me, but I have learn t to say, hello, goodbye and thanks in Malagasy which helps....
Baobab - The Tree of Life
Heading towards Ranomafana Reserve where we have a 3 day stop which will be very welcome as we have covered some miles, with some seriously early (for me) starts. Having great time of course, group good fun, Mamy, our guide, is very good and knows his stuff (especially his lemurs and birds).
Giraffe-necked beetle - just plain weird!
Doug suicidal as his camera has just broken and no matter what we do we cant get it fixed – so disappointed for him. He is now using mine (so I am also camera-less) and he is not a happy bunny. In a way it is forcing us to use our eyes instead of a lens but those who know him know how much he loves his photography!
Malagasy meal
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