Berenty

A while back Susan had me read "Lords and Lemurs," by Alison Jolly (the Jane Goodall of Lemurs). The story revolves around Jolly's life studying lemurs at Berenty in the south of Madagascar, but also about the saving of natural habitat, politics, and history of the area from the 1930's to the end of the 20th century. Little did I know at the time that I would spend most of three days there. Berenty is a working Sisal farm (agave used for fiber) and a nature reserve. There is a lodge now doing a thriving eco-tourism business as well. And it is a beautiful area with native spiny and gallery (riparian) forests full of birds and lemurs. 

To get to Berenty there is a 90 kilometer road that takes all of three hours to negotiate. It was paved in 1950 and hasn't been maintained since. I will never again complain about potholes on a road in the US. 

The bridge is patched together by the local villagers with tree branches

The ring-tailed lemurs are the stars of the show with their antics and semi-habituation to visitors. As strict no-feeding policy helps to at least keep the appearance of wildness. But the little buggers are just so cute, especially when lounging in the shade of the deck chair on the back porch of our bungalow. Also of special interest are the "Dancing Lemurs" or Verraux's Sifaka. This lemur is not capable of walking, so when moving from one tree area to another they jump, or dance, in a most hilarious fashion. We never tired of watching the lemurs and will miss them immensely. 

Local guide Olivier and tour guide JJ

Adult stage of Antlion, a really big one!

Brown Mouse Lemur

Hook-billed Vanga adult and juvenile

Lesser Vasa Parrot

Madagascar Kestrel

Madagascar Scops Owl

Red-capped Coua

Red-fronted Brown Lemur

Red-fronted Brown Lemur

Ring-tailed Lemur

Ring-tailed Lemur

Ring-tailed Lemur

Ring-tailed Lemur

Ring-tailed Lemur

Scorpion

Verreaux's Sifaka

Verreaux's Sifaka

Verreaux's Sifaka

Verreaux's Sifaka

Verreaux's Sifaka

Verreaux's Sifaka

White-browed Owl

White-footed Sportive Lemur

Yellow-billed Kite

We are back in Fort Dauphin to fly to the capital city in the morning. If all goes properly we will leave the next morning for our last segment of the tour, a few more days in the rain forest.