More Lemurs

I’m sure you’re just shocked to know that I have more pictures of lemurs. We had advanced northward up the east coast to the Canal des Pangalanes. This is a waterway consisting of canals, rivers, and lakes that run parallel to the Indian Ocean, and which are sheltered from the sea…

…creating a means of transportation of goods and people between small fishing villages.

The hotel where we stayed had several species of lemurs in the area that we hadn’t met yet, like the Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur…

(they look like they’re wearing fuzzy gloves)

… the Crowned Lemur…

(looks more like a fox to me)

… a hybrid of a Brown and Crowned Lemur…

… and a Short-tailed Indri (complete with disgruntled baby) -

(check out that stubby tail!)

The morning we were to walk through the forest near the hotel dawned cloudy, then turned drizzly as we started, culminating in a steady rain…

… that had us as wet and unhappy as the lemurs - who basically stayed hidden as we tromped through the forest for 2 hours.

We did see a Golden Orb Weaver…

… and some carnivorous Pitcher Plants -

The highlight of our visit to this area was seeing Aye-Ayes. These are rather not-pretty beasts…

… that have long fingers, with an especially long middle finger, that they use to catch grubs out of tree trunks.

For the upcoming video, please click the link at the bottom of the email to open it in your browser -

The Aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate (about the size of a housecat), and their incisors never stop growing. The guide told us that local villagers often killed them because they raided their coconuts, as well as looking like demons. About thirty years ago, a man-made island was constructed across a lake from any people and 6 Aye-ayes were relocated there. Their numbers have increased very slowly, as they bear a single offspring only every 2-3 years.

It was pretty contrived in how we saw them. We were boated over to the island at dusk; walked a short way into the forest; and found a clearing where coconuts were fixed to trees and a few lights illuminated their feasting -

After two nights, we headed a little further north to catch a ferry to a small island for some relaxation, but the ferry didn’t run for a day, so we were stuck at a hotel on the beach…

… which was a real hardship (eyeroll). :)