Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the national park
The first part of the trip can be done by vehicle. It's a lovely walk,
however,takingyouthroughricepaddiesandcultivatedareas.Itcanalsobeveryhot.After
2.7km you arrive at the village of Mandena, a delightful place with a private school (!) full
of friendly, well-behaved children. Then it's a further 2.9km to the park entrance. This is
the best stretch for finding panther chameleons so keep an eye on the track-side bushes. At
the park entrance there's a good map showing the trails, and a chance for a rest under a
shelter. It's 4.3km through rainforest to the first camp. From road to camp will take four to
five hours.
Camp Mantella
(425m) is situated in the heart of superb lowland rainforest. There are
17 beds and a nice eating area. A night walk is particularly rewarding, revealing
Brookesia
chameleons,
Uroplatus
and many frogs.
Camp Marojejia
(750m) is an hour from the first camp, and lies at the transition
between lowland and mid-altitude rainforest opposite an amazing outcrop of rock cloaked
in rainforest. This peak, called Ambatotsondrona, or 'Leaning Rock', is one of the most
spectacular views in Madagascar. To eat your breakfast watching the changing light on its
flank is perfection, which is a good thing because the path beyond this camp is very, very
tough. The compensation is that the areas above Camp Marojejia offer the best chance of
seeing a silky sifaka.
LEECHES
Hilary Bradt
Fewclassesofinvertebrateselicitmoredisgustthanleeches.Perhapssomefactsabout
these extraordinarily well-adapted animals will give them more appeal.
Terrestrial leeches such as those found in Madagascar are small (1-2cm long) and
find their warm-blooded prey by vibrations and odour. Suckers at each end enable the
leech to move around in a series of loops and to attach itself to a leaf by its posteri-
or while seeking its meal with the front end. It has sharp jaws and can quickly - and
painlessly - bite through the skin and start feeding. When it has filled its digestive
tract with blood the leech drops off and digests its meal. This process can take sev-
eral months since leeches have pouches all along their gut to hold as much blood as
possible - up to ten times their own weight. The salivary glands manufacture an anti-
coagulant whichpreventsthebloodclotting duringfeedinganddigestion.Thisiswhy
leech wounds bleed so spectacularly. Leeches also inject an anaesthetic so you don't
feel them biting.
Leeches are hermaphrodites but still have pretty exciting sex lives. To consummate
their union they need to exchange packets of sperm. This is done either the conven-
tional way via a leechy penis or by injection, allowing the sperm to make its way
through the body tissues to find and fertilise the eggs.
