All posts by Alex and Annie

Accommodation, Adventures, Hiking, Madagascar, Outdoors

Andasibe and Mantadia National Park

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We visited Andasibe to meet with a local community organization called Mitsinjo and to visit Ambatovy, a nickel and cobalt mine site on the outskirts of the national park.  Andasibe village is a quaint Malagasy town, dissected by a river and descended upon by thousands of tourists throughout the year wanting to catch a glimpse of the Indri Indri.  The Indri Indri is the largest of the lemurs and a spectacular sight to see. The Indri’s home is the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park which is located roughly 3-4 hours drive east from Tana on RN2.

It is possible to catch a taxi brousse directly to Andasibe from Tana.  These are however limited and very expensive.  The cheaper option is to take the taxi brousse to Moramanga (7 000Ar, about $3) and then catch a connecting local taxi brousse for the remaining 45km to Andasibe. This was the most squished we have ever been in a taxi-brousse, they really squeezed us in. Anneka had marary kibo (an upset stomach) and we were very glad when the van finally took off and dropped us at our hotel – Marie Guesthouse, within an hour. As Anni wasn’t feeling too well, we took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.

The next morning we walked to Mitsinjo, the local community organisation, which is less than 2km from Marie Guesthouse. Remember to come back soon to read our post on Mitsinjo!

We also visited Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine. Representatives from Ambatovy visited Alex’s old work, Alcoa in Western Australia about 4 years ago, to learn best practice for forest rehabilitation. Because of this, we were invited to visit Ambatovy’s operations and to see their rehabilitation. They have not done much reforestation yet, but from what we could ascertain they were doing a pretty good job. The company genuinely seemed committed to restoring the forest after mining activities.

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is famous for the Indri Indri but also contains many other species of lemurs and is well renowned for its orchids and reptiles. We visited Mitsinjo Reserve and Mantadia national park while in Andasibe. When trekking through Mantadia your guide will take you through some breathtaking primary forest with large trees that have been saved from logging. Some 14 species of lemur live in and around Mantadia however you must work hard for the rewards.  Our guide spent over 4 hours tracking several families of the black and white ruffed lemurs.  They tempted us with their glorious calls all morning but managed to avoid us for most of the day.

We headed back for lunch and heard their calls again over a ridge. The guide asked if we still wanted to try and catch up with them.  We looked up the steep, densely vegetated hillside and replied ‘yeka’ – and we were off again.  Finally we made it to the top of the ridge but still couldn’t see the group of lemurs we had heard.  The guide spotted them after a while and we spent the next half hour observing these spectacular creatures.  We headed off and finished the day with lunch at a pleasantly cool waterfall.

We stayed at Marie Guesthouse which was quite cheap – 25 000 Ar. You can hear the Indri’s wail early in the morning – which can be considered a treat or a curse depending on how lightly you sleep! The rooms were fairly basic, but comfortable enough. The restaurant was good and we really enjoyed learning Malagasy with the waitstaff who were very friendly. It was good that the taxi-brousse drops you right in front of the hotel. The location was good, there is another hotel directly across the road, Feony Ala which also had good food. Mitsinjo was only 20min walk away.

If you only have limited time in Andasibe we would recommend to visit the Mitsinjo Reserve to view the Indri Indri and learn the basics about forest restoration. If you wish to see another national park then Andasibe would be our choice.  Although we did not visit this park, the other option, Mantadia is much more expensive due to car and guide hire and requires hard work to see wildlife that remains mostly hidden in the primary forest.

We spent four days in Andasibe, and would recommend spending at least 3 days there as there is much to see.

Adventures, Madagascar, Outdoors, Volunteering

Visit to commune Miarinarivo

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Miarinarivo is a small commune situated approximately 45km south of Ambalavao in the central highlands of Madagascar.  It is relatively remote and travel via taxi brousse from Ambalavao is only possible on a few days of the week and takes several hours.  Ny Tanintsika works with three community forest management associations (COBA’s) within the commune.  These associations have been created to locally manage the protection and enhancement of remaining forest within the region. It empowers local people with the knowledge and skills to manage their (limited) forest resources. The management plans were created under guidance from Ny Tanintsika and the Malagasy government. The plans define areas of strict conservation (fitting with the region plan to provide corridors) and mixed forest use to meet the daily needs of the community (sustainable resource use).  The plan also allocates plantation areas to supply fuel wood for cooking and agricultural lands for food production and agroforestry.

I spent five days in Miarinarivo with the field technicians from Ny Tanintsika. We visited the nurseries and reforestation sites of two villages (COBA’s), community agroforestry technicians (TAC’s) and several households along the way. My first objective was to demonstrate the use of GPS to record areas reforested. Secondly, I was to teach techniques for monitoring survival of seedlings produced at the community nurseries. We also set up a trial for producing mycorrhiza (VAM) at the nurseries.  Mycorrhiza are vital to the growth, health and successful establishment of seedlings.

We were invited for lunch on several occasions but due to the busy schedule had to decline on most days. On the last day we joined one of the COBA’s for a traditional rice feast. Ny Tanintsika had donated a plough to the COBA and they were eager to display its use and give thanks. It was the beginning of the rice harvest and Malagasy traditional is to share your wealth when you have it. I had to make my way into the house via a precariously unstable wooden plank raised 2.5m above the ground. This was disconcerting after having broken my femur just over a year ago.  We feasted on eggplant, chickpea, and (needless to say) rice. It was a lovely experience to have been welcomed into their house.

There had recently been a cyclone and trekking through rice paddies was very challenging.  The windrows of rice paddies had become very slippery and most of us ended up with both feet stuck deep in mud.  I had a great time working with the Ny Tanintsika staff and community members.

Adventures, Hiking, Madagascar, Outdoors

Allee des Baobabs and Morondava

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We stayed in Morondava for one night before heading to Tsingy and for four nights after returning (we could have stayed longer, it is a very relaxing place). On our way back from Tsingy and Kirindy, it is very common for your 4×4 driver/tour to take you to Allee des Baobabs (baobab alley) to see the sunset before returning to Morondava (baobab alley is less than one hour’s drive from Morondava). The baobabs are over 800 years old and incredibly beautiful and striking though it is terribly sad to see that most of the other trees in the region have been razed to the ground, which makes these huge trees even more ominous and looming. Sadly, the area is not a national park, and the trees are threatened by further deforestation, effluent from encroaching rice paddies and sugar cane plantations, and fires. Despite its popularity as a tourist destination, the area has no visitor center or gate fees, and local residents receive little income from tourism. There are many enormous baobabs in the region including a sacred tree where people pray. If you have a driver, ask him to take you to some of the other baobabs in the region, some are intertwining, which looks quite romantic! *Traveller alert* – this is probably one of the most visited tourist attractions in Madagascar, so if you are expecting the alley to yourself at sunset, think again. Take plenty of patience with you and try to arrive early if you want to take a photo without tourists ruining it!

Morondava is a very pleasant seaside town on the west coast of Madagascar. It has a laidback feel to it (apart from the main street on market day, which is quite thriving). There is a strip of hotels/restaurants lining the beach and mangroves on the other side of the road catering to a range of budgets. The seafood is superb. Especially now having visited a few coastal areas in Madagascar, we really were spoiled with the quality and variety of seafood in Morondava. The beach is pretty good (and clean). You can take a pirogue trip down the river. Morondava is a great base from which you head to Baobab Alley, Tsingy or south to Belo sur Mer. We stayed four nights and would have liked to stay longer. At first we stayed at Trecicogne as it was listed as the ‘top pick’ on Lonely Planet. But we left after two nights as they kept turning the water off. We understand that water is short, but we drew the line at not being able to wash our hands after going to the toilet! We sort of splashed out on our last two nights at the Baobab Hotel – 80,000 Ar per night about $35AUD. http://www.baobabcafe-hotel.net/baobabcafe-circuit-hotel-en.html This hotel was really nice, and bonus had a pool! We also splashed out on a huge crayfish for 35,000Ar, $15. It was to die for! We recommend eating at Bougainvilliers (try the stuffed crab) and Stadium Hotel on the main street (7000Ar for two huge langostines). Needless to say, we were a bit sad to leave Morondava, especially knowing we had two days of taxi-brousses ahead of us…

Madagascar, Outdoors, Volunteering

Production of mycorrhiza at community nurseries

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The soils of Madagascar are generally nutrient poor and forests display rapid nutrient cycling. Nutrients in these forests are not readily available as they are tied up in biomass. The majority of native vegetation is dependent on fungal root associations for nutrient uptake. These symbiotic associations between fungi and the roots of plants are termed vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) or ectomycorrhizal (ECM). It is termed ‘symbiotic’ as the fungus obtains carbohydrates (sugars) from the plant and in exchange provides the plant with vital nutrients for growth. It is not possible for the plant to obtain many of these minerals by itself without the fungus. The fungus thus helps plant growth and health by increasing the plants nutrient absorption capability. Examples of these nutrients are phosphate, nitrogen and other minerals. Seedlings produced at community nurseries for reforestation projects often lack these important fungi in potting mix. The absence of mycorrhiza impacts on the health and growth of seedlings resulting in higher mortality rates – in the nursery and once planted in the field.

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Ny Tanintsika has begun establishing trials to produce the VAM for seedling production at community nurseries. The process is relatively simple but will hopefully prove essential to the production of healthy native seedlings.

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The process used for producing VAM at the community nurseries is detailed below.

  1. root material is collected from the undisturbed forest that contains mycorrhiza of the plant families grown at the nurseryIMG_4408 IMG_4412
  2. a trench is dug that is 50cm deep but can be varying in width and length (depending on the amount of VAM required)IMG_4455
  3. the trench is lined with a breathable plastic sheet to keep in the moisture & fungusIMG_4461
  4. the collected root material is added to the trench
  5. a small amount of topsoil and compost is placed on top of the forest soilIMG_4504IMG_4494
  6. a mix of rice and bean seeds are sown and the pit is wateredIMG_4507
  7. the rice and bean mix is grown for 3 months to help culture the fungi as the roots provide a new medium for mycorrhizal growthIMG_4516
  8. reeds or straw is placed on top to keep the mixture from drying outIMG_4533
  9. after 3 months the rice and bean plants are cut and mixed into the mycorrhizal culture
  10. water drainage is installed to stop rain water running into the mixture (especially during cyclonic events)IMG_4536
  11. after a further 10 days the culture is ready to add into the potting mix in poly bagsIMG_2307
  12. 1 tablespoon of the culture is added to the poly bags for seedlingsIMG_4339IMG_4553IMG_4557-Edit
Adventures, Madagascar, Volunteering

Fianarantsoa, Madagascar – Our New Home

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We are based in Fianarantsoa, in the central highlands of Madagascar, for our volunteering work with Feedback Madagascar/ Ny Tanintsika. Fianarantsoa is the 5th largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Haute Matsiatra region. It was built by the Merina people in the early 19th century for the Betsileo Kingdom when the regions of Madagascar where unified. The Betsileo people are known as very hard working people. Others joke that they are always cold and even wear jumpers on the hottest of days.

The Ny Tanintsika office in Fianarantsoa has about 15 employees and probably another 15 field staff. We are really lucky to be a part of this organisation.  The staff are wonderful and have been very welcoming. They are all highly educated and very knowledgeable. Their experiences and willingness to help have made our journey here very enjoyable. We have been lucky to rent a house next to the office.  It is very nice – especially for Malagasy standards. There are two bedrooms, a living area, small kitchen with a camping gas burner to cook and a bathroom. We’ve been sharing with a young dutch/german couple completing a University degree in International Development. Washing is very refreshing as we only have cold water. Boiling some hot water makes it possible for us to have the occasional warm bucket shower.

The best things about Fianarantsoa are the Ny Tanintsika staff and local people. Most people are very friendly and say hello when you pass by on the street. We’ve been to Karaoke with locals and had a blast. Singing here feels much easier (and somewhat less embarrassing) than back home. Buying our fresh fruit and vegetables is always an experience.  The market place is full of people and getting what you want can be a challenge. Although Fianar is very developed there are still rice paddies wherever houses have not been built. Waterways are sadly full of rubbish as is often the case with cities in developing countries. There are also many fruit trees scattered through the city. There are many peach trees in which you will often find chameleons, rocking back and forth, stalking insects.

Most Vazaha and tourists only stop in Fianarantsoa overnight on their way to Tulear or returning from visiting national parks such as Andringitra, Ranomafana or Isalo.  We’ve had a fantastic experience here so far, met some lovely Malagasy people and eaten many wonderful foods. Thanks Fianarantsoa.

Our page on Feedback Madagascar and Ny Tanintsika

Adventures, Animals, Hiking, Madagascar, Outdoors

Kirindy Private Forest Reserve

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Kirindy Reserve is a privately managed forest in one of Madagascar’s most threatened ecosystems: its dry deciduous forests. There are many animals with 31 different mammals with 8 species of lemur and it is the best place to see the elusive fossa. There are also 50 different species of reptiles. We highly recommend a visit to Kirindy. If you don’t have time to drive out to Tsingy, a good alternative would be to drive from Morondava to Kirindy, stay one night, do a night walk that evening and a morning walk the next day. After that drive back to Morondava stopping off at the Alle des Baobabs for an amazing sunset. Many tourists visit the Baobabs but if you squint you may just be able to pretend all the other ‘Vazah’ are not there.

We really enjoyed our night walk in Kirindy, we saw several nocturnal lemurs and reptiles. The morning walk was also good, where we saw many diurnal lemurs. We saw a few fossa as well as they come into camp for a drink as water is very scarce in this forest. The forest is certainly dry, don’t expect any lush green rainforests here.

Our only ‘gripe’ about Kirindy was that were were practically forced to stay at the Reserve in a room for 120 000 Ar per night, which was high compared to other accommodation we were staying at in the region. We had wanted to camp, but were told that the fossa will eat our tent…hmmm. We felt like the staff took advantage of the tourists and were ripping us off a bit. No cheap accommodation was available, we had to eat at their restaurant and they would add on small prices for many things. Perhaps you could try camp Amoureux instead only a few kilometres away, which is camping, but may be better value. All in all, it was well worth it as Kirindy is an excellent forest teeming with wildlife.