Two of the nicest animals you could hope to meet

Monday, February 13, 2017
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar
I decided not to haggle with Théo over the 100 000 ariary (CAD $40) for the day, because his shirt identified him as the president of the local taxi drivers' association, and I don't think you can put a price on that. He was a good driver and stopped whenever I wanted to take a picture.  
"Y-a-t-il des eucalyptes à Paris?" As an ice-breaker, this was a refreshing change from "Êtes-vous marié? Combien d'enfants avez-vous?" Although I wasn't expecting the question, I understood immediately where it was coming from. So I explained that I wasn't from France, but I was certain there were few if any eucalytus trees in Paris. Nor in Canada. 
I've lost count of how many people have asked me what part of France I'm from, but I know it is not a tribute to my flawless French, as I am constantly committing barbarisms. (For example, I was trying to process some very strange information about owls, until I realized it was "les zébus" and not "les hiboux"). The undeserved apparent compliment is based on two things: most of the tourists here are French, and the people asking the question do not speak French any better than I do, if indeed as well.
I had a jug of petrol between my feet, with a tube leading under the driver's seat, and several 1.5-L bottles full behind my seat. Théo said this was "pour économiser" and I eventually figured out that each driver has to hire the car for the day, and is responsible for the petrol, so the only way to avoid leaving some for the next guy is to take the tank home. He also economized by turning off the ignition whenever we were going downhill. On the other hand, he left the engine running while refuelling, for some reason.
Ranomafana National Park, 60 km from Fianarantsoa, is 42 000 hectares, one-third of which is open to the public. It features lemurs and chameleons, as nice a pair of creatures as you could hope to meet, really. It was created in 1991 and became a World Heritage site in 2007. The sign said the park had 2700 visitors in 2011, so only about ten a day, and it was now low season. A guide is obligatory, and there was also a spotter who communicated by phone. Théo had told me that the entry fee was 25 000 plus 50 000 for the guide; in fact it was 55 000 plus 105 000, and I had just enough. I asked if school kids are brought in -- no. Maybe international organizations should make it a priority to bring them in. Most of them have probably never seen a lemur.
We saw four species of lemurs, starting with a few golden bamboo lemurs. The closest we got was to a pair of greater bamboo lemurs, which sat in a tree eating bamboo and then came down to the ground a few metres away. They chew and peel off the outer part and then eat the soft inner part. They kept an eye on us, but were obviously used to being around people. Sadly, these two were the only ones of their species in the park, and as they were father-and-daughter, the species will disappear there. The guide said they tried bringing in others from a different park, but this was unsuccessful because they had different dietary habits. These animals grow to about 3 kg, but they look larger because they are so furry.
We also got fairly close to the larger sifaka, of the Milnes-Edward species I think the guide said. This prodigious leaper can cover several metres horizontally, and continue with an equal jump without pausing to regroup. It's not like the triple-axel-triple-lutz combination, where the second jump is much less impressive and just seems to be mopping up a bit of leftover momentum. We also had a brief look at a couple of red-fronted brown lemurs.
We saw three kinds of chameleons, all small, one of which I spotted myself. They only get second billing, but are strong candidates for best supporting actors.
(Extra photos below)

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