Madagascar Madness

[mppalms]

It looks like the plant in the second photo of post 104 is a member of the Velloziaceae family ("resurrection plants" that survive total dessication and recover with rains).  What a fantastic trip..  and great photos!

Jason

[Kim]

(bubba @ Mar. 29 2008,18:45)

QUOTE

Top of the world stuff!Thank you for sharing some beyond incredible things.Bob Dyaniliski cheek to cheek pyramids glowing in the dark hotwires!

Uh...thanks, Bubba!   I guess... ???   Not sure what you meant about the pyramids and hotwires, something outside my realm of experience, but it sounded very positive. :cool:

[Kim]

(Dypsisdean @ Mar. 29 2008,21:26)

QUOTE

Kim,

I can't believe you guys were there only a few days. It looks like you spent weeks there.

This is the kind of thread I wish would never end. I'm glad there are more pics on the way.  

Thanks to Bruno's intimate knowledge of Madagascar  we were able to squeeze in a lot in a short time.  Also, I take a lot of pictures...   Glad they lured you out of lurkdom to comment.

[Kim]

(mppalms @ Mar. 30 2008,10:16)

QUOTE

It looks like the plant in the second photo of post 104 is a member of the Velloziaceae family ("resurrection plants" that survive total dessication and recover with rains).  What a fantastic trip..  and great photos!

Jason

Jason -- I couldn't recall the name, but I looked up Velloziaceae and see plants labeled Xerophyta pinifolia var. villosa which may be a match.  Thanks!

Gene, Bill, and Dave -- thanks for the positive response.  It takes a lot of time to organize and post so many photos (Pohonkelapa -- you are the king when it comes to this!) so I do appreciate knowing people are still interested even on the third or fourth page! :laugh:

[Kim]

Another Day, Another Hike

So many trails and canyons, so little time!  We must leave Parc d'Isalo around mid-day to allow enough time for the return to Antananarivo, but the morning will permit some exploring.  

We secure our tickets and our guide, and Bruno patiently guides the truck over a very rutted and abused clay road for 30 minutes to take us to the trailhead.  Along the way, the fields are scattered with Bismarckia nobilis.

The trunks, burned and scarred, show evidence of a hard life:

In the distance we can see the mouths of two canyons:

At the trailhead we remove our shoes to cross a small river, then pick our way through muddy fields and past rice paddies to reach the mouth of the canyon.

[Kim]

I thought we were going into Canyon of the Rats, but no, it's the Lemur Canyon.  I believe we did the shorter trail:

Passing through a forested area, we check for lemurs, but find none.  However, a bit further along the trail we come upon our first, absolutely stunning Ravenea glauca.

Continuing on, we cross the creek again, and here, the canyon walls are narrower, and it's pleasantly cool in the shade.

We arrive at a seeping spring and crystal pool, and Lala explains this pool is considered sacred and could only be used by the king.  But then one day the king came to the pool to find lemurs drinking from the spring, so from then on, the king decreed only the lemurs could use the water, except for rare ceremonial occasions.  Today of course, many a tourist kicks off his shoes to wade into the pool.

[Kim]

Do you see the creature in this picture?  He's doing his best to blend in...

At first I was a bit puzzled; there were a few R. glauca around, but not nearly the concentration I had expected.

I even wondered if we were in the right canyon.  Lala assured me that this is the canyon visitors find most beautiful;  and it really is a jewel.

We walked a bit farther into the canyon and found this small palm clinging to the rock wall:

[Kim]

Knowing my time was very limited I was concerned that I might have come halfway around the world and missed the palms I craved.  We insist on hiking deeper into the canyon, though the guide says it is all pretty much the same.  We scramble over boulders beside the rushing water, our steps sink into soft sand bars, and we hop rocky-by-rock over swirling pools.

A great sigh of relief; our persistence is rewarded:

We arrive at the grove so familiar from Gary LeVine's photos.  This is bliss.

The palms grow right out of the rock and from impossibly vertical surfaces.

[Kim]

They start very tiny, like this 4-inch seedling in a crevice:

With luck, many years later they are still reaching for the light at the top of the canyon.

Elegance personified:

Steve for scale:

[Kim]

I hope this isn't too repetitive; every few steps gives a different perspective.

[Kim]

Alas, our time is up, we must retrace our steps.  A few final glances.

Looking upward at a wall of lush ferns.

Still no lemurs in the trees, so it's back through the tall grass and the fields.

And so ends our sojourn at Parc d'Isalo.  We return to Chez Berny in Ranohira for some more delicious mango salad and then reluctantly hit the road for the 2-day drive to Antananarivo.  We will see a few more palms along the way, but we know the trip is winding to a close.

Check back again for the last bits.

[Jeff Searle]

Kim,

   Still great stuff, thanks for sharing.

Jeff

[BS Man about Palms]

Kim, not repetitive at all!!   I love it!

I really like the "Bruno et le Maki" picture too!  

[DoomsDave]

Kim:

YOU CAN'T POST TOO MANY PICTURES.

Sorry, just getting over a serious swoon . ...

Your pics have explained a lot .

[bgl]

Kim,

Agree, definitely not repetitive. As a matter of fact, with each new photo from the canyon and of the palms, I had more of a sense of what it really looked like, and how impressive and unique it must have been to experience this! Just incredible!

Bo-Göran

[Gbarce]

I'd say when you get to 30 pages that would be the limit.  Then you have to start a new thread.

But really - the length of the thread helps to give you a feel of how epic this vacation was.  

Craving for more Kim!!

[Peter]

I think you said it Kim, 'elegance personified'.

[osideterry]

Your face as you stand next to the Dypsis baronii in habitat says it all.

I too come back every few days to get caught up. Thanks, and I can't help but wonder if you weren't thinking of us on the forum corporately as you took some photos. (And how we would respond!)

[Palmetro]

Dear Kim

Thanks for sharing all those magnificent pictures!

I love pachypodiums and have never seen those beautiful forms in habitat!

keep posting!

Christian

[MattyB]

In post 128, third pic, there appears to be a crownshafted palm amongst the R. glauca.  D. baronii or D. onilahensis I assume.  Just awesome!  Thanks Kim! Post away, it's your show.

[DoomsDave]

(Kim @ Mar. 30 2008,18:25)

QUOTE

(mppalms @ Mar. 30 2008,10:16)

QUOTE

It looks like the plant in the second photo of post 104 is a member of the Velloziaceae family ("resurrection plants" that survive total dessication and recover with rains).  What a fantastic trip..  and great photos!

Jason

Jason -- I couldn't recall the name, but I looked up Velloziaceae and see plants labeled Xerophyta pinifolia var. villosa which may be a match.  Thanks!

Gene, Bill, and Dave -- thanks for the positive response.  It takes a lot of time to organize and post so many photos (Pohonkelapa -- you are the king when it comes to this!) so I do appreciate knowing people are still interested even on the third or fourth page! :laugh:

As long as you post, I'll be interested, and I'll bet I speak for many others.

40 pages, no problem . . . .

(Salivate salivate salivate . . . . )

[freakypalmguy]

Yes yes, please do continue. Great pictures Kim, I have enjoyed every one of them.

Matt

[palmazon]

Kim - you've got a great eye and a real gift for storytelling;

it's only April, but you get my vote for Palmer of the Year.

How's your Hyophorbe?

[Kim]

(MattyB @ Apr. 02 2008,09:20)

QUOTE

In post 128, third pic, there appears to be a crownshafted palm amongst the R. glauca.  D. baronii or D. onilahensis I assume.  Just awesome!  Thanks Kim! Post away, it's your show.

Good eye, Matt!  I hadn't noticed that.  D. onilahensis would be a good guess, I suppose.

Thanks to everyone for the appreciation and encouragement, but Gene and Dave, no way is this going to 30 or 40 pages!!  Terry, I do think of palm people    and what would interest them when taking pictures of palms, it seems only natural.  And Christian, I knew there had to be some pachypodium fans on the board, I only wish the plants had been in bloom.

The Last Bits

The drive from Parc d'Isalo to Antananarivo is roughly 500 kilometers, which doesn't sound so far, but will take a very strong one and a half days.  The road surfaces are not so bad, but the snaking routes engineered perhaps back in the thirties or forties have never been straightened.  The traffic isn't heavy; the only traffic jams occur when we come upon herds of zebu being driven to market, and it must be the season, because it is a common sight.

After a long afternoon we roll into Fianarantsoa, a city known for its schools and universities.  We will stay at the Tsara Guest House, but here we must part with Lilia.

Bruno is still on the phone working to get our luggage delivered to his place.

A last cup of tea with Lilia -- we look pretty beat:

It's a pleasant guest house, the walls are the color of the Madagascar earth:

[Kim]

A few scenes of Fianarantsoa, the guest house and gardens:

View from our balcony

For the car buffs, this was in the driveway:

[Kim]

Back of the main building, said to be a former church:

Breakfast inside:

On the road again later, Steve was fascinated by the brick-making.  The bricks are made from clay dug on site, molded in ladder-shaped forms, then probably dried for a time in the sun, and stacked up for firing.  The stacks are made with oven-like spaces for the fire inside the bottom of the stack.  In Tanzania we saw the entire pile covered with mud before firing, but they don't seem to do that in Madagascar.  The fires burn for weeks.  It's a long process, and it takes a lot of bricks to make a house.

[Kim]

Along the road we hope to see a particular palm we missed on our drive out to Isalo.  Bruno watches the milestones carefully, and pulls off the road in the middle of a curve.  Parking up the hill, it begins to rain lightly as we cross some grazing land, skirt a modest corn field, and traverse a brushy area over the hilltop, until finally we spot this palm:

I have to squeeze through thick, high brush to get close to it, and it's difficult to get a good shot because of the dense shrubbery around it.

I am told this may be the True Dypsis ambositrae (if I remember correctly!!!).  I would like to know what the experts think.  Very sadly, right next to this specimen another is cut off at the knees, the trunk lying horizontally.  Why anyone would come all the way out here to whack a palm down and then leave it lying there is beyond me...  But there is a juvenile sprouted at the base:

Vertical view of adult:

[Kim]

A few more shots of this splendid, solitary specimen:

I wish the photos might have been better, but it was a struggle just to get these on the steep hillside amid the brush and trees in the rain!

[Kim]

With many kilometers yet to go, we quickly leave the palm behind.  A brief stop for lunch in Ambalavao, where Bruno charms the ambivalent restauranteurs to serve us quickly, and we're back on the road again.

As the sights along the road fly by in the rain, I realize these are people and scenes I don't want to forget, so I try to capture some impressions through the wet windscreen.  These are not intended to be great photos, just impressions.  Maybe they'll find their way into a painting someday...

Carrot harvest

Girl with blue umbrella

Roasting corn

Walking to market

[Kim]

Impressions, continued...

Calf and umbrella

Bundle of brush

Drying corn

Melons and birds for sale

[Kim]

As you can see, the Malagasy are industrious people; they work hard.  All along the road, there is something for sale;  a rabbit held  by the ears, a chicken, a string of fish.  I felt bad for the little bright red birds that were captured and held out for sale in small round baskets.  I think European tourists buy them and set them free.

Bird seller

Birds for sale

Melons and umbrellas

Oranges

As we enter Antananarivo, the sun is setting, and the traffic is becoming ensnarled.  It takes a long time to get across the city, and everyone is tired.  Eventually we get to Bruno's house for a quick shower and repacking of our (at last!) recovered luggage.  Then it's a last delicious dinner, and a ride to the airport.  Our plane leaves at 1:30 am, so it's very late and the streets are nearly deserted except for the dogs.  The capital city is still an undiscovered place for us, just streets and buildings looming in the darkness.  While we have seen a great deal, we realize we have missed so much more!

I would go back in a heartbeat!

------------------------->>>>The End<<<<---------------------

[bgl]

Kim,

I'm sorry to see this wonderful thread come to a pictorial end. I could look at those "drive-by" shots all day long (except I'm supposed to get my monthly aviation newsletter finished up today!). And photos of Dypsis palms....well, we never get tired of those, especially in habitat!

Seeing all these photos from Madagascar was pretty fantastic. Having experienced it in person.....well, I'm sure that must have been priceless as the saying goes!

Bo-Göran

[BS Man about Palms]

Fantastic!!!   (Please think this with a French accent!)  

[paulgila]

incredible pix kim!!! thanks for taking us all along on what is certainly the trip of a lifetime!

[Jeff Searle]

Kim,

    It was all wonderful. I can certainly tell it was a trip of a lifetime for you and your hubby. I felt the same way on the way to the airport, and that I hoped to return someday.......

It appears that the palm picture in question does look like a Dypsis ambositrae. Nice find. Thanks for sharing with us all.

Jeff

[Morabeza]

Kim, thank you so much for sharing this rich experience with us!

[Pedro 65]

WOW Kim, today is the 1st time Ive seen this thread, "Spectacular" right through, an absolute "must see" by all Palmtalk viewers thats for sure.

"Bump", for obvious reasons

Pete

[LJG]

WOW Kim, today is the 1st time Ive seen this thread, "Spectacular" right through, an absolute "must see" by all Palmtalk viewers thats for sure.

"Bump", for obvious reasons

Pete

Nice Bump Pete. Good timing too as the IPS will be there in October.

It is unfortunate Bruno is no longer living in Mad. His guide services will be missed I am sure.

[bgl]

Pete,

An excellent bump of a great thread! And like Len already stated - impeccable timing with the IPS Board meeting there in October this year. I'm sure there will be more palm enthusiasts on the island of Madagascar at that time than at any time in the past. And I definitely have to revise comments made in my Post #19 on the first page - with reservations on United Airlines and South African Airways firmly in place I can look forward to a very exciting (and LONG!) trip, and it will definitely take more than two days from Hawaii to get there. Much more... But I know it will all be well worth it. Might even take a few photos!

Bo-Göran