Zo.

Where to begin?

This leg of my Africa Adventure was an afterthought.  That may shock you, but it's true.  All my energy and planning had gone into my Mt. Kilimanjaro hike, but when it came to make the flight arrangements, that little island to the right of Africa kept begging for my attention.  "It's just a little over that way,"  I'd tell Steve, Mr. Non-Palm-Centric-Husband.  "If we've already traveled halfway around the world, how can we NOT go there?  It's a unique ecosystem, nothing else like it in the world."  Indeed.  Nothing Else Like It In The World...

So a few thousand dollars later, it's on the itinerary.  Do not be deceived; it is not simple to fly to Madagascar on a specific day of the week.  And one thing I quickly learned is:  luggage is highly over-rated.  Ours was left behind in Johannesburg, so we ventured forth with a toothbrush and our wits, (and the camera, of course) and were never sorry for it.  The hotels, however simple, always have soap...

I liked Bruno immediately.  There was something familiar about him, maybe it was his sense of humor? ...and he was so civilized, and so obviously happy in Madagascar.  Plus he had so many cool plants in his garden, and was a tireless ambassador for palms, really first rate.

First impressions...

Bruno shows us his garden...

A beautiful, delicate red-flowered vine...

The guest cottage:

It seems like every little palm in Madagascar is special...

Don't you agree?

Looking at trees...

And discussing plants that like it wet,,,

...and fantastic bamboo

Where is that "Drool" icon anyway?

VERY cool bamboo!

Still wondering what this pretty little plant is:

So we load the toothbrushes and ourselves in the vehicle and drive south.  Along the Grand Boulevard we find Bismarckia nobilis planted  grandly and nobly.  Bruno attributes this work to Alfred.

Getting out of town, crossing the bridge...

The countryside is red and green.  Red earth, green fields -- and palms initially appear to be quite rare!

Adobe bus stop

A very old house with garden sports Dypsis decipiens, estimated age, 80 years

Offspring

Tall shot of Dypsis decipiens

Bruno pleads with the woman caretaker to gather seeds, explains the rare quality and age of the palm, and with Steve and I clicking away with our cameras, it seems to make an impression.  We move on down the road.

Fine house with corn drying on the balcony railing...

Sellers of roasted corn...

...and apples.

Stay tuned, much more to come...

Those Dypsis decipiens are nuts!

Kim- I love your pictures

The Bamboo is quite an impressive specimen.  Is that a native bamboo or somthing that Bruno brought in to Madagascar.

Lastly-- did you seek out Tahina Spectabiilis?

Kim,

     Your pics. are fantastic.Their starting to bring back some very good memories. I'm hoping to get back next year myself. Did you see the Hotel De France on Independence Avenue? Thats where we stay.

      Actually, Dr. Peter Balasky was responsible for having those Bismarckia's planted on Indep. Ave. I can't wait to see more. I hope you have lots more.

Jeff

I'm with you Jeff, the memories are just flooding back into my mind and I'm just wishing to go back soon.

Keep posting pictures Kim,

Gary

Dear Kim  

i have a question are you a proffesional photographer like our forum buddy_Ryan ?  ???

each stills are impressive and breathtaking !  

thanks & love,

Kris  

Kim!

great pictures.

All of them, palms, people, apples.

Post them all!

Droooooollllll!!!!!!!!!!

DAVE

Your pics are really fine!  Great photographer!

When i am pointing my finger, it is toward the small tahina spectabilis I have planted near the basin. bruno

The bamboo, I don't think it is native. Although there are a lot of varieties of them in madagascar. many climbing ones in the forests. mr dransfield coul answer that question, he knows a lot about bamboos.

i have a felling this is just the tip of a very "palm-a-licious"

iceberg.its nice to see some pix of the local inhabitants,too.can't wait to see more!!!!

Excellent pictures Kim. That Dendrocalamus is very impressive but no where near as impressive as those decipiens. Their magnitude is unbelievable.

The layout of the land looks quite English, with the rolling pastures and little cottages dotting the view.

Great photography, as usual from Kim. I can't wait for many more...

Great pictures Kim, more please!  

Kim,

You must be glad you decided to make the side trip to Madagascar - even without your luggage! And I hope you have many more photos, and you're just putting this on a temporary hold because of the potential problems with PalmTalk? Whether they are photos of palms or just "general" photos really makes no difference. This is such a unique (and for me) very very distant place, that I doubt I'll ever get there. At best, it's like a 2 day trip from Hawaii!

Bo-Göran

PS. I hope you finally got your luggage? How long did it take? This seems to be happening more and more. My sister and her husband just arrived from Sweden a few days ago, and when they arrived in Honolulu (I was there to meet them), their 3 suitcases did NOT arrive. We flew over to Hilo the next day, and still no suitcases. They showed up here 36 hours late. But better late than never...

As I'm almost sure I'll never be able to visit those places....you just can't imagine Kim, how much I'm greatful to see them through your eyes....& thanks for sharing!

I'll wait for more ...

Great photos. It is always amazing looking at different people's photos...everyone has their own style. Keep them coming!

Daryl

Some responses before adding more photos...

Gene -- Tahina grows in the north, and because of weather and time constraints, all our destinations were south of Antananarivo, so no Tahina sightings other than Bruno's personal seedlings.

Jeff and Gary -- I know all the photos will bring back memories, so feel free to chime in with comments and also corrections.  I only spent a few days in Madagascar, you guys spent more time and had many more experiences.  Plus you guys know your palms better than I do!

Kris,   no way, I am not a professional photographer.  But like you, Ryan, and others, I enjoy trying to capture images that tell stories.  I'm glad you are enjoying them!

Dave, drool on... more to come.

Bruno, I may need your help with names of places and palms!  Please add commentary wherever appropriate.

Bo -- many more photos to come.  Trying to organize a lot of stuff here...  A 2 day trip from Hawaii?  That's all?  What's holding you back?     You must be closer to Madagascar than I am, the time difference from home for us was 11 hours, it's hard to get much farther away than that.  

Luggage?  It arrived the day we were leaving, just in time to change clothes, repack, and drive to the airport.

Simona -- never say never!

Driving south toward Ranomafana, we passed through a wide green valley and stopped to take a few photos.  We were set upon by a group of children who were surprised to see a DOG riding in a CAR!!  They think this is crazy.  Dogs have very low status in Madagascar;  I'm told the worst thing you can call someone is a "dead dog".  That is the ultimate insult.  But we had Bruno's dog Foutsy (say 'phoots') riding with us in the car, just like a human!

Notice the white thread of the waterfall center left, above.

Farther down the road, Bruno pulled over to show us our first palm in habitat, a Dypsis decipiens.  It's on the other side of a ravine.

Not to be deterred, we scramble down the slope, hop some boulders across the stream, and work our way through the shrubs up the other side to view the specimen up close.

It's tall, and has some cuts on the trunk, possibly from seed gatherers.  Seeing this first palm in habitat was really exciting for me, just electrifying.

Then we didn't see any more for a long time, except for African oil palms and Raphia palms.  This photo was taken coming into Amobositra:

We made a short stop at an unnamed village, and Steve amused a few kids by taking their photo, then showing them their picture on the digital camera.  This elicited a lot of laughs.

We gave a few guys a short lift down the road.

A cyclone passed over the area about a week prior to our arrival, bringing heavy rains and wind.  The result was many downed trees across the road, mudslides, and even parts of the road washed away.  It slowed our progress somewhat, but we arrived in Ranomafana just before dark and pulled into CentRest, our home for two nights.  CentRest is run by Lilia, a true plant fanatic.  Her personal obesession is anthuriums, and she has them growing all over the hotel gardens.

Entry drive:

Exploring the grounds:

View looking down to the road from the restaurant:

Cottages on the upper level:

Looking up into the mists:

In the morning we arrange to take a walk in the rainforest.  Will we see any critters?  Maybe...

We stop at the big waterfall first.  Our guide looks like one of my daughter's surfer friends from Ocean Beach or Santa Barbara:

This is the Andriamamovoka waterfall on the Namarona river,  which drops into a very narrow canyon far below.  I recorded the sound, but can't figure out how to post it; suffice to say it is really LOUD.

This is one animal we won't see -- the fossa -- it's nocturnal and extremely shy.

So off we go...

Right away we see several of these palms, and we're tossing out guesses as to its identity:

We thought these were the same, but it's hard to get a decent shot.  It was even hard to get a clear view in the dense forest.

Giraffe beetle:

There were many understory palms and bamboos.  We thought this was Dypsis nodifera based on the leaves, but don't take my word for it.

Our guide was very good at finding frogs; we'd never have seen them without her help.

"Ground orchid":

Cyathea:

This little green frog, endemic to Madagascar, inhabits this type of pandanus exclusively.

As you would expect, it rains a lot in the rainforest, and we witnessed this phenomenon first hand.  Because the weather was otherwise warm, it didn't bother us at all; in fact, it had a pleasant cooling effect when we might  have been too warm hiking uphill.  My only concern was to keep the camera dry.

Epiphytic ferns:

Fern

Still trying to get a good shot of that palm...

Driving back toward CentRest, a few shots of the road damage I mentioned earlier:

I can't get enough of these terraced hillsides; I'd have thought I was in southeast Asia.

Pouring rain at Lilia's place:

Foodie pic for Paul:

I should mention we ate very well while in Madagascar, due primarily to Bruno having already scouted the good eats on past excursions, but also due to this once having been a French colony.  That's camembert cheese and marinated mushrooms on the skewer, and yes, that's a Ravenea rivularis trunk behind me.

Stay tuned.  Next up:  colonial Clinostigma, Dypsis mananjarensis and Dypsis ifanadianae.

Kim, I'm loving pics of your epic adventure!!! Especially the misty mountain rainforest shots. Looking forward to more...especially dypsis.

Thanks,

Steve

"Dypsis ifanadianae. "

OOoooooooo, I want to see that..... I saw Garys little seedlings from his first trip...all passed, one, by one...  

Thank you Very much Kim, for all this info and pics!

And Thank you Bruno for being a fantastic guide!  

Bo: for a palm fanatic, nothing is too far! Doc D came 15 time to madagascar. You first fly to bangkok, stop for 4/5 days visiting palaces and temples and Nong Nooch gardens with its 13OO varieties of palms. Then fly to mauritius stay 4/5 days there, visit "jardins botanique des pamplemousses" which was started in the 18th century, then Madagascar 3 weeks. Go back through australia, New caledonia, take time! It rains in Hawaî, your palms will be watered properly. My cousin just comes back from shangaî. It was a 1000 euro round trip with Air Mauritius ticket. Come on!...

(pohonkelapa @ Mar. 14 2008,19:02)

QUOTE

i have a felling this is just the tip of a very "palm-a-licious"

iceberg.its nice to see some pix of the local inhabitants,too.can't wait to see more!!!!

This is scratching the surface of the tip of a palm-a-liscious I-berg . . .

Great photos Kim.  I think that large palm is a Ravenea louvellii, pretty sure of it.

Matt

It is nice to get not only shots of the palms but also the other plants, animals, people and scenery.