Sunday 29 July 2012

Ankarafantsika

Going to Madagascar and not seeing some of the wildlife would be like going to Egypt and forgetting about the pyramids.  It's just not something you would want to tell people when you return to Canada.

For one of the weekends while we're in Ambato Boeni, we'll load up the bus and head to an overnight camp at Ankarafantsika National Park.  This park is one of the last remaining sections of dry deciduous forest in Madagascar.  This means that, although the flora and fauna of Madagascar is already unique in the world, this national park is home to some of the more unique wildlife in Madagascar, many species here are critically endangered!

Ankarafantsika is home to a wide variety of life.  Lemurs, like the western wolly lemur, the grey mouse lemur, the fat-tailed dwarf lemur and many more live within the park.  While many lemurs are notcurnal, the coquerel sifaka is in fact the only entirely diurnal lemur and it is all over the place here!

Not only are there lemurs, but there are 75 endemic species of birds, 10 types of frog, 45 different reptiles and even crocodiles around the lake!  The national park is also a great place to see baobab trees and wild vanilla.

We'll have the opportunity to go on a couple of different tours of the park so we don't have to worry that we might miss something.  There are daytime tours and night time tours as well, so we'll be sure to bring our flashlights.  Night time in the park will be filled with the calls and cries of some of the rarest animals on earth!

By the time we leave Ankarafantsika, not only will we be able to say the name of the park properly, but we'll be much more knowledgeable about the natural wonder of the world that is the flora and fauna of Madagascar.

Want to know more about the park?  Visit http://www.parcs-madagascar.com/fiche-aire-protegee_en.php?Ap=15

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