Masoala and Nosy Mangabe

June 29, 2011

We awoke at dawn and took small motor boats down the river, passing the small fishing village along the way. There were several people in dug out canoes fishing with nets to catch shrimp in the river. We then boated across open ocean to the Masoala National Park, where the rainforest meets the sea. We took a walk and spotted the endangered red ruffed lemur. Then we boated to a small island called Nosy Mangabe. After a picnic lunch, we walked through the beautiful rainforest, crossing small streams and occasionally catching glimpses of the beach and ocean. We saw several frogs, some huge spiders, and some white faced brown lemurs. This species is sexually dimorphic with the males having a white fringed face and the females being entirely brown.

At night, a few of us walked around looking for nocturnal animals. We saw several insects and a small white frog with yellow feet. The night was clear and the stars were amazing.