Onward to Tamatave

June 26, 2011

Today is the Madagascar Independence Day and in honor of the holiday, the houses were adorned with red, white and green flags. The streets were crowded with people walking to their nearest town to celebrate the holiday.

We started the day at Anamalazotra Community Park for a short hike. We saw several chameleons, including a short horned chameleon that was hanging by one foot and its tail from a branch. We saw a leaf tailed gecko that was nearly perfectly camouflaged to look like a blob of lichen on a branch. We saw the indri indri, which is the largest lemur. These black and white tree dwellers have a very loud piercing territorial call that echos through the forest. They leap effortlessly from one tree to another.
After a picnic lunch, we drove to Tamatave, the second largest city in Madagascar. The drive took us down the mountains on a winding road. The city is teaming with people for the holiday and consists of mostly two story buildings with roofs thatched with palm leaves. Our hotel is in the city and is pretty modern, despite being a bit run down.