Birding today would be taking a back-seat, as our priority for the time in Kirindy was to try to see the Fossa, Madagascar's largest predator. Although widespread, this reserve offers the only realistic opportunity to see one, as they often visit the camp area deep in the forest. And so our plan was to stick around the camp in the hope that an animal would walk through, after all, it had apparently been seen twice the previous morning.
As we waited we enjoyed the very pleasant birding on offer.
There was a pair of Frances Sparrowhawks around the camp, a species we had
missed until this point, and a good one to finally see. It was no wonder that
they were around, as there was a flock of 100+ Sakalava Weavers feeding around
the car park, showing very well at times. Only the second Sickle-billed Vanga
of the trip was also here, feeding low down in the understory and offering
absolutely fantastic views, much improved on what we had seen before in
Reniala.
It was around 07:30 and we had done a circuit of the lodge
area multiple times with no joy on the Fossa front. I headed back to the room
to visit the loo, when all of a sudden we heard a tremendous commotion from the
car park area. A member of the guiding team who had taken us on our night walk
rush over to our room calling us, saying the Fossa had arrived. We raced over
to see a crowd of people who had emerged from somewhere all lining up, and then
the animal crossed the road right in front of us!
It was absolutely fantastic, watching this rare and
secretive mammal as it slithered through the forest before crossing the road.
The crowd was a bit distracting but we still had phenomenal views. However, it
was a bit disappointing that once it had crossed, the rangers went back into
the forest to try to push it back out onto the road. While we stayed to see it
again, when they did this a third time we walked away, a bit disappointed with
the experience. While obviously amazing to see the animal, this was not the way
we had really wanted it. There is obviously a compromise; the animal knows it
will get some grief, but at the same time there food on offer is too good to
turn down, so is still worth the effort.
A bit later before leaving, we had another Fossa, this one a
male, scoffing rice behind one of the chalets. While this was more relaxed, it
was still a bit of a strange experience. He also spent some time moving through
the forest around the camp, and we even saw him lie down for a bit. Overall a
very strange experience, but still, as I said before, very nice to see this
elusive animal irrespective of the circumstances.
Since we had seen our target so well in the morning, and
heading into the woods on a walk would cost us, we decided to make tracks to
Bekopaka now, a day earlier than planned, simply to try to save time on this
stage of our itinerary. This turned out to be a fateful decision! We managed to
make it to the first river crossing quite smoothly, we only lost one part of
the car, which appeared to be a brake of some description. However, once we
crossed the river things went downhill fast.
In taking the car to the mechanics, without telling us, our
driver managed to miss the police escort for the four-hour drive north to
Bekopaka. The road is not super dangerous, but even so, we were a bit peeved.
There was another car behind us however, so we knew we were not alone. They
came in very handy when another part of the car fell off about halfway through
the drive, this time a large box piece from under the car. The removal of this
piece caused the car to start leaking fluid, but a bit of repair work later and
we were able to continue.
And then it started to rain! The first rains of the season, and it was absolutely torrential. The roads which had been bumpy before, now turned into a slip-and-slide, and our car could not handle it. First we hit a small tree. Then we got stuck. Then we got stuck again, but this time really badly, where it took six of us to push it out. And then, in the dark at this point, about 35 kilometres from our destination, it became too much and car gave up on life. We were piled into another car, a straggler we had picked up on the way, with a couple from Mauritius, and they took us the rest of the way. We did not reach Bekopaka until 21:30, but now we were without a car and at a complete loss as to how to make this part of our itinerary work at all…
Kirindy Forest Reserve: Malagasy Turtle Dove, Crested Coua, Malagasy Coucal, Madagascar Cuckoo, Frances's Sparrowhawk, Madagascar Hoopoe, Greater Vasa Parrot, Lesser Vasa Parrot, Common Newtonia, Chabert Vanga, Hook-billed Vanga, Sickle-billed Vanga, Crested Drongo, Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher, Malagasy Bulbul, Sakalava Weaver,
Tsiribihina River: White-faced Whistling Duck, Knob-billed Duck, Malagasy Palm Swift, Black Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Yellow-billed Kite, Pied Crow, Red Fody,
No comments:
Post a Comment