Chameleons and Lemurs

[Bush dog]

@Zim Girl  @AfricIan

 

Thanks a lot to have followed this report!

[Alexander33]

A very inspiring report!  Thank you for sharing it with us, @Bush dog.  

[Kitsafari]

all caught up now. Thanks for sharing a wonderful trip through your beautiful photos.

[Bush dog]

@Kitsafari

@Alexander33

 

Thanks to both of you!  The pleasure was mine

[TonyQ]

An excellent report with superb photos. A wonderful selection of lemurs and a stunning collection of chameleons- the variation is amazing.

I also really enjoyed the landscape and people photos.

Thank you for posting.

[Atravelynn]

I am starting to think you are making up those chameleons.  They are unbelievable, and then there are those protruding tongues!   Your lemur shots are so sharp even in the dark trees.  Any secrets you care to share.  Even the little wooden trucks are impressive. That yellow photo by your wife's mobile is quite arresting.  If the phone sponsors a photo contest, she should submit that one.  Despite your illness and some rain, this was a highly successful trip.  I'm taking notes.  What month did you go?

Edited August 17, 2019 by Atravelynn

[Bush dog]

@TonyQ

 

Thanks!   Your comments are always much appreciated.

[michael-ibk]

Beautiful photography Mike, a real pleasure to catch up on this! Love the Lemurs and the Chameleons but my favourite pictures are those of the Moon Moths. Many thanks for sharing.

[pault]

Beautiful photos (even if your wife took the best, you had a few decent ones too I think )

 

Loved looking at all of these and reading your report. I will even come back for another look sometime as I am so taken with the chameleons - lemurs are great too but what an amazing haul of chameleon photos. 

 

Love the the rice paddies shot too.

[Atravelynn]

I now know when you went.  "Last month" is in your first sentence and you posted in July so that brings me to June.  I believe I have seen that June is a time when reptiles are at their peak.  That could help explain your chameleon extravaganza.  But the lemurs were out in force too. 

[Bush dog]

@Atravelynn

 

Thank you so much for your comments always so personal and diverse!

 

Indeed, I was there in June.  The picture of the wooden trucks is also by my wife's mobile like all those without my name.  Besides these glowing comments make her very happy.  Thank you all for it.

 

 

[Bush dog]

@michael-ibk

@pault

 

Thanks a lot for your kind words!

[Atravelynn]

10 hours ago, Bush dog said:

@Atravelynn

 

Thank you so much for your comments always so personal and diverse!

 

Indeed, I was there in June.  The picture of the wooden trucks is also by my wife's mobile like all those without my name.  Besides these glowing comments make her very happy.  Thank you all for it.

 

 

She is earning her way, photographically, to be part of your next trip.  Where's that?

 

Did you choose June for chameleons, or is that just when it was convenient to go?

[Bush dog]

@Atravelynn

 

I choose June just because, like you said, it was convenient to go.

 

My next trip, and this time I will go alone, is two weeks in Lower Zambezi at Sausage Tree Camp, departure mid-September.

[kittykat23uk]

@Bush dog what a fantastic trip you had! It makes me yearn for a return visit. I also got ill, thankfully right at the end of my trip, and was off work for a week when I got home.

 

Some advice for those travelling,  make a list of things you want to see in each park and go through it with the park guide. There were a few times that I wasn't assertive enough and I could probably have seen more because the guides do know where to look but some of them think just showing you a couple of birds is the job done.  I almost missed out on sickle-billed vanga due to this. It was only when I realised we were heading back to the entrance that I thought "hang on!" Mentioned it and 5 mins later the guide had taken me directly to the spot where the birds were! 

 

I'm sure that if I had been clearer on my targets I would have been shown ones I missed like any of the tenrecs and the giraffe-necked weevil. But at least that gives me a good reason to return someday as well as to see aye-aye which was not part of my itinerary last time.

[Atravelynn]

On 8/21/2019 at 3:24 PM, Bush dog said:

@Atravelynn

 

I choose June just because, like you said, it was convenient to go.

 

My next trip, and this time I will go alone, is two weeks in Lower Zambezi at Sausage Tree Camp, departure mid-September.  The photography will be all up to YOU then.

How did you see most of the chameleons?  Were you walking with a guide?  Was it easy for you to spot them even without a guide due to their bright colors?  Were the chameleons hanging around your lodging?  For the photos you mention were taken along the road, is it easy for the guide to pull over or were you driving in a park/reserve looking for chameleons.  Did you get a sense that this many chameleons in June on an itinerary like yours is normal or did you hit the chameleon jackpot?

Edited August 25, 2019 by Atravelynn

[Bush dog]

@Atravelynn

 

I have the impression that the amount of chameleons seen was normal.  You should perhaps ask the same question to @Zim Girl who was there in September, I think.  They are, from what I experienced, more easily visible outside rainforests (Mantadia or Amber Mountain).  Apart from those seen in Peyrieras Reserve, where they are in large aviary cages, most of them were spotted along or crossing the roads and once near our lodging (Litchi Tree).   But in the end, I do not think I've seen much.  They are not easily spotted without a guide because he knows where to look at.  We were walking with him or in the car on the move.  No problems at all to pull over, traffic is not dense at all.  On the other hand, their colors are not so saturated when they are located.  Their bright colors only appears when they feel emotions such as fear or the desire to mate and in this case when human beings are approaching them.  

[kittykat23uk]

I was there in October 2012. I saw quite a few, mostly smaller ones on night walks. We never drove inside the parks, most of the wildlife was viewing on foot. Except for a couple of frisky fossa who we met on the main road out of ranomafana.

 

Here is an album of just the chameleons:

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjCZEGBt

[Atravelynn]

Thanks for the chameleon counseling, @kittykat23uk and @Bush dog!

[Zim Girl]

 Hi @Atravelynn, as said above there shouldn't be any problems finding the chameleons, the guides know where to find them. I think I found every one that could be found in the areas I visited. I was also after all the species of leaf-tailed gecko, which we got bar one.  The NP guides we had were all very good indeed.  Both day and night time viewing was all on foot. 

[Atravelynn]

Good news about the chameleon sightings!

[monalisa]

AH-MAZING!

Beautiful photos @Bush dog. I will likely never make it to Madagascar in my lifetime (although never say never), so it is a real treat to get to see your wonderful photos.

Thank you so much for sharing them!!

[Bush dog]

@monalisa

 

Thank you for your comments.