Madagascar: Baobabs, Birds, and Bats
Baobab trees at sunset
Tana, the capital, was our base from which we traveled to various parts of the country by small plane.
It's fun to see a new place from low flying planes.
In our small plane we flew to Morondava and drove an hour on bumpy dirt roads to reach this spot called the Avenue of the Baobabs, an iconic scene for photographers.
Baobabs grow to a height of nearly 100 feet. Here I captured the sun peeking through two branches.
Baobabs are the national tree of Madagascar.
Known as the "tree of life," baobabs provide shelter, clothes, food and water to Madagascans. A single tree may hold up to 32,000 gallons of water.
Baobabs are claimed to be as old as 6000 years based on carbon dating.
We spent two lovely evenings watching the sunset in order to capture this view.
I was surpised how few birds we saw, but I was happy to photograph this paradise flycatcher.
This is a crested coua.
And this is a coquerel's coua, a bird that prefers the ground over tall trees.
A close-up of a noisy cicada.
These are large bats, called flying foxes, because their faces resemble a fox. They are endemic to Madagascar.
We were given special access to view these bats. The colony we visited had been at this site for many years.
Bats move quickly. I was happy to catch one in flight after many attempts.
We hiked to this colorful flame tree to photograph it at dusk. We lit the tree with a flash light. The star above is actually the moon.
From flame trees to dancing flames which we enjoyed watching during dinner.
In the next sequence of photos, I feature my favorite model, Julie, to give you a sense of the fun we had on the trip. Here Julie shows a merchant her photo that Julie had just taken of her.
We were at the beach. Julie had purchased this scarf from the little girl's mother and so they modeled it for the camera.
We enjoy doing what is called "street photography" especially in unique places. Here's Julie walking among Madagascans at a Sunday bazaar.
Loaded with camera gear, Julie and our photographer companions prepare to board the plane for our next stop.
We had been photographing lemurs in the trees as the sun was dipping low in the horizon, when I saw the soft, beautiful light falling on my favorite subject.
A major reason for going to Madagascar was to photograph lemurs. Julie just didn't expect to get so close to them.
From the initial surprise of having a lemur jump on her, Julie shifted to a look of curiosity. Or is that fear!
And then to a moment of enjoyment.
We were canoeing around lemur island when this ring-tailed lemur found a home on Julie's head.
And one more time. This red-footed brown lemur had little problem balancing on Julie's head.
Julie was screaming something about "i hope it doesn't have to go . . .
You couldn't plan this picture if you wanted to.
A look of resignation -- it's time to get off me now!
One closing shot: Julie enjoying this hybrid lemur on her shoulder. Nice smile Julie.
Just so you know I was along on the trip, here's a lemur that found my head.
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Julie and I are standing with the principal and teacher of a small school. We had brought calculators for the kids.
Madagascar is a poor country in many ways, but we found the people rich in kindness and vitality.
