Another early start this morning as we had a long drive further south to Isalo. As we would be stopping in a park along the way for a walk, we would not have time to stop for a lunch so we made a stop at a store to pick up some more “road snacks”. I opted for a bag of Doritos ?.
Throughout the drive our guide Sol imparted more information on local customs on us – this time about circumcision ceremonies. These often take place when the boys 2 or 3 years old. There appeared to be two different situations – one where the maternal grandfather is required to eat the foreskin (put into a banana) or another where the foreskin is placed on the end of a shotgun barrel and blown away! After this information I don’t think the bananas at breakfast were quite as popular! Apparently some areas have spear throwing fights to accompany the ceremony as well where the purpose is apparently not to harm (not sure how that works when a bunch of sharp objects are being tossed around!).
Along the way we stopped at a silk factory where they showed the process from cocoon to finished product, which was interesting. We also stopped at a factory making handmade paper with flowers pressed in it. While we were there waiting we started talking to a French man who mentioned Normandy when he learned some of us were Canadians. He spoke with fondness about how he was a young boy when the Canadians and Americans landed on the beaches and liberated his town. We were a bit shocked as he didn’t look much older than 67 or 68 yet he was apparently 80! Definitely looked good for his age, which he attributed to always being in love!
After noon we stopped at Anja National Park for a walk to spot ringtail lemurs and different chameleons. We got to see a few different groups of ring tail lemurs, including some with babies clinging to their stomaches and backs. They start out on the stomach and graduate to the back when they are a few months old. The group was heading to the water to eat some dirt to aid digestion. We were able to get pretty close and got some good shots while they were in the open.
We ran into a few others along the way including two sitting right by the path. We also saw a chameleon, which one of the guides fed a grasshopper on a stick so we got to see his tongue. Hard to get a shot though but I did manage to get a photo of him with a cricket hanging out of his mouth when he got too full!
After the walk we carried on in the bus heading south. We got to a photo stop of some rock formations known as the “southern gate” when we came across a group of vigilantes carrying sticks, spears and a gun or two that were tracking a “zebu gangster” who had recently stolen some zebu from a zebu farmer. They seemed friendly to us but I’m pretty sure they would likely kill or maim the guy stole the zebu!
We finally made it to our hotel in Isalo, which had large rooms surrounding a pool but the door locks were a bit finicky. For dinner I had a zebu steak, which was good. Another tiring day so an early night.