Madagascar Beauty

We call this the Blue Monarch. We had never seen anything like this anywhere before we arrived in Madagascar. We have been trying to get a picture of one since we first arrived here, but they are very flighty and it is hard to sneak up on them. Finally, last week, while we were out in the countryside looking at one of our water projects, we were able to capture this picture. Carlene, we think you will love this.

Visit To The Lemur Park

This is our first successful photos of the elusive Ring Tailed Lemur. This one had no problems with our being near and seemed to like having his picture taken.

The Ring Tail has exactly 14 white rings and 14 black rings from birth through adulthood. It never varies.

There is a rule at the park, you cannot get any closer than one meter to a Lemur. However, there is nothing that says they can't molest you.

Dr. Scott Smith went with us to the park. He really enjoyed the company of these friendly little Lemurs. He is an Ophthalmologist and came here as a part of our vision project to provide some training and share his skills with the local eye doctors. We really enjoyed the week he was with us and so did the doctors.

Lemur Experience

This Brown Lemur took a liking to Sister Bird and her banana.

The normally shy Bamboo Lemur is happy to pose for a picture for some tasty banana.

Sister and Elder Robinson have found a new pet. He is showing us what he thinks of us.

This Black and White Ruffed Lemur is more than a handful for Sister Bird.

A Visit to The Lemur Farm

The Spinney Iguana is a fearsome looking little fellow, but is actually very shy. He looks as though he got his tail from his big brother, the Crocodile.

This beautiful Chameleon changes color to match his surroundings in order to look invisible to his prey. This one is on a red twig surrounded by the green leaves and he doesn't know which color to be, so he compromises and becomes multi-colored. We all have our methods of deception.

The Black and White Ruffed Lemur is a species of lemur that we had not seen before. This one looks like the rare Indri-Indri, only he has the real long and bushy tail. It helps him with his balance when he is navigating around in the trees.

The Fabulous Zebu

The Zebu (pronounced zayboo) is the beef of choice in Madagascar. These are some of the finer specimens we have seen. This is the same cow as you see in India and the Middle East. It is distinguished by the huge hump on the front shoulder and the large horns. Shown here is the wide spread and the more erect formation. When skinned, the hump makes a very nice hat or cap. They also make many nice carved items from the horns. Some of you may receive some as souvenirs.

Beautiful Bug

This is a beautiful red dragonfly that we occasionally see in the country. He must be a Ute fan. We were finally able to get one to sit still for a photo.

Lovely Creature

This huge spider is seen frequently anywhere it can spin a nice large net to catch anything from flies to humans. His body is at least 2" long with a leg span of about 6". I almost walked into the web, and certain doom.

Mr. Big

We visited the Croc Farm just outside the city where they raise thousands of crocs for food, hides and for tourist displays. This old boy (or girl) was happy to pose for a picture. It had to be the largest one in the park. It had at least a 3' span across the middle and was about 12' to 14 ' long.

Andasibe National Park

This is a Tree Boa. There are three Boa species in Madagascar. The Tree Boa is the smallest of the three. This one was about 6 feet long.

Andasibe National Park

The Common Brown Lemur mother has a hitch-hiker. No problem!

The Lemur gracefully leap from tree to tree over some amazing distances. This one took flight just as I took the picture.

The tiny Bamboo Lemur is quite shy and relatively small. They feed on the leaves of bamboo, hence their name.

Beautiful Parson's Chameleon

Come On.....Make My Day

This Nile croc is a Madascar native and is the most dangerous creature to inhabit the island. The closest river that they inhabit is about 60 miles West of Antananarivo. We don't think we will be doing any river swimming here.

Loveable Little Lemurs

Susan is feeding one of her little friends she met at the Lemur Park. His sister is above watching us from the safety of a nearby tree. And, in case you were wondering, we also do missionary work.

Lemur Feeding

This loveable little guy is not going to let go of my hand until all of the peanuts are gone. Actually, this is a trained park lemur and wild lemurs are actually not this tame.