Corcovado National Park

MADAGASCAR | Sunday, 23 November 2014 | Views [311] | View Smaller Image

Our second day of trekking brought us to Camp Two, set next to a beautiful clear stream with views towards a granite cliff draped in forest. Our guide headed off into the jungle to look for the Sifakas loudly noting that they hadn't been seen for a number of weeks and they could be anywhere. Late in the afternoon, we heard an excited howl emanating from the forest. Apparently he had found them. We rushed up the hill, trying not to slip on the steep stairs as we climbed higher and higher. As we got closer, the calls were coming from the jungle off the side of the trail. The cook who had come to show us the way ducked off the trail onto a steep hillside covered in undergrowth. We followed as quickly as we could but the steep terrain, mud and vines were making it difficult to keep up. All the time I was getting my camera ready to take the first coveted shots. Just as we arrived at our guides side, the Sifaka family started to move, leaping from tree trunk to tree trunk away from our position. I was able to take one fleeting shot of the Sifaka heading into the forest before they disappeared across a stream. I suppose this is why they are known as the Angels of the Forest, as we weren't quite sure from our first encounter if they were actually real.

My girlfriend and I jumped out of the taxi brousse at Park Headquarters with 3 boxes full of food and no idea what we were in for. After quickly organising our guide, cook and porters we headed off through the local village towards the park entrance.

We could see the looming shape of Mount Marojejy in the background, seemingly so close to the small village yet still a 3 day trek away. We knew that somewhere in the shadow of the mountain was the rare Silky Sifaka.

There was no sign of the Silky Sifaka on our trek to Camp one, apparently they favoured the higher altitudes closer to Camp two. However, we were lucky enough to see a group of brown lemurs on our trek to the first camp. This female lemur was surprisingly nonchalant given the history of lemur hunting that had occurred in the area in the past.

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Buoyed by our early success, we spent the third day at Camp Two, searching for the Silky Sifakas. However, it seemed that we had lucked out on the second day, as they were nowhere to be seen. We woke up to a beautifully clear day on the fourth day, so at the urging of the guide, who said this much clear weather was very rare in the rainforest, we decided to climb to the top of Mount Marojejy, spending the night at Camp Three.

The climb was difficult and we felt a great sense of achievement in making it to the top but our main objective for visiting this remote National park was not to climb a mountain but to see and photograph the critically endangered Silky Sifakas. With that in mind we climbed down to Camp Two to continue our search. We only had enough food for one more night, so this was our last chance to see the Sifakas.

Again, our guide entered the forest, searching for the Sifakas. We waited patiently at the camp but he returned just before dark without seeing them. Our final chance would be in the morning before a long hike down the hill to Park Headquarters.

We started the day very early, with the guide searching in the forest near where we had seen them the other day. We were all packed and ready to hike down when we heard the same excited call from the forest. Our guide had found them again but the calls were coming from down the hill not up. We grabbed our gear and with the cook at our side, we headed down the slope.

This time we arrived to find a family of 5 adults and juveniles sitting quietly high up in the trees. We watched them for around 30 minutes before they started moving down the branches, taking massive leaps from trunk to trunk. This was amazing to watch, as they jump and land feet first unlike any other primate species I had seen before.

As the 5 Sifakas came down towards us they each followed the same route that the first one made. This first Sifaka was rubbing itself on each of the tree trunks with its chest. This meant that all 5 family members passed just in front of us stopping to smell the marking from the first Sifaka before leaping to the next trunk. They were completely unperturbed by our presence, which allowed us to view them acting naturally and photograph them at the same time.

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Corcovado National Park

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