Looking for Lemurs with Fernandez

Although I have been busy guarding Janis's room while she is off working, Janis had the opportunity to take a little drive to look for lemurs with her co-worker, Fernandez. I was a tad miffed that I was left behind; however Janis has yet to introduce me to her co-workers as pet travelling camels are a tad difficult to explain to new people and it would likely end in my spitting on them. But I digress.

Twice this past week, Janis and Fernandez hopped into their trusty 4x4 truck and headed out into the jungle to spot wildlife. Unfortunately, the only living thing they saw was a butterfly - which could be due to their careful following of the safety rules that involve honking when approaching blind corners - of which there were many along the route. However they were able to view the red mud, the dense forest and navigate through some tough hills and rocky roads. Upon further consultations with people who know these things, they discovered that the best way to see a lemur was likely:

(a) mistaking a traffic flag for one in the case of Fernandez (although I hear he claims otherwise);

(b) asking someone to take them with a GPS tracker as some of the lemurs within the site are tagged so as to track their movement and health;

(c) visit a forest lodge that guarantees lemur sitings.

Although the lemur looking was unsuccessful, it was interesting to see how the landscape changed from jungle to savanna-like shrubs. Janis and Fernandez had hoped to find the legendary orchid relocation garden; however were unsucessful. This garden is an area set aside for orchids which were discovered within the site and then tagged and transported to a new location to preserve them.

Other than the two lemur looking excersions, Janis has been very busy working and has not seen much more of Madagascar than her trip to the site. But perhaps she will get a trip to the coast in the near future. And of course, I will be invited along for the ride.