Day fourteen - after the fire

Christof popped his head round my door this morning to say he was going to look at the site of yesterday’s forest fire and asked if I’d like to go along too. I quickly put on my walking boots, grabbed my camera and water bottle, and followed him down the track.

We had a rough idea where the fire had been so headed in that direction, along one of the more challenging paths through Ivoloina forest. It was a lovely walk, made much more interesting because Christof was so knowledgeable about the habitat we were passing through. He explained that most of the forest at Ivoloina is secondary, but that there are a few pockets of original forest left. One such place was on our route - a glade of huge, ancient tree ferns that cast dappled shade onto the forest floor.
As we rounded a particularly sharp bend in the track we found evidence of some illegal activity: a cinnamon tree stump protruded from the ground and nearby lay a pile of timber which had been stripped of its bark. Someone had been into the protected area and felled the tree to obtain the cinnamon.

 

 

Christof took a GPS reading so he could report it on our return. A little further on we found an almost identical scene. Both trees had been cut very recently, perhaps in the past day or two.  We were by now very close to the site of the forest fire and we wondered whether it had been started to cover the tracks of this illegal activity. Of course that is just speculation. There had been very little rainfall and everything was tinder dry so an innocent spark from a cooking fire or cigarette could have been enough to start the blaze.

We came to a small man made canal and jumped across into an area where the vegetation had been cleared to form a fire break. Charred leaves and tree trunks marked the boundary of the fire and from there as far as the eye could see was total devastation. We were at the foot of a steep slope, still well within the boundary of Parc Ivoloina. The ground was covered with a thick layer of ash and the air was acrid with the lingering smell of smoke. Christof wanted to see the extent of the fire so he started to climb the slope. The ground was very unstable so he suggested that I waited by the canal while he went up to see the bigger picture and he would collect me again on the way back.

While he was gone I took the opportunity to sit still and watch any wildlife that might still be present. It was very quiet. Madagascan buzzards wheeled overhead, their mournful cry echoing through the still air. Plated lizards rustled through the charred leaves. A jewel-bright day gecko stalked an unsuspecting moth across the surface of a ravenala leaf. Watching from underneath I could see his shadow through the backlit leaf.

After more than an hour I was getting a little concerned. I thought Christof might have lost his bearings in the featureless fire-damaged landscape or perhaps he had gone to the aid of villagers trying to salvage something from damaged homes. I had arranged to observe some of the Saturday School sessions today so eventually I decided to make my way back to the education centre and let people know that I wasn’t sure where Christof had gone. I didn’t want him to waste time searching for me if he did come back so in best girl guide fashion I wrote him a note in big letters on a ravenala leaf, placed the leaf next to the place where we had crossed the canal, and made a big arrow out of branches that pointed at the message.

I was almost back as far as the zoo when I met Christof and Jean-Francois coming in the opposite direction. It transpired that the burned zone was so vast that Christof had lost his bearings. He had been calling my name but must have been a long way from where we had parted so I didn’t hear him. He was then worried that I may have wandered off and got lost so he had sprinted back to the zoo via a different route and organised a search party - apparently several MFG staff and local villagers were out looking for me. I felt a bit embarrassed but it wasn’t really my fault - I hadn’t wandered off and I wasn’t lost. It was touching that so many people cared about my well-being though.
Christof was close to heat exhaustion after rushing around so much so we went to the buvette for a large bottle of fizzy pineapple. Then he went back home for a rest and I went to the education centre.
The children were sitting a pre-course assessment test. They will do the same test at the end of the course so the teachers will be able to evaluate their learning.

Flavien came over to say hello. He had helped with fighting the fire the previous day and his throat was sore from smoke inhalation. He showed some video he had taken with his phone. The blaze was really fierce and it was clear that it had been a serious and dangerous situation. It is very lucky that no-one was seriously injured and that it hadn’t spread even further. In all, about 50 hectares was burnt. All that remained were eucalyptus and a few scorched ravenala.

That evening Christof suggested that we went down to the zoo once it was dark so we could see some of the nocturnal lemurs. The keepers had just fed the aye-aye and this strange and wonderful creature was tucking into some juicy melon. It was quite interested in us and came right over to the fence, snuffling loudly. It was such a treat to see an aye-aye outside. Those I have seen in European zoos are kept indoors on reverse lighting. Here she simply comes out when it gets dark! We also saw the zoo’s dwarf lemurs and mouse lemurs. They too were very active.

After leaving the zoo we went for a short walk looking for night creatures by torchlight. We saw some frogs and two small snakes.

 

When we got back I went in to the shower room for a bucket shower and surprised a large rat sitting on the window sill. While I was washing, Christof cooked a simple but delicious meal of rice and fresh vegetables which was followed by fresh, sweet pineapple.
Then we sat outside listening to music drifting up from the nearby village of Ambonivato. The full moon was enormous - almost bright enough to read by!