MADAGASCAR, MAURITIUS & REUNIONIn-depth coverage of the accessible parts of Madagascar, remarkable in every way: many endemic birds, striking lemurs, bizarre flora and chameleons, fascinating culture. Includes endemic-rich smaller islands of the Indian Ocean with optional Seychelles extension. NOTE: We offer a separate, Madagascar-only departure for September 2008 (see dates below).
$10,850; extension $2575 (2008 fees). 28 days plus extension See our triplist for 2007 (Madagascar only) or 2007(+ extension) or 2006 (+ extension) or 2006 (Madagascar only).
Our tour visits all the major habitats of the island, from gallery forests at Berenty and spiny forest near Toliara to dry deciduous forest near Mahajanga in the northwest and lush rainforest at Perinet, Mantadia, and Ranomafana. This broad coverage of the best locales gives us an excellent chance to find all the endemic bird families as well as some 110 of Madagascar’s endemic birds—the few others being either nearly extinct, virtually unknown, highly localized, or inaccessible to groups. Seeing so many unique and often bizarre birds—such as Sickle-billed Vanga, Sunbird Asity, Blue Coua, or Long-tailed Ground-Roller—makes for exciting birding indeed. And Madagascar offers many fascinating bonuses, among them the fabulous lemurs. A few small, nocturnal relatives of lemurs survive in Africa, but only in Madagascar do lemurs still inhabit the daylight world, in graceful and beautiful forms, some more than three feet tall. We should see about a dozen species of lemurs, including the nearly all-white sifakas and the tiny mouse lemurs, smallest of all primates. To walk the misty forest of Perinet to the dawn chorus of Indris crying, couas calling, and vangas scolding, or to hike the gallery forest of Berenty followed by troops of Ring-tailed Lemurs while Black Parrots and Cuckoo-Rollers fly overhead and giant fruit bats rise on noisy, leathery wings is truly to feel one is returning to a living remnant of the Eocene era—the Earth as it might have appeared fifty million years ago. The islands of Reunion and Mauritius are synonymous with rare birds. The Dodo, a huge, flightless, aberrant pigeon, hung on in Mauritius until about 1681 but, with the arrival of humans, these islands were markedly altered. Native forest habitat in Reunion covers a tiny fraction of its original area; in Mauritius the situation is even more critical as what little forest remains is highly threatened by introduced shrubs. It is therefore not surprising that Mauritius has some of the rarest birds on Earth—Mauritius Kestrel, Mauritius Parakeet, and Pink Pigeon (each the focus of intense conservation efforts). We have a good chance of seeing all the surviving endemics of Mauritius and Reunion, as we have on past tours. The beautiful and wonderfully tropical Seychelles, with a further eleven endemics, are offered as an optional extension to the main tour.
Contact our office by e-mail in Austin, Texas at fieldguides@fieldguides.com.
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