Basic HTML Version
P A G E 4
V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1
S A V A C O N S E R V A T I O N
In October 2012 I had the pleasure to lead a tour of
Madagascar for Duke Alumni Travel. The tour participants
included DLC-SC friends and supporters Dr. David Howell
and Dr. Sara Miller (their second trip to Madagascar), DLC
volunteer Megan Elwing and DLC photographer David
Haring. The tour took us to national parks and other sites
of interest around eastern and northern Madagascar, and
included a tour extension to the SAVA region and Marojejy
National Park. We were fortunate to have Erik join us and
share his experience in an area that he is intimately
familiar with.
The visit to Marojejy was the most challenging, though
extremely rewarding, part of the entire tour. After making
arrangements with porters and paying entry fees, we left
the park office on the main road and, after a short drive on
a dirt road, walked the next four hours to what is known as
Camp Mantella (named after a diurnal frog genus
commonly found nearby) or Camp #1. This was also my
first visit to Marojejy, and I was very taken with the beauty
of the primary rainforest once we were well into the park.
Enormous majestic trees towered above us along the trail,
as we crossed numerous small rocky streams of
shimmering clear water. As the trail took us through a
bamboo thicket, we encountered bamboo lemurs
(
Hapalemur occidentalis
) at very close range. An exciting
first lemur sighting!
At Camp Mantella we stayed in the quite-civilized
bungalows made of tarps spread on wooden frames. We
were spoiled by a capable camp cook that made sure we
were never hungry. The walking was tough, but roughing it
– well not so much! The next day we continued our walk
through the national park forest on a more difficult trail
that sometimes required using a trail side rope to pull up
the steep slopes. After two hours of hard walking we
arrived at Camp Marojejia (named after a genus of palm
unique to the region) or Camp #2. If you ever imagined an
idyllic tropical forest location, this is absolutely it! The
bungalows and common dining area sit along (and directly
above!) a beautiful tumbling mountain stream, with a
stunning view of the vertical rock faces of Mount
Duke Alumni Travel Tour of Madagascar Visit to Marojejy
By Charlie Welch
Duke Alumni observing wildlife
Photo by David Haring
Marojejy National Park entrance sign
Photo by Megan Elwing
Bungalows at Camp Mantella in Marojejy NP
Photo by Megan Elwing