day 3 overland tour
post by scott
Despite a few sore heads we dragged ourselves out of bed on day 3 and headed to another amazing national park with the promise of rock pools making us less hungover just thinking about them. At the entrance to the park there was a pile of small rocks about head height and four or five metres diameter. Dave asked us all to throw one rock each onto the pile – I was confused. Was this some sort of cultural symbol? I think he may have been taking the piss but he told us that when the park opened x many years ago visitors would all put a rock on the pile and that’s how they would keep track of how many people came through. Hmm..
He also told us the cultural significance of the rocky mountains, in that many local people bury their family members within the caves and crevasses which are abundant. There were small piles of stones marking tombs in seemingly impossible to reach nooks and crannies of the cliff – you would need to be a rockclimber just to get up there but how do you get the deceased up? Apparently with lots of elbow grease and a few ropes they can get to the most spectacularly precarious places.
This plant has the remarkable ability to uproot itself from the ground in times of severe drought and whirl it’s long blade-like branches in a “helicopter” motion in order to fly downwind to a new (hopefully more suitable) location. It is known colloquially as the “helicopter plant”.
Once again we got to admire some pretty special views from the rocky peaks.
The first rock pool was like an oasis tucked away in the scorching, dusty landscape which surrounded it. As a swimming location though it was more suited to polar bears or narwhales, because it was bloody freezing. I’m not sure where the water was coming from but the 30 degree ambient air temperature seemed to have no ability to warm it even slightly. I got in very reluctanctly, Allana the tropical fish couldn’t handle it, but the poms didn’t seem to mind so much.
After a dip we set off to our lunch location which was being prepared nearby. We hadn’t seen any lemurs yet that day but as we approached the picnic tables they were running around everywhere! These guys were acting like naughty monkeys around tourists – watching patiently from the tree above as we ate and occasionally dropping down to make a raid on the food. We were so entranced the first time one came onto the table that instead of shooing it away we just watched it stroll casually across and eat off Ian’s plate. Thankfully Petra had some sense and shooed them away with a long stick. Our Malagasay cook had less tolerance for the cheeky lemurs and even accidentally slapped one of his national fauna emblems in the face! [Check the videos page to see a lemur strolling across our table]
The lemurs here were so tame here that Ian and Callum could actually sneak up behind and pose with them like a happy family snap!! Great photos Allana!
Lunchtime antics over, we headed to the next rockpool. To get there we followed a creek along a gorgeous green valley and emerged from dense overhead foliage to see the sun shining through into the dark water. Unfortunately the water was again shrinkingly cold so swimming was shortlived for most (except Kate, from the Hebredes, who seemed to think it was quite pleasant).
Hike finished, we dried off, jumped in the van and headed back to the hotel - ready for Tulear in the morning!