Ten go to Madagascar - Orchid Conservation Alliance
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
MADAGASCAR ADVENTURE
Photography by Johan Hermans
Ten go to
Madagascar
Clare and Johan Hermans describe some
jolly adventures on an Orchid Conservation
Alliance trip to the Great Red Island
Above The Andringitra Massif
(desert of rocks), part of the
Andringitra National Park, at sunrise.
Right Mass flowering of the tiny
Bulbophyllum leptostachyum in
Ranomafana National Park.
Far left The intrepid Orchid
Conservation Alliance group at
the entrance of the orchid ‘garden’
at Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.
Left Aerangis fastuosa was
encountered in full bloom at
Ranomafana National Park.
➤
12 March 2021 March 2021 13
MADAGASCAR ADVENTURE
W
including Mary, an indefatigable
hy do the wrong
people travel, when the colleague called Gary and, most of ‘We reached our destination at 2am, just 12 hours late, to
right people stay back
home?’ So wrote Noël Coward in Sail
all, our old friends Harold and Steve.
But, ‘the best laid plans of mice
find Niry, our friend, waiting patiently for us’
Away and the same question crossed and men’ depended on KLM getting
my mind during thirty or so years of us to Amsterdam, Nairobi and then
tour leading, particularly in Antananarivo, Madagascar. We had
Madagascar. I am not thinking of the allowed many hours for transit but
irritating arguers and complainers, a much delayed flight coming into
they just want there money’s worth. Heathrow from Amsterdam meant
It’s the ones that can be classed as, that the whole journey suddenly
well, unusual in any environment …’ vanished into mid-air. Flights to
So wrote Hilary Bradt, travel writer Madagascar are not frequent and
and friend, in the Sunday Telegraph in ground staff at Heathrow looked
2020. It was an amusing read but also blankly on how to re-schedule us,
triggered a few memories of our until we met Dimitri who turned out
September 2019 Orchid Conservation to be the only Madagascan working at
Alliance (OCA) trip to Madagascar. the airport: he promptly re-arranged
Unlike the sociable Hilary Bradt our flight, departing 6.30am the next
we are unaccustomed to accompanying day, via Paris and Nairobi. This
tour groups, preferring the company meant an unexpected night at the
of ourselves or just a few friends. Heathrow Hilton where we received
Following a chance encounter with Eulophia ibityensis is locally common in Madagascar the sad news that Harold had a
Mary Gerritsen, stalwart of the OCA, in woodland of highland areas. serious car accident before departure
in Ecuador in 2017 the idea of guiding and therefore he and Steve had to
a trip to Madagascar came up. She floods. Hotels and lodges were drop out of the trip. The rest of the
made it sound quite easy and we felt reserved well in advance, good local evening was spent on the phone to Left Cynorkis lowiana flowers in profusion on wet
roadside banks near Ranomafana National Park.
ready to share some of our experience guides were booked and eventually Madagascar altering arrangements. Above Variable Cynorkis nutans grows as a
of Madagascar and its orchids. an announcement was circulated to The new route involved a stop terrestrial or semi-epiphyte in the eastern forest.
Based in the United States, OCA the OCA membership. on the Comoro Islands, a place we Below Tiny Cynorkis peyrotii is made distinctive
is an admirable organization; one of Much to our astonishment all always wanted to visit but perhaps by its marked leaves.
their aims is to promote trips to see twelve places were snapped up within not at midnight staring at an ugly
orchids in their native habitat and days with a long waiting list of other concrete airport building. The only
thereby raise awareness and funding potential participants. amusement was trying to retrieve a
for conservation projects. Just a few days before departure, group of Chinese tourists heading for
news came from Madagascar that one the airport exit convinced that they
The best laid plans of our lodges had become inaccessible had reached Madagascar. We finally
The next year was spent meticulously because of a severe landslide. Back to reached our destination at 2am, just
planning and costing an itinerary, the drawing board and eventually an 12 hours late. We have never been so
based on almost 20 previous trips. alternative was found, not an easy pleased to find Niry, our friend, guide
In partnership with Mary and our task during the peak tourist season, and driver waiting patiently for us.
friends at Malagasy Tours in but more of that later. With bookings After a few hours sleep we headed
Madagascar it was decided to go for confirmed, dietary requirements off for an appointment at the
the ‘comfortable but flexible’ option established and sleeping arrangements Herbarium of the Botanical and
with several small vehicles, taking in decided, we were finally ready to go! Zoological Gardens in Antananarivo.
a good cross section of this very large
and diverse country. Mid-September An inauspicious start A daytrip to Angavokely
to early October were fixed as dates, On the 14th of September we set off We had built in a few days ‘us’ time to
perhaps not the peak orchid for Heathrow, with some trepidation relax and do herbarium work before
flowering season but less likely to but comforted by the thought that we the ‘US’ contingent arrived. However,
be affected by cyclones, leeches and knew at least some of the participants, most of the group had come early and ➤
14 March 2021 March 2021 15
MADAGASCAR ADVENTURE
had the same idea of some pre-trip lesson two of group travel was
Eulophia ramosa
relaxation; not surprising as most learned: everything takes longer than was one of the few
were travelling the very long haul anticipated but that more eyes means orchids flowering
from the west coast of America. more orchids. This is offset by lesson in the Isalo Massif.
Antananarivo is not one of the three that many cameras mean that
world’s most exciting cities, so an photography can be a lengthy affair.
impromptu daytrip was organized
to Angavokely Forest Station, about Ranomafana National Park
60km from the capital. Though few After an overnight stop we reached
orchids were in flower, it provided a the first orchid-rich area near
pre-taste of travelling in Madagascar, Ranomafana National Park, in the
with its varying road conditions and eastern rainforest where we were
unforeseen obstacles, such as live, greeted by roadside banks covered in
pendulous power cables and large Cynorkis lowiana. The next two days
felled trees, barring the route. Cynorkis were spent on different trails in the
ridleyi growing in clumps at the base area; although the park was busy and
of pine trees was the star of the day. it rained every day (the only time on
the trip) there was ample opportunity
On the way to lose the crowd and discover
Early the next day we met up with orchids. The highlights were the
the rest of the expedition team: four terrestrials Cheirostylis nuda, Cynorkis
drivers / guides and a matching nutans at its peak and Cynorkis peyrotii.
number of sturdy four-wheel drive As usual the bulbophyllums
vehicles laden with spare car parts, performed, they are one of the few
a large supply of bottled water, and genera with species in flower most of
ample picnic supplies. We soon learnt the year and included Bulbophyllum
lesson one of group travel: that speed leptostachyum and B. francoisii. Even
depends on the efficiency of the hotel some angraecoids were out, pretty
Angraecum dryadum flowering check-out clerk and on the time Aerangis fastuosa and Angraecum
profusely at the roadside management of the slowest participant. dryadum. However, the find of the
near Ranomafana.
A long journey south lay ahead, trip was a diminutive but unusual
traversing spectacular scenery, with Gastrodia. Later it was matched with
a chance to see the country’s unique old herbarium material, beautifully
fauna and flora, and even some drawn by Deborah Lambkin, declared
orchids. The programme allowed for new to science and became famous in
one to two full days’ drive followed by the press as ‘the world’s ugliest orchid’
two nights in an orchid-rich area. or Gastrodia agnicellus. This was a
The main stop that day was Col remarkable discovery, given that it
Tapia, a well-known orchid locality has no leaves and its flowers are
but now somewhat depleted by fire. hidden beneath leaf litter. It did not
It was the first opportunity for group take long for the group to become
bonding; comparing varying extremes totally engaged by the many strange
of protective clothing, footwear, creatures of the Madagascan rain-
camera gear and fitness. After a forest and especially enthralled by
thorough search among the granite the tiniest of orchids.
boulders and under the tapia trees
(Uapaca bojeri) just one flowering
orchid was found: Eulophia ibityensis, a
Isalo and return to
Antananarivo
‘The find of the trip was a diminutive
pretty terrestrial endemic to this area. The next main stop was Isalo, two Gastrodia. New to science, it became
Lemurella pallidiflora is a small twig epiphyte Aeranthes schlechteri flowers suspended from A lengthy hunt for two pairs of lost days’ drive further south. It was
in Mantadia National Park. a long inflorescence at Mantadia National Park. spectacles was less successful. Here becoming warmer and drier with famous as ‘the world’s ugliest orchid’’ ➤
16 March 2021 March 2021
MADAGASCAR ADVENTURE
dramatic scenery of eroded sandstone vegetables and leave the rest’. A reserve scrambling down to a became inaccessible due to a landslide
mountains and a vegetation of palms supervising teacher soon rectified the Pandanus bog to see one of the few and quick substitutions had to be
and many succulents, including situation and produced an omelette, surviving Eulophiella roempleriana made. Our new location was Lake
Pachypodium in full bloom. It was an the ubiquitous vegetarian standby.. plants. We hoped that they would Ampitabe on the east coast, where
opportunity to rest for some and for be in flower (they were in seed pod the group had to be split between
others to admire the sole orchid, East to Andasibe on a previous visit in December and hotels. The lake is part of the
Eulophia ramosa, growing in the baked After passing the traffic jams of the the local guide had assured us that it Pangalanes canal system with some
grassland. A day trip to Zombitse capital we headed east to the rich flowered in mid-September to early remnants of littoral forest. Getting
Reserve further south revealed many rainforest around Andasibe. Apart October) but weather conditions had there was an adventure in itself; three
non-flowering angraecoids growing in been unfavourable and we had just hours’ drive including half an hour on
the hot, dry forest, including Aerangis ‘At Andasibe, apart tennis ball-sized buds to admire a dirt track travelling at a 45° angle,
spiculata, tantalizingly just a few days instead of the huge pink blooms. followed by an hour by speedboat
from opening its blooms. from orchids, the Many other orchids in bloom nearby to the lake.
It was now time to retrace our
steps and head back north via the main attractions did make up for this disappointment;
there were massive clumps of Jumellea
The first afternoon was spent
fruitlessly searching for Cymbidiella
dramatic scenery of the Andringitra
Massif. One of the more memorable
were the indri and punctata, Lemurella pallidiflora,
Angraecum lecomtei, a mysterious
flabellata seen on an earlier trip.
Fortunately, one of the group was
overnight stops was at Fianarantsoa diademed sifaka’ Angraecum close to A. implicatum, the more successful, he met a group of
in a hotel and catering college. One rare, elf-like Aeranthes schlechteri, giant schoolchildren carrying a bunch of
or two on the tour were vegetarian, from orchids, the main attractions Bulbophyllum coriophorum, B. auriflorum, its flowers, and they showed him the
not a common thing in Madagascar here were the indri, a lemur with a B. divaricatum, B. pandurella, plants close to a football pitch.
It was not a concept fully understood whale like call and the rare diademed B. platypodum and many others. Besides the cymbidiellas, growing
by the young student waiter at the sifaka. Three full days in the area at the base of ericaceous scrub was
hotel school who arrived with plates meant the group had plenty of The unexpected pleasures the gorgeous Angraecum elephantinum.
of chicken, gravy, vegetables and rice opportunity to lemur-watch and get of Lake Ampitabe To add to the tally were Aerangis
for everyone; for the vegetarians he away from marauding tourists. The final stop was a leap into the citrata and Oeoniella polystachys
suggested, somewhat assertively, that A whole day was dedicated to an unknown. It was a last-minute growing on trees beside the lake, plus
they should ‘then just eat their arduous trek in a local community rearrangement after one of the hotels some large colonies of pitcher plants
(Nepenthes). By now most of the group
had relaxed and settled into a
Malagasy, laissez-faire lifestyle. This
was fortunate as our last night was
spent in the remnants of some beach-
side bungalows earmarked for
refurbishment with rice-straw for a
mattress, various creepy crawlies on
the walls and much rodent-rustling A large colony of
during the night. But there was cold Oeoniella polystachys
running water and the singing of seen at Lake Ampitabe.
villagers walking along the shore
woke us at 4.45am, just in time for
a dramatic sunrise. passion for orchids. As always tourism again in 2021 and we can see
Madagascar did not disappoint and that Eulophiella in flower after all. n
Going home provided a total of 81 different orchid
After a gruelling nine-hour drive back species or almost 10% of the entire Clare Hermans is an orchid
to the capital for a magnificent orchid flora, with numerous lemurs, grower, author and Chairman
farewell dinner it was now time to say chameleons, insects and birds thrown of the RHS Orchid Committee.
goodbye to the group; we had learnt in (but sadly no penguins). Johan Hermans is an orchid
to appreciate all those ‘unusual in any Due to Covid-19, the 2020 OCA grower, photographer, author
Detail of the strange flowers of the giant Bulbophyllum pandurella forms small clumps Cymbidiella flabellata was found in coastal scrub environment’, and had made some trip to Madagascar was cancelled. We and Vice Chairman of the
Bulbophyllum coriophorum. on the main trunk of trees. near to a football pitch by Lake Ampitabe. great new friends with a common hope that Madagascar can open to RHS Orchid Committee.
18 March 2021 March 2021 19
You can also read
