Thursday 6th October 2022. Bekopaka

We had arranged to meet Fa-Fa at the entrance to the road leading the the hotel at 6.30am so we were up at 5.45 to ensure we had time to collect the packed lunch we had ordered and check the car over as we would have no spare tyre - we were frustrated that the hire company had not provided us with a compressor to pump tyres up.  Having picked Fa-Fa up along with the safety harnesses we headed up the road to Grande Tsingy which as expected was terrible and definitely not ideal to be doing without a spare tyre.  The road meandered through the countryside with the occasional river ford
for 17km before we arrived at the park carpark and we found that we were the first ones there so would have the luxury of having the park to ourselves for a while once we were harnessed up.  

The longest walk in the Grande Tsingy was 7 hours long but required you to have a driver as you would get dropped off in one location and picked up in another.  As self drivers we had to split the walk into two parts so our first walk was the Andamozavaky route which is 3km and generally takes about 4 hours so starting at 7.45 we should be able to do it before the heat of the day kicked in.  We could then make a decision as to whether we would do the Ranotsara Route.  The walk started quite gently through the forest and we got to see a small night Bemaraha Sportive lemur in a hole in a tree but we soon found ourselves clambering over Tsingy rocks and even though it was reasonably early it was still hot and tiring as a result.  The route then started ascending up ladders and rock steps that had large nails attaching them to the Tsingy, squeezing through very narrow gaps in the rocks, walking through caves, crawling through crevasses.  It was definitely a relief at points that we were attached via the harnesses as it was pretty precarious in places, and absolutely exhausting with the building heat and humidity.  Fa-Fa kept telling us Mora Mora (slowly slowly) which was definitely excellent advice. We finally reached the first viewpoint with magnificent views over the park.

The famous suspension bridge was as spectacular as all the photos made it look and we were delighted that we had it completely to ourselves so could linger and take in the views.

We headed across to the second viewpoint from where we could a glimpse of another couple of groups so we no longer had the Tsingy entirely to ourselves. A quick rest seated in the Queen's throne and then we started to head back down which was no less gruelling!

Eventually we made it off the rocks and back to the forest floor and started to meet other groups coming up the other way which we learnt was an easier and shorter route up (Fa-Fa was not particularly diplomatic about the people who would choose that route but we took it as a complement that he thought we were relatively young and fit).  We were delighted to see a family of brown Rufous lemurs but also white sifaka leaping around high up in the rocks and trees - we had been secretly hoping that we would get to see them but didn't want to raise our hopes too high in case we didn't.  We wandered back to the carpark which we reached at 11.30 by which time it was horribly hot and were having to stop to drink water every few meters.

We weren't totally sure about doing the second walk as it was so hot but in the end we decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we really shouldn't miss so we headed to the start of the second route.  Again we were on our own in the carpark - all the drivers were now at the other carpark which had been quite busy when we left.  This route was shorter at 2km but the climb was definitely much steeper. The forest walk to the base of the rocks was 1km and then the ascent was almost vertical up steep ladder and rock steps, again we were very glad of the harnesses.  Fa-Fa definitely wasn't hanging about either - we suspect that he had assumed we wouldn't do the second route and had planned other things to do in the afternoon.  The views from the top were once again spectacular and the route back down quite unnerving so not much chance to take photos!

The heat was definitely taking its toll and we were glad to reach the forest floor and head back to the car.  Amazingly on the way back though we got to see a family of Decken's sifakas in a tree really close to the path.  The difference to the Kirindy Sifaka's was now clear as the Deckens have a white head with a black face whereas the top of the head was black in the ones in Kirindy.

We dropped Fa-Fa back in the village and met his brother Francois who we had agreed to give a lift back to Morondava on Saturday.  The tyre was still not fixed at 3pm but after a quick dip in the pool we were eventually reunited with our spare tyre at about 5pm.  Ian went in and chatted (hand signals rather than words) with the mechanic whilst his son pumped the tyre up by hand - the tyre had had a stick through the side wall so we had been lucky to get all the way up without having to change it.  The mechanic had 6 children and was clearly very proud of them all. I sat in the car and watched his other children playing and fighting - they were definitely having a fun afternoon but it was clear that they were tough youngsters.  The heat of the day meant that neither of us was hungry and felt very guilty when we both struggled to eat our main course - it had been a mistake to have the talapia pancake for starters.