Ifaty
Ifaty is only some 25km north of Tulear, but the road is so bad that it takes about two hours to drive there! However, the reward is that the world famous spiny desert awaits. This amazing, unique ecosystem of bizarre, towering spiny bushes and dense scrub supports numerous endemic species, notably of Baobab, and a complete endemic family of plants - the Didiereaceae. And the birds are pretty awesome too! It was dry and very warm throughout in Ifaty.
We reached Ifaty after another long travel day, involving a short flight followed by another long drive. Our hotel Ikotel was right on the beach, and was spacious and comfortable. The food was good and the staff really friendly. The only snag, from our point of view, was one night during dinner when we were 'treated' to some local entertainment. Most of the male members of our group, including our leader Glen, were enticed up to 'dance' with the alarmingly young female dancers. Still, this incident has provided us with some memorable images - perhaps one or two that should be forgotten!
Some of us also went snorkelling on the nearby reef (on the world's slowest boat - dubbed the 'sloth boat' by us...walkers on the beach were overtaking us). The reef didn't look in great shape but the fish were pretty good, from a beginner's point of view. We did manage to identify some, such as wrasse, box/cowfish, parrotfish, angelfish and pipefish.
On the journey we did pick up some new birds. These included three Madagascar Buttonquail en route and several Madagascar Plover. At a roadside lake we saw Kittlitz's, Three-banded and Ringed Plover. Another good find was five Painted Snipe right out in the open, and also two Little Bitterns calling, perched right up on some reeds. At the same lake we had two Caspian Terns, and very unusually for a freshwater site, a single Greater Crested Tern.
Whilst in Ifaty we had to make an early start to the incredible spiny forest each day to avoid the searing heat. We had several special target birds here, and were very successful in mopping them up, with the help of our local guides Freddy and Relatsa. The first was Long-tailed Ground Roller, which was as elegant as we'd expected, although quite tricky to see well. Then we picked up Subdesert Mesite, a cracking bird which freezes when alarmed. This did enable us to get great views and photos, in spite of being in this very spiky and dense habitat. Other birds in this great place were Archbold's Newtonia and Running Coua, the latter proving quite difficult for all of us to see. Another bird which surprised us by being unexpectedly charismatic was Thamnornis Warbler, and we found a roosting Madagascar Nightjar which was unfortunately flushed before all of us could see it well. The rest of the group also caught up with Banded Kestrel here, seen really well on top of a Didierea.
Near the resort we stopped on several occasions at some mangrove mudflats, and connected with several waterbirds, including White-fronted Plover and a putative Saunders'/Little Tern. Also present were the usual selection of waders, including Curlew Sandpiper, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Sanderling and Greater Sandplover, but sadly no Crab Plover at this regular site. It was on this road that our bus got stuck in the sand, affording the waiting locals much amusement. It was only with concerted efforts from some of the party (not, interestingly, the Rockjumper guides who seemed to be directing operations rather than pushing!) and the aforementioned locals that it was freed.
Other wildlife included several Mercator Tropical House Geckos at the hotel, and some Three-eyed Lizards and more Flatid Leaf Bugs in the forest. And indeed one of the best wildlife experiences we had on the trip took place here. Neal found a snake (Dromicodryas bernieri) which then proceeded to catch and eat a skink right in front of us. It was so intent on its prey that it completely ignored us, and we were able to get great photos of the whole incident including the munching of the shed tail as dessert.
