Madagascar is often referred to as the sixth continent. The 4th largest island of the globe now lies over 400 km east from Africa, but it was separated from it 165 million years ago and then from the Indian Subcontinent 65 million years ago. Tectonic activity are the cause of its isolation and also its rugged landscape. The eastern escarpment — a north-south mountain chain — captures moist winds from the Indian Ocean and depleted the central plateau from humidity. The diversity in geography and climate and the extreme isolation have given room to unique forms of life, shaped for millions of years. Today, almost all the amphibians and reptiles, seven families of mammals (five of lemurs, one of rodents and one of carnivores) and five families of birds (mesites, ground-rollers, cuckoo-roller, asities, Malagasy warblers and vangas sensu stricto) are endemic to Madagascar, in few cases with species shared with neighboring islands: Comoros, Mayotte, Seychelles, Aldabra, or the Mascarenes.

Traveling to Madagascar means connecting with a myriad of creatures found nowhere else on Earth, most struggling to survive in the last habitat patches of the island. A complex social scenario of tradition, poverty and inequality is causing a rampant loss of forest. This ongoing threat is pushing most Madagascar wildlife towards the verge of extinction.

Anxious to know about Madagascar’s wildlife and learn about wildlife conservation, I took part of an expedition to carry out my master’s thesis fieldwork during my studies at University of Helsinki. For several weeks, I would immerse in the rainforests of Ranomafana during the rainy season along with my field assistant Midou Caren, my friend and Centre ValBio’s intern Lola F. Multigner and my skilled field guides Georges and Pela Auguste. The knowledge in wildlife of my guides, mostly based on their experiences as hunters-gatherers in the forest before the establishment of Ranomafana National Park, provided an infinite source of learning and wonder for the whole team.

Logistically, I took a Turkish Airlines flight from Helsinki to Tana via Istanbul and Mauritius (and had to stay there for days due to a cancelled flight, see report here) and flew Ethiopian Airways back from Tana to Fiumicino via Addis Abeba — reached at night time, so no airport birding possible! After visiting relatives in Rome, I flew to Alicante to join my family for Christmas.

We walked across the forest monitoring the giant bamboo (Cathariostachys madagascariensis), the main food source for critically endangered greater bamboo lemurs and golden bamboo lemurs. The first was thought to be extinct for decades until Pat Wright’s team found living individuals in Ranomafana back in 1986. The later, a narrow endemic species around Ranomafana, was only discovered to science during the same expedition. Today Pat leads Centre ValBio, a research campus where we stayed on and off, combined with camping in the forest, throughout the expedition. Hearing her experience and testimonies set my project to a different level.

On free days in Ranomafana I would walk around Centre ValBio during my breaks of processing data or walk down town. Trying to get a grasp of life in Ranomafana village was an experience. We were lucky enough to merge in a famadihana, the turning of the bones — a millenary funerary tradition of the Malagasy peoples involving a very big party.

Other free days involved birdwatching. Unlike in other tropical places, the soundscape of Madagascar forests is not dominated by birds but by frogs, lemurs and insects. Birds are relatively scarce and hard to spot and some field days would result in virtually no sights. Luckily, I could join some bird monitoring surveys with Théo, the master guide of birds in Ranomafana and the leader of several international tours, including David Attenborough’s 2011 journey to Madagascar. While my long walks in the forest resulted in great views of charismatic species such as pitta-like ground-roller, Madagascar crested ibis, or blue coua, Théo helped me connect with skulkier, trickier species like Crossley’s vanga, Rand’s warbler, or cryptic warbler. His connection to the forest is inspiring, as he learned to imitate the different calls of all lemurs and bird species as a kid for subsistence hunting, but still provide a livelihood for him through ecotourism.

Taking profit of the whole trip, I took some days off after the research trip to find out other places of the island. Unfortunately Lola left back to Finland, so I grabbed my camping tent alone and set off to Ankarafantsika National Park up north. I got the chance to connect with a radically different Madagascar, with highlights including Madagascar fish-eagle, Van Dam’s vanga, Coquerel’s sifaka, Madagascar pygmy kingfisher and Schlegel’s asity. A final leg of the trip in Tana (as the capital city Antananarivo is usually called) allowed for some short visit to an urban park, connecting with even more species.

My research team provided some help and advice for the beginning of my journey to avoid some political unrest in the capital city before the elections to avoid unsafe situations. However, one quickly gets used to the rhythm of things and never felt at high risk and eventually had to deal mostly with leeches, mosquitos, several flat tires at odd places, some travelers diseases and other minor incidents and anecdotes not even worth mentioning. The security level never felt like a big drawback after all.

My research trip to Madagascar resulted in 110 bird species, 17 lemur species, 10 chameleon species, hundreds of reptiles, amphibians and arthropods left unidentified, and a myriad of experiences and interactions with people that have shaped in a way my perspectives in research and life. Madagascar has proven harsh and remote at times but always intriguing, with so much to offer behind every single tree or house.