After weeks surrounded by the involving mist of rainforest fog, my friend Lola F. Multigner and I are excited to plan an excursion southeast to a more dry area as a break from our research project in Ranomafana NP. Anja is a community reserve managed by villagers with government aid. The reserve protects a remain of dry forest in and around a little massif in the middle of rice pads and open areas. Today, it receives good numbers of tourism thanks to the big numbers of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) the area holds.
The drive from Ranomafana is uneventful, as we go through the tavy (slash-and-burn traditional agriculture)-barren, rather lifeless dry area west from the highlands. We reach Anja around three hours after departure on a 4×4 car arranged by Centre ValBio in Ranomafana. The park has entrance fees which differ between foreigns and locals (and seemingly also from time to time: as of November 2023, the foreign fee is MGA 55000). In addition, different routes can be chosen at different fares, length and duration. We chose the route of 2:30 h (MGA 120000 for 3 people), although it turned out to last less than 2 h.
Even if the experience was overall positive, the visits to Anja are organized for a very generalist tourist profile, neglecting the interests of the visitor (which I feel is more respected among guides of Madagascar National Parks). In our case, we had a pleasant walk with too many planned stops for water and unneeded rest, and too little possibilities to stop on the way to look for and observe wildlife properly, other than the lemurs, constantly referred to as “King Julian” by the guides! While we have watched and enjoyed Madagascar movie and we surely appreciated a bit of rest, we are biology students and enthusiasts full of energy in our 20s!
Ring-tailed lemurs are indeed everywhere. We got the long (expensive) route as it is pointed out as the best for good lemur views. However, we already got amazing looks from the restrooms at the very beginning of our tour! Families with babies are omnipresent, even easy to spot in distant trees from the viewpoints up the hills. The animals are extremely used to human presence, especially those whose territory lies in the paths close to the headquarters. After weeks of spotting distant, elusive lemurs in the dense rainforest, at times Anja felt like a zoo. However, these animals are completely wild, even if they are probably confined to the boundaries of the protected area and its forest.
A big flat area, now covered in mud, was a reservoir of shallow waters just a couple of weeks ago, where fish are grown and numerous wetland birds are usually spotted, including hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) and red-billed teal (Anas erythrorhyncha). As all water was only recently gone, I only got to see butterflies sucking the salts in the mud, including an endemic, stunning swallowtail (Papilio oribazus), but definetely no waterfowl. Around the area however, the first pair of gray-headed lovebirds (Agapornis canus) feed on the grasss of the path in front of us, an exciting lifer of which we would get some other views during the day.
The guides have spotted a female and a male Oustalet’s chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) in different points of the route. They seem to feed the big male so that tourists can get nice shots of the animal darting its tongue to catch a cricket. Although this is indeed impressive (and avoiding to comment on ethical issues), I would have rather liked to see the recently described and inconspicuous Anja Reserve leaf chameleon (Brookesia brunoi) or the Anja day gecko (Phelsuma gouldi), both narrow endemics of this forest, even if their looks are not as charismatic to the general public as the tongue of the massive Oustalet’s chameleon.
We do see other reptiles, however. A lateral water snake (Thamnosophis lateralis) crosses the path in front of us, and the rocks are inhabited by big numbers of Dumeril’s (Oplurus quadrimaculatus) and Grandidier’s Madagascar swift lizards (Oplurus grandidieri). The first are present in rocks all around the forest, but we find most of the lizards of the second species higher in bare rock where trees don’t grow. The picturesque flatid leaf bugs (Flatida rosea) are also easy to spot.
The route is quite exciting, as we go through different crevices, caves and hills. The scenery is beautiful, especially from the viewpoints up the hills. The forest is full of Madagascar bulbuls (Hypsipetes madagascariensis), Madagascar magpie-robins (Copsychus albospecularis) and calling Madagascar hoopoes (Upupa marginata).
Up the tree canopy in the hills the avifauna is very different: tens of yellow-billed kites (Milvus migrans aegyptius) and many couples of pied crows (Corvus albus) fly all around and sit in trees and rocks, as so does a couple of light morph Malagasy kestrels (Falco newtoni).
One of the highlights of this reserve is its botanical jewels. Coming from the rainforest, only here I got to see many plants specialized to dry rocky areas from genera and families so distant from European flora. This is the case of the orchids (Sobennikoffia humbertiana, Cynorkis sp.), which were among the only orchids we saw blooming in November. Other plants that catch my attention are different endemic succulents (Euphorbia fianarantsoae, Euphorbia enterophora, Pachypodium densiflorum, Kalanchoe beharensis, Dracaena xiphophylla, etc.).
Although I felt that my experience in Anja could have easily been improved, I enjoyed my time here. Perhaps a best moment to come here is just a bit earlier in the year, where there is water in the reservoir but lemurs already have their babies. And perhaps, informing the headquarters of your specific interests beforehand can help you get a more personalized tour. On your visit here, don’t miss the nearby village of Ambalavao, a picturesque town where women-led factories of silk and paper show their ways and sell beautiful ornamental products — awesome souvenirs that surely make a difference to the community.