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A very pleasant day spent in Antsimbazaza at the zoo. Pleasant because there were very few people, the weather was perfect (although I left about 1pm before it got too hot) and because it was very nicely set out around two big lakes which were home to about a dozen different types of large birds, most obviously ibis and white herons. Some of the enclosures were painfully small especially for the birds and there were surprising absences e.g. no monkeys at all and no post cards on sale.
There were two large crocodiles in what looked to be insufficiently robust enclosures and, next door to them, enclosures housing very nervous looking sheep and goats. And there were lemurs. Varying in size from small squirrels to chimpanzees; varying in colour from gold to black to striped to red-bellied. A nocturnal house for the nocturnal lemurs, islands and trees for those who presumably like water and trees and a large free-range type area. Some classic big-eyed doe-faced favourites and some that you wouldn't trust within 20m. And can they climb? Leaping, swinging, running up and down vertical poles, turning upside down mid-flight at tremendous speeds. Very impressive.
I got there about 9.20 which was good because it opened at 9 but I didn't get to the highly recommended museum until 12 by which time it was closed. I checked it out again immediately before I left but no luck.
My favourite place was the African rockery which had a cool observation post at the top where the wind blew gently and consistently and there was a perfect view of the birds swooping and riding the thermals over the two lakes. Idyllic.
Oddest display was a path through different styles of tomb to be found in Madagascar; 6 in all. Interesting but odd, even in a country where ancestor appreciation is a big deal. Why would you put such a display in a zoo?
Picture? Yes there were 6 camels there but these were not them.
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