On our recent cruise along the east coast
of Africa, we went in search of the black lemur on the island of Nosy Be,
Madagascar. It turned out to be quite an
expedition – including paddling our own dug-out pirogues and walking across hot
sand and mud to the Lokobe Reserve.
Local guides led us through the bush and we were successful in getting
close-up views of a beautiful pair of Black Lemurs.
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| The female Black Lemur is a beautiful Cinnamon color |
I prepared guests
onboard the ms Amsterdam with a lecture about the fascinating creatures of
Madagascar, including Lemurs. In Africa, Monkeys evolved 30 million
years after the early lemurs, out-competing the lemur lineage and driving them to extinction. But by then the island of Madagascar was already far out to sea, drifting away from the African
continent. Thus my punch line --
"monkeys missed the boat by 30 million years." (An apt comparison for an audience of cruisers!)
