January 27th: Andasibe Piste 5

Forest ceiling makes it so dark in the afternoon

We had a bit of a late start on day two in Andasibe, but we pulled ourselves together and ate some lunch (remember Malagasy people get up at 5:00am, lunch around 11:30, and  dinner around 6:00). It was a chinese-style soup with noodles, meatballs made of zebu, and some Auricularia (jelly fungus). Yum! We picked up Sabotsy and his son, and went up the same road from the day before. We parked in the same place, and left Sabotsy’s son to watch guard. This time he was more prepared (I don’t think he knew how long we would be gone) with a rain jacket, a large stick, and a small machete! What a guard! We headed down a short hill and crossed some rice patties, the first time I got to walk through rice fields. We then walked up a steep path, it was much hotter this day, which worries me when it comes to Marasmius, but we found them not too far along the trail, they just love the humidity!

The vegetation was a little less spiny, which I was happy about, and it was easier to wander off the trail. There were little patches here and there that were open. Sabotsy would wander off trying to track down the people illegally cutting down trees. He was a distracted. We would walk over the places where they had been, it was obvious that the cutting was recent. Piles of wood shavings littered the trail. We were just getting a hang of the habitat when Rocky called it (even earlier today 3:00pm), but everyone seemed a little on edge about the cuttings, so we respected the safety protocol and packed up, not before taking some wonderful shots of a Marasmiaceae with no gills, Gloiocephala!!! I had never seen these before, so we collected it and photographed it. They were so tiny 1-5mm wide cap, but beautiful! The hymenophore was just exposed, no lamellae! Ah so cool!

As we left the forest, we passed a sleeping Madagascar boa constrictor! He was out cold, must have just eaten lunch, and so we took some pictures, and when everyone had walked by it, I decided I need to pet it. I know, not the smartest idea I’ve ever had, but I had to, and I did. I touched a wild boa constrictor. Aaah! So awesome.

AH! Madagascar Boa!!! (Photo by Danny Newman)

This was our last day in Andasibe before continuing our trip to the east, and we felt like we could have had another day, but we collected a lot of good stuff, so we were happy. Another night of work, and some Radio Lab podcasts, which Danny and I listen to while we work. Yay Robert and Jad! Love Radio Lab.