Today we went for a long walk in the Isalo national park, first meeting our guide, Julian. He apparently went to Tana 2 weeks ago to receive an award from the president for his guide work over the last 30 years!
Then we were off to the park to explore the area. I think the pictures will tell the story better than any words I might write.
We began by climbing up into the hills so we could look out over the park and see the amazing views.
It was quite comfortable in the cool of the morning … it was to get hotter later! The guide showed us 3 fire resistant trees that grow in the park. The first one was tapia which Keith was happy to see as he had a Tapia rum last night!
We were leaving for a natural swimming pool, which was very beautiful, but we all wimped out from swimming (the water was very cold) … a short paddle was the best we could manage.
We then had a 4km walk through the park to our lunch spot. The temperature was steadily rising!
Lunch was amazing! We had ordered and prepaid a BBQ lunch which was to be served in a campsite in the park. The food was really good but it was the Lemurs who stole the show (and the lunch!)
After lunch we continued our walk up the valley to two swimming holes, the blue and the black. It was much cooler walking by the river among the trees. We chickened out of swimming again!
We then returned to the car and then, after dropping off our guide, Zo took us to finish off the day by photographing the setting sun through a window in the rock
