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Hilary Bradt
Publisher, travel writer, lecturer and sculptor
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Hilary Bradt 
After almost a quarter of a century without any sightings, a rare bird has been rediscovered in Madagascar. The dusky tetraka, which had not been seen since the end of last century, has recently been found in two locations on the northeast of the island by a team led by The Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar Program. Amid fears that it could have become extinct, it had been ranked as one of the 10 most wanted species by the Search for Lost Birds collaboration. More details here: https://www.birdlife.org/news/2023/03/01/found-mysterious-songbird-rediscovered-in-madagascar-after-eluding-scientists-for-24-years
A more spacious additional bungalow has just been completed this week at Camp Marojejia (Camp 2) of Marojejy National Park. This fifth bungalow is a wooden structure with two bunk beds. Lemur Conservation Foundation has also provided new mattresses, pillows and blankets for all bungalows at both camps 1 and 2.
In Toamasina, three of us shared a chambre (& bed) at Eden for 30 000Ar – and the first hot water for a few weeks. Simple but welcome comfort for independent travellers passing through and there is an ATM only metres away for those who have run out of Ariary.
The FANAMBY camp at Daraina was damaged during the pandemic closure period and is not expected to reopen until 2024.
A cargo ship illegally carrying 130 passengers sank off Madagascar’s northeastern coast today, killing at least 17 people with 68 still missing. The ship was travelling between Antanambe (near Mananara) and Soanierana-Ivongo when a hole in its hull caused the vessel to take on water. As a registered cargo ship, it was not authorised to carry passengers.
In late 2021, Lemur Conservation Foundation completed a project to replace the kitchen and dining area at the second camp in Marojejy National Park. This now comprises three shelters accessed by a new stairway that is much safer than the previous one, which has caused a number of accidents.
In mid-2020, Lemur Conservation Foundation oversaw the construction of a new toilet/shower block at the second camp on Mount Marojejy, as the existing one had seriously degraded in the 15+ years since it was built.
Following serious damage from Cyclone Enawo in 2017, the first camp on Mount Marojejy was renovated in May 2020. Thanks to the coordination of Lemur Conservation Foundation and a grant from Seacology, four new bungalows were built, along with a new toilet/shower building.
Information from Rainer Dolch: Nosy Mangabe was a popular anchorage for Dutch sailors from 1601-1657 and is strewn with inscriptions they chiselled into rocks – most of them at a beach known as ‘Plage des Hollandais’ today. They often include names of people and ships as well as dates of arrival and departure. Sailors also also left letters sealed inside lead envelopes. The crew of the next Dutch ship would then record the message on the rock and collect the letters.
There are more than 40 inscriptions and they stem from at least 13 different ships of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) which – the Cape Colony was only founded in 1652 – then used Madagascar as a stopover when travelling to the Dutch colonies in the Moluccas (Ambon was conquered in 1605) and Java (Batavia, present-day Jakarta, was founded in 1619). Here are some of the inscriptions as transcribed by Wendy van Duivenvoorde: