Our first day with the group (12, including our leader, Stewart, and two local guides, Joachim and Ahmed) we drove east from Antananarivo and had our first experience with the wretched conditions of Madagascar roads outside the city.

We stopped mid-day for a visit at the Peyreiras Reptile Reserve. it was unexpected to find some recently introduced sifakas and lemurs in the forest there as well: our first encounters of the trip.