PART 1
It was around 4am. It was still dark outside. I was snug under the light weight sheet as it was too hot for me to use more than a sheet when we had gone to bed. Thankfully, it’s not oppressively hot like West Africa. That is next level hot! I sometimes referred to that level of hot as “sweat down your crack hot.” I used to freeze my Mercy Ships Nalgene bottle of water and put it under my dress when I would go to town in West Africa. When I volunteered at the bush mission hospital in Kpalime, Togo, to even be able to get to sleep, I would shower before going to bed to try to cool down and wash all the sticky sweat off me from the day. I would soak a light weight bandana or scarf in cool water and put it in front of my fan (thanks to those that sent support money so I had a few dollars to run a fan a night) then the air would cool to a tolerable level and I could finally fall asleep. Sometimes I asked the staff at the guest house if I could freeze some water bottles in the freezer. I would use a few frozen water bottles that I would sleep with under my armpits, head, and near my groin (the areas we use to cool patients quickly after emergency situations). I am thankful Madagascar is a little less intense when it comes to the heat. Well, let me rephrase that, I find it less intense here, Dustin would say different.
There was no electricity in our cute little bungalow overnight. There were generators that ran only a few hours for electricity. There was a sink and shower with running water and a toilet in our bungalow, so we were more than comfortable. I lay in the bed and our mosquito net was draped around the bed frame, where I had carefully placed it to ensure we had as much protection from malaria as possible. Malaria is still very present in this part of the world and is deadly. Dustin and I both take antimalarial tablets daily, but we use every method known to prevent malaria that is possible. Dustin was snoring gently next to me. The next thing I heard was scurrying and scattering on the bungalow roof. I heard rummaging of leaves, crunching, chewing, more scurrying. I awoke frightened and said, “Dustin, is that inside or outside our bungalow, hold me!!!” With a sleepy, nonchalant, voice, he said, “outside’ and he rolled back over to go back to sleep. The scuttle continued and sounded like someone was doing the Irish River Dance on the roof. I grabbed Dustin again and said, “I think that is INSIDE our bungalow, hold me, I am scared!” Dustin moaned and assured me it was outside, no need to be concerned. Again the scuttle continued. I was freaked out. I did not have a flashlight because it had been too long since I had gone into the jungle that I was not prepared and my cell phone battery had died. I did not really care about the lack of access to the world, I actually far prefer being “unplugged,” but I could have gone for a flashlight at that time. Dustin’s phone still had a battery so I needed him to rescue me with the flashlight mode to see what the fuss was about and if the threat was inside or outside our bungalow. I nudged Dustin again and he grabbed his flashlight and shone it across the room near the empty twin size bed and hanging frame that the mosquito net was attached to. There in the corner was a lemur staring me down! I was not okay with this situation. It was too early and I did not want that critter IN my bungalow. I asked Dustin to save me and he laughed. I squealed! It was still the wee hours in the morning and I wanted to go to sleep. Dustin crawled out of bed and I vaguely recall Dustin clapping his hands to try to startle the lemur away from us. Somehow he got the little bandit scared and the lemur climbed back up the rafters of the bungalow and escaped out the same way he got in. I settled down and prayed that I could sleep more, without any critters visiting. A few hours later, it was like an encore of River Dance and it startled me awake again. I thought, here we go again. I elbowed my snoring knight in armor next to me again. I told Dustin I thought they were back. Sure enough, another lemur was in our bungalow.
The critter was eyeballing our luggage. I am seasoned enough to know better than having open food around. We did not. But the critter climbed down and started roaming around the bungalow as if he owned the place. I was not okay with this. Dustin got out of bed and started clapping and clapping to startle the lemur. The sun had started to come up and I saw the critter scamper toward my luggage. That was it. I said, Dustin, “let’s open the front door, and get that guy outta here. We aren’t wasting time for him to climb back up the rafters and vaulted bungalow ceiling to get outta here.” Dustin kept clapping and I said, “Don’t let it touch you!” I flung open the bungalow door in my pajamas to the beauty of jungle green trees and the lake and shooed that lemur outta my space. I told the lemur “I paid for the bungalow and he didn’t!” Dustin laughed. We both laughed. We shut the bungalow door and decided we best get up and ready for the day. The lemurs were wide awake and our lemur nature hike was to start soon. As soon as we shut the door to the bungalow, we heard our friend, who has dreamed of seeing lemurs in their natural habitat for over 25 years. She gasped with excitement and said “I love you” to the lemur that had just terrified me and trespassed on my space. Hahahha. Dustin and I laughed again.
At breakfast we talked to the others in our group about the lemur in our bungalow and how it freaked the daylights out of us. Apparently, we were the only ones who received the “full lemur experience” of the early morning visit of a lemur INSIDE our bungalow. The other 12 in our group were ALL jealous of our experience. I could have done without it, but it just added to the adventure. Not everyone can say they had a personal performance of lemurs doing the River Dance on their roof and then making a guest appearance inside their bungalow. I had seen enough lemurs for my liking, but the day was just beginning. We now set out on foot with our guide in the Palmarium Reserve, but I got WAY ahead of myself. Let’s go back more than 28 hours, to the previous day when this adventure started… Stay tuned for PART 2 of this adventure…
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