River Dancing Lemurs Part 3

 PART 3

We set out on foot on the island to see all the different critters. The guides were fascinating and so knowledgeable. We wandered through jungle vines, on paths, off paths for hours and hours to be able to see all the lemur species in the area. We weaved our way, sweating through giant jungle leaves, and brush. Our friend joked with us about the spiders we came across. He said the colorful one looked like it was wearing a Hawaiian Shirt, we saw one that appeared shiny and like it was part of a Heavy Metal Band, one that looked like it was wearing Dracula’s cape, pretty accurate descriptions for the 8 legged critters in various sizes and colors that I never want to see again!

We saw Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs, a Panther Chameleon that once it ages, it’s base color becomes green. We saw male and female Crown Lemurs, and the Red Belly lemur. The female Red Belly Lemur has a white belly and no white on their face. We crept through the trees and my friend cried tears of joy again as she saw each new lemur species. It was fascinating to watch. I’d pay for the trip again, just to see the joy these animals brought her. We saw a 5 month old baby with its mom. This was an Indri Lemur. They can live up to 50 years of age. When the babies are only 4 hours old, the moms start teaching the babies to hang onto them by jumping only 5 meters at a time, then more and more, making sure the baby is strong to hang on. Moms take care of the baby for the first 6 months, and then dad helps. The lemur baby stays with his parents for 5-7 years and then goes off to find a mate. The females carry the babies for 4.5 months. They can have a baby every 3-5 years. Fascinating creatures. My friends all posed for photo after photo with the lemurs and wanted them to sit on their shoulder. I did not want the little creatures to touch me. Maybe explains why my only pets in the world have been fish. I am not into petting things. My facial expressions in photos captured showed I was less than interested in a lemur touching me. I did not want to get peed on or pooped on as our friend did. Another reason I kept my distance from the little fellas.  We kept wandering the island for hours. Stepping over jungle vines, dodging spider webs, and making sure not to touch the flora and fauna.  There were lots of creepy crawling critters camouflaged on branches. Say that over and over.  We laughed when we saw a huge caterpillar climbing up a tree and reflected on a moment at dinner the night before when my friend had to rescue me from a mini spiky caterpillar crawling on my hat. Dustin suggested I throw my hat off to get rid of the critter. I looked at him with disbelief that he would not get the freaky bug off me and wanted me to reveal a secret to public!  A bit vain, but I did not want to throw my hat to reveal my struggle with thin hair to a group of people I did not know, l was wearing my hat that had fake hair extensions attached to it! I didn’t want to reveal my hair looks like thin aye aye hair! For a memory we posed by the BIG caterpillar and laughed again that Dustin didn’t save me from the little caterpillar. Blessings to my friend Tabby who got a brief poke from the spiky caterpillar to rescue me during dinner the night before.   The guides were incredible and wanted us to get the full experience, so we kept trekking around the jungle and brush. Finally, we happened upon the newest lemur mom with her 8 day old baby. The was part of our final search.  My friend cried again and said, “You’re such a good mom!” To the lemurs. We were dying with laughter, but it was so fun to watch her. We decided she feels the same way about animals that I do about the little village babies.  The guide could communicate with the lemurs and get them to show their normal communication and then communication that was downright frightening, that showed when they were feeling threatened. It was a very educational day. No one got a “famous” lemur picture with them sitting on their shoulder and they were disappointed. I was not. They were jealous that Dustin and I had visits in our bungalow not once, but twice! I kept assuring them I would have gladly traded “the full lemur experience” with any of them. 

Hearts full from the adventure; we boarded the boat again to head back to the ship.  We talked about life, love, loss, and got to know those we had adventured with. We laughed and laughed. Some slept. We waved and waved at the villagers we passed. We had some of the technical crew draw us a “mercy ships maritime family tree.” To help us “non-technical” crew understand the chain of command and roles of the technical crew on the ship. I am still not sure I understand the entire system, but much better than before. A great way to pass time. We were one body of people from many nations, all coming together to bring hope and healing. We had a nurse from New Zealand, an eye doctor from the USA, a Hotel Engineer from the Philippines, an officer from the USA, an electrical control technician from the United Kingdom, a lab technician from the USA, a dietician from the USA, 3 other nurses from the USA, Dustin and me.  Thank you God for the great adventure, time in your creation, safety in the journey, and the experience. Thank you for the Lemurs River Dancing on my bungalow roof. 

Photo Credit to group of Mercy Ship's Crew on this trip. Extra thanks to Megan Petersen for tons of photos and writing down the facts the guide told us. If you click on the photos they will enlarge and you can zoom in and find many hidden details in the photos. Focus in on the photo in the bungalow with the green beds. Look closely on the wooden frame above the bed. Look at the photo of Dustin under the photo of Dustin with the turtles. Zoom in- to see the critter above his head in the picture. Enjoy!