Festival of Wildlife - Expert Blog - Hilary Bradt
"How often have I been to Madagascar? It must be well over 30 times, but my discovery during an evening walk in Anjajavy was the most exciting ever. And I mean ever!
Group discipline had broken down on the last day, and we five had missed out on the afternoon walk with the Serious Naturalists like Nick and Hery. We were accompanied on our stroll by the delightful Anne-Cecile, the Activities Director [I'm not sure if this is her correct title; I know 'Activities' comes into it somewhere], who had only been at Anjajavy for a month. While we were watching some brown lemurs Anne-Cecile called urgently: "Come! A snake!" I remember being reluctant to leave the lemurs, expecting to see a hog-nose snake which is quite common. But we hurried over. "Where is it?" "There!" "Where?" She was pointing at a long, lichen-mottled stick lying across some bushes. Then I realised what I was looking at. To say I was excited is an understatement. The twig-mimic snake is surely one of Madagascar's most extraordinary reptiles, and this was the very rare Langaha alluaudi. I recognised it because there's a photo of one in my Madagascar Wildlife guide. I even knew that it was a female. Now, I'm not an expert in catching snakes but fortunately Jonathan Truss is. After my reassurance that no Malagasy snake is venomous, he soon had it wrapped round his arm, posing serenely for the cameras. The natural defence of this snake is to remain motionless so photography was easy. You can see from the photo that this is no ordinary snake. The twig-mimic part is extraordinary enough, but why has nature endowed it with a fir cone for a nose? And two little horns? Like so many things in Madagascar, no one knows.
You imagine that to make a find of this magnitude you have to trek for days through leech-infested forests. As it was I was sipping cocktails at the bar and showing off my photos within fifteen minutes. But that's Madagascar for you: extraordinary discoveries are an everyday occurrence.
Hilary Bradt founded her eponymous publishing company in 1974 with her then husband George. Their first book, 'Backpacking along ancient ways in Peru and Bolivia', was written on a river barge floating down a tributary of the Amazon, and typed in the Bolivian town of Trinidad on a borrowed typewriter. Since those early days Bradt Travel Guides has gone on to win two prestigious awards, the Sunday Times/IPG Small Publisher of the Year award (1997) and the Wanderlust Gold Award for best travel guide series (2008). The company now has 130 books in its catalogue. Hilary is the author and co-author of four books and countless articles on Madagascar, with the 9th edition of her Bradt guide to Madagascar having been published last year.
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