Painted Mantella Frog

Near the end of the day Bertaine took us to a little known spot favourited by one of the strangest insects you're every likely to see; the Giraffe Necked Weevil.

From the photos below it isn't difficult to see why they've been given their name, although it is the males who have the most pronounced 'giraffe-like' neck which they use for fighting during the mating season. The female uses her smaller neck to roll a leaf tube nest into which she lays a single egg. As with most insects they're tiny in size reaching only around 2.5 centimeters in length. While I was hoping to see these insects in Ranomafana I hadn't really expected to based on how small they are and finding one in the vast rainforest didn't seem like a possible chance.

We were very lucky that we had Bertaine with us for the duration of our time in Ranomafana as without him I wouldn't have seen most of the animals we came across. I am extremely grateful for his knowledge and enthusiasm for his local wildlife and environment. He had told us a story of a couple from Brazil that had come to explore Ranomafana just like us, and, just like us, they were so enamoured with his passion for the area that they gave him their lazer-pen which many guides use to point out species, shining it close by the animal but obviously not at the animal. Unfortunately while on a bus ride home Bertaine had lost his lazer-pen and was so upset about it that he didn't eat for two days. We spoke to our driver, Kiki, who was taking us around Madagascar whether he knew somewhere that we could buy a lazer-pen for him to say thank you for his time. There wasn't anywhere in Ranomafana but assured us that in the capital, Antananarivo (or Tana for short), there were places. So we gave him enough money to be able to buy one on his next trip to Tana as well as about triple what guides are normally given. I can only hope he's managed to get one to continue his guiding in the amazing place that is Ranomafana...