Black and White Ruffed Lemur, Vakona Lodge, Andasibe

While the Indri is certainly one of the main attractions to visiting Andasibe the real highlight for me, and indeed for my time in Madagascar, was coming up close and personal to a troop of Diademed Sifakas. They're regarded as the most beautiful of all lemurs with golden yellow fur on their legs and arms, silvery white and grey fur on their body and head, and with blood red eyes piercing through a jet black face. While walking through the Analamazoatra Reserve Barry spotted a troop of these Sifakas bounding through the tree tops. Their agility was amazing and we struggled to keep up. Suddenly they stopped and came down to the ground in an area spot-lit by the afternoon sun. They proceeded to rest right in front of us. Barry explained that this behaviour is rare as they prefer to spend time in the trees away from the Indri. We couldn't believe our good fortune! Even rarer was the fact that this is the only troop of Diademed Sifakas in the Analamazoatra Reserve, having been introduced in 2008 due to the population increasing in the nearby reserve of Mantadia. It has to go down as one of the most incredible moments of my time photographing wildlife - being close enough to watch and photograph a troop of these lemurs on the ground with a wide angle lens is something I could never have hoped to witness. Not only that, but they were so relaxed they all proceeded to play-fight with one another.