This gallery shows photos from a short trip to the Masoala Peninsula in Madagascar, right after my main trip with Birding Ecotours.  That trip was absolutely fantastic, but after three weeks of often rough travel and intensive birding, I thought a few days of comfortable R&R would be fun.  So I went on a 4-5 day jaunt up to northeastern Madagascar to the Masoala Peninsula (through Natural World Safaris).  I envisioned something like a nice beach holiday with a little bit of birding and nature thrown in.  But... there was soooo much interesting nature to see birds, lemurs, chameleons, coral reef, etc.  So I was wonderfully busy all the time, trying to see as much as I could, even at a somewhat relaxed pace.  Fantastic time!  Masoala is actually famous among birders as the best place in Madagascar to see one of the great birds in all the world - the Helmet Vanga.  We took a boat from the lodge to the national park for a full day hike to search for this amazing species.  It took us a while, but we eventually had wonderful looks at a few of them.  One of my favorite all-time birds!  We also saw lots of lemurs and chameleons and other forest creatures, beautiful scenery, and a couple of whales from shore.  And I even succeeded in having a bit of a nice and relaxing "beach holiday" :-).  The place I stayed at was the Masoala Forest Lodge - I think it's the only lodge offering relatively easy access to the national park.  It's a wonderful lodge in an amazing setting - what I'd call rustic luxury :-) - very highly recommended!!  Such a great way to end my trip.

​See highlights of my full, 4 week trip to Madagascar here.