Polar bears, rare wolves, aye-aye and gorillas – our readers share heart-racing encounters with the world’s wild ones
Growing up on a diet of Gerald Durrell books, it was a childhood obsession to see an aye-aye – one of the most unusual and elusive primates on the planet. And so there I was in north-east Madagascar, in the pouring rain and inky blackness, thrashing through wet undergrowth, with squadrons of mosquitoes homing in. To my astonishment, from out of the darkness the aye-aye suddenly appeared on a branch above! Like some mystical gremlin, with blazing amber eyes, radar dish ears, monstrous front teeth, a bushy black witch’s cat tail and that thin, bony finger probing the bark. To add to my enchantment, a second, much smaller aye-aye then revealed itself, tap-tapping its way along the branch behind its mother. A dream come true. I travelled independently and stayed at Aye Aye Hotel, Mananara, visiting Aye-Aye Island. Naturetrek also leads trips to northern Madagascar to look for aye-aye.
Harriet Nimmo
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Source: Gaurdian
