Final Chance to Save The Aye-Ayes

I just came across part of this documentary on YouTube from 2006 with Miranda Richardson. If you know how I can see the whole programme please let me know. Enjoy...

Some Books on Madagascar

Obviously I've been reading up a lot about Madagascar recently and while there are the basic books you need to read if you are visiting...

Bradt Travel Guide, 

Malagasy-English/English-Malagasy Dictionary and Phrasebook  

and the Lonely Planet Guide

... there a few others which give more personal insights into the country.

Madagascar - The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in a Lost World

by Peter Tyson

A fascinating insight into the the natural and cultural history of Madagascar in Peter Tyson's exploration of what makes the island so extraordinary. It is the only book that combines cutting-edge science and conservation with adventure travel and historical narrative. Perfect for those about to travel to Madagascar for the first time or just want to learn more, much of the historical material will be new to those familiar with Madagascar, even researchers who have worked there for years. Originally published in 2000.

Muddling Through In Madagascar

by Dervla Murphy

Dervla Murphy and her daughter discover the warmth and charm of the Malagasy people on the fascinating and little-explored island of Madagascar.

‘Both a revelatory look at a richly mysterious country and a traveller’s tale that keeps its grip every bump of the way’ Irish Times

‘Everything about Madagascar is surprising’, as Dervla Murphy and her fourteen-year-old daughter, Rachel, found to their delight. Despite accidents, misadventures, bemusing contrasts and the political instability of the Great Red Island, they returned with a lasting respect for the kindness of its proud and subtle people.

‘This book presents a rare glimpse of the Malagasy peasant life’ Spectator

The Aye-Aye and I

by Gerald Durrell

Here is the riveting tale of Gerald Durrell's adventures and misadventures in the enchanted forests of Madagascar, in search of the elusive Aye-aye.

Once thought to be extinct, the Aye-aye, the beast with the magic finger, still lurks, though in fast dwindling numbers, in the forests of Madagascar. Durrell's mission to help save this strange creature turns into a madcap journey in which you will meet not only the enigmatic Aye-aye, but the catlike Fosa, the Flat-tailed tortoise, the Gentle lemurs of Lac Alaotra, and the Malagasy chameleons, among others. Truly nothing escapes Durrell's sharp eye, whether he is describing the great zoma (market), the village dances, the treacherous bridges and river crossings, the strange foods and stranger music, or the vagaries of local officialdom.

As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "It is impossible for Gerald Durrell to write anything that is less than exuberant, eccentric, and amusing." And in his account of this "rescue mission", Durrell is, quite simply, at his superb best.

Ghost of Chance

by William Burroughs

Ghost of Chance is an adventure story set in the jungle of Madagascar and filled with the obsessions that mark the work of the man who Norman Mailer once called, "the only American writer possessed by genius." While tripping through the author's trademark concerns - drugs, paranoia, and lemurs, this short novel tells an important story about environmental devastation in a way that only Burroughs can tell it.

Last Chance To See

by Mark Cawardine with Stephen Fry

Beautifully illustrated with Cawardine's amazing photography, the book of the TV series in which Stephen Fry follows in the path of his friend Douglas Adams who travelled with Mark Cawardine for the original radio series and book. Together they embarked on a groundbreaking expedition, travelling the globe in search of some of the world's most endangered animals.

We follow the unlikely duo on six separate journeys which take them from the steamy jungles of the Amazon to the ice-covered mountain tops of New Zealand and from the edge of a war zone in Central Africa to a sub-tropical paradise in the North Pacific. Along the way, they search for some of the weirdest, most remarkable and most troubled creatures on earth: a large, black, sleepy animal easily mistaken for an unusually listless mudbank, a parrot with a song like an unreleased collection of Pink Floyd studio outtakes, a rhino with square lips, a dragon with deadly saliva, an animal roughly the length of a Boeing 737 and the creature most likely to emerge from the cargo doors of a spaceship.  In one chapter they visit Madagascar to search for the Aye-Aye.

A unique insight into the disappearing world around us, this is their hilarious, entertaining, informative and thought-provoking.

Zoo Quest to Madagascar

by David Attenborough

Increasingly hard to find, this is Attenborough's classic journal of adventure and natural history from 1961, published after the original TV series. Personal and evocative, one of the first detailed examinations of the fauna of Madagascar.


Honourable mentions to the following books that have also proved insightful:

HungaMunga Line-up

OK... so the full line up for March the 9th HungaMunga Special is as follows: Olly The Octopus, Jamie West, Theo Bard, Jamie Doe (The Magic Lantern), Antony Elvin and the Tudor Unit, The Budda Cakes, Seymour's Fat Lady and We are Goose.

 An amazing list of wonderful acts all kindly performing to help raise funds for this wonderful organisation so please do come along and join us!

 Here's a video giving you a rough idea what I'll be doing on the conservation project...

More works in progress

Madagascar: Carnet de voyage

Just discovered this beautiful short animated film by Bastein Dubois, which reminded me of Craig Thompson's graphic work, Carnet de Voyage. It depicts part of a vazaha's journey through Madagascar in the form of a travel journal with sketches that come to life. Amazing. Well worth downloading in HD from iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/movie/madagascar-carnet-de-voyage/id420627453

And here's a little film about the making of the film... which is also thoroughly enchanting!

Madagascar on TV

You can't miss Madagascar on the box at the moment, and this is a good thing. The more attention the beautiful island gets hopefully the more likely people are going to be to travel there to wonder at the wildlife, have a holiday or get involved in NGO activities like Azafady etc. All of this has the potential to increase tourism, get money into one of the poorest countries in the world as well as highlights the need to preserve and research to precious natural landscape, flora and fauna.

As well as David Attenborough's stunning three-part BBC series Madagascar (some of which is on YouTube here, but which you can download on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/tv-season/madagascar-series-1/id417947513)... here's just a few of the recent sightings still available to watch on BBC iPlayer (for a short time at least) or on YouTube:

Wonders of Life: Endless Forms Most Beautiful

Professor Brian Cox asks how, from a lifeless cosmos ruled by the laws of physics and chemistry, it is possible that a planet can produce so much wonderful, varied biology. In the third episode of this mind-expanding new series he travels to Madagascar to show how evolution throws up such wonders as the Aye-Aye lemur and the Indri amongst other things. 

Zoo Quest to Madagascar

Wonderful archive of episodes uncover a country brimming with character and life. First transmitted in 1961, a young David Attenborough searches for the strange creatures that inhabit Madagascar.

BBC Natural World - Madagascar Lemurs and Spies
Fascinating BBC film about the silky sifaka lemurs who live in the remote rainforests. They are one of the rarest animals in the world. A passionate scientist joins forces with an undercover detective to investigate the link between these endangered lemurs and illegal logging.

Deadly Mission Madagascar 

Eight children from the UK travel to Madagascar to learn how they can help the island's wildlife. The team joins a group of scientists tracking two of the world's rarest lemurs. They have a few adventures and experience life in a country very different to their own. Hopefully I'll be having a few such adventures myself.

Roads Less Travelled

This is a bit older, from 2009, but a good little film about Lonely Planet author John Vlahides plunging deep into the heart of Madagascar and exploring its taboos and traditions.

Madagascar

OK... that's enough. 

HungaMunga Madagascar Special

HungaMunga Madagascar Special - Saturday 9th of March 2013

at The Others, 6 and 8 Manor Road, Stoke Newington, London N16 5SA 

HungaMunga is the arts and music collective I co-founded in 2005 with Victoria Senett and friends... We haven't organised an event for a while now but we are back for one night only at The Others in Stoke Newington to raise some money for Azafady. Come and make stuff, make friends and make a mess! We'll have painting, drawing, knitting, sewing and lots more arty stuff.

We'd love you to come along and help us raise some money. I can promise a fun evening with live music from some old friends from HungaMunga's past including Antony Elvin, Theo Bard and many more... some special guests and more than a few surprises... more details on line-up coming soon when we can tell you.

Also serving some delicious homemade vegatarian food, a raffle and an exhibition/sale of my paintings of lemurs.

We are currently taking a break from putting on regular events so this is a rare chance to catch the HungaMunga posse before we do the festivals this summer.

or book your place by giving a donation here:
http://hungamunga.wix.com/hungamunga/events

Hope you can join us... from 7pm until 1am

Venue info here: http://www.theothers.uk.com