Madagascar : Has Anyone here been there?

[dixon]

(Apologies if this is in the wrong section)


Looking to go there in July or August 2009.
Just would like to know anyones tips, best places they visited
etc.
Really want to photograph the lemurs mainly but am interested in all wildlife & scenery.
Would a Canon 600mm IS F4 lens & monopod be too big to manage?
Did a safari in Botswana & Zambia in July 2007 and it was quite an eye opener. Wish i'd taken a arctic butterfly to clean the sensor as the dust is horrendous out there!

Many thanks
dixon

 

[mobilevirgin]

I often find that the answer to questions like this can be answered by a search on flickr to see what others have used to get their shots, eg this.

I haven't been to Madagascar, but I have been Safari'ing in Africa a few times. I wouldn't take a monopod. And I'd have thought 600mm was overkill. 300mm should do it, but you may well be better off with something like a 100-400mm.

As for the dust - that's what plastic bags are for

MV

 

[jhob]

I was out there for three months doing voluntary work with the charity Azafady. We were based down in the South Eastern corner in Fort Dauphin. Take a look at my photos from Madagascar, apologies that there's rather a lot of them, there are some lemur pics though!

If you're in a reserve the lemurs can be quite tame and you can get really close. Most of those photos are from my 28-200 lens to give you an idea of how close you can get. The lemurs will eat bananas out of your hand!

We saw a few properly wild lemurs too, they were quite far away. I'd say your best bet for photographing them would definitely be on a reserve. They are wonderful creatures!

Chameleons are really easy to photograph too as they move so slowly, gently rocking to imitate a leaf in the wind.

I didn't travel round so much so can't really comment on what bits might be best to visit for a holiday.

Feel free to ask any more questions of me!

 

[dixon]

Thanks for the replies guys
I will checkout the links now

Cheers
dixon