They do have long, wooden canoelike pirogues, and they do have the river. River life is always fascinating. We passed pirogue "taxis," taking some 15-20 people from the outlying villages to town. Some sat under ruffled parasols to protect them from the sun. We passed people doing laundry along the shore. We passed young men tending zebu — the Madagascar version of cattle.

The village itself is filled with wooden houses, built on stilts in case of flooding during the cyclone season. They often had just a piece of fabric for a door. Some, however, had a decorative panel of lace that added a charming touch.

The village was clean and well-tended. The people were friendly. Mothers delighted in showing off their babies. Children loved to pose for pictures. It was a fascinating outing.

The nature factor — one lemur in the bush is worth a dozen at the zoo: Madagascar has 70 different species of lemurs, and that's the thing that draws most visitors to the island.

Lemurs are primates, but more like a cross between a monkey, a squirrel and a cat. Most are characterized by a long tail, big eyes and a fluffy body. They are totally captivating.

The other thing the island is famous for are its chameleons. Some 70 percent of the world's chameleons are found on the island. The rarest and biggest of the lot is the Parsons chameleon found in the Perinet Reserve. Males can get up to nearly 2 feet in length, including tail; females are slightly smaller. Their ability to change color makes them masters of disguise.

But even they have a hard time in comparison to the large tree gecko that Seraphin found on Nosy Mangabe. He pointed with delight. There is an animal on this tree, he said. Can you spot it? It took us awhile to find first the eyes and then the body that blended in perfectly with the tree bark.

Nosy Mangabe is home to several varieties of lemur, including the white-fronted brown ones that delight in jumping on the roof of the visitors shelter.

They are very different from the Indri-indri lemurs we saw in the Perinet Reserve. The largest species of lemur, the Indri (as it's often shortened to) are still very agile and can hop-hop-hop through the treetops in a blink. Even more amazing is their haunting, almost whalelike call that echoes through the forest.

Then there are the lemurs of Lemur Island at the Vakona Lodge near Perinet. These are animals that were raised as pets and abandoned, have been injured or cannot be released into the wild for a number of reasons. They are tame enough to jump on you — especially if you have ripe bananas in hand. The black-and-white ruffed lemurs were particularly adorable.

In our visits to the two areas, we also saw dwarf, eastern bamboo, red-fronted brown and other lemurs. We did not see the extremely rare and nocturnal aye-aye lemur, but we met two men who did when we were at the airport leaving Maroantsetra. They were zoologists from South Africa, and it had been their third trip to Madagascar in search of the aye-aye. On a strenuous jaunt that started at 9 p.m. and ended at 3 a.m., they finally achieved their goal.

As I saw the sparkle in their eyes and heard the joy in their voices, I couldn't help but think of the words of ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy, who said, "I now belong to a higher cult of mortals, for I have seen the albatross." I agree with that, but I couldn't help wonder if there isn't also a special group reserved for those who have seen the aye-aye perch and maybe those who have heard the Indri sing.

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com