Inside the Canyon floor was a mysterious place which left me with many questions…the first being, why didn’t I get to ride a donkey down here?  Everyone knows that the only way to visit the Grand Canyon floor is a multi-day hiking trip atop donkeys.  [Ed. note: it’s on the to-do list.] So when they told us we would be spending a day in the Isalo Canyon, I was relieved to have a day of riding, not hiking.   I was even willing to sustain some discomfort if the saddle was more rustic like a camel instead of a horse because I was very over hiking by this point of our trip!  Unfortunately, the Malagasy canyons proved once more to be quite unlike its Arizona cousin and instead of a gentle ride down, we were hopscotching over streams and crossing through waterfall pools on slippery stepping stones. [Ed. note: definitely a fun experience. It was shaded, lush greenery, water…]

The main attraction of this canyon were the piscine naturelle, or natural swimming holes deep in the canyon where we were going to take a break and refresh from the heat.  And before heading out at 7 am this idea sounded ideal; the canyon rim had been so sunny the day before, so we donned our swimsuits under all the hiking gear and got ready for a new adventure!  But unlike the rim, the canyon was completely shaded.   And damp.  We found ourselves chilly as we walked along, suddenly realizing it is in fact winter on this hemisphere and there is a reason our guides laughed when we asked if they too wore swim suits…We went as far as dipping a hand into the pool and nearly suffered frostbite from that brief encounter.  I guess this is how the locals get their entertainment? [Ed. note: I was hot from the hike, but not too hot. It wasn’t “chilly”, but definitely shaded and a bit cool, and the water was very, very cold. Then I thought about hiking out, wet and cold, and decided no thank you. It was pretty though!]

As we headed back down the trail to the car, thankful dry still instead of shivering along each step, we were told it was time for lemur sighting!  The highlight of each day for the Boy…but these lemurs were a bit different than those we had seen previously.   These were the Yogi Bear lemurs…parading down the path past us to the picnic area where they went daily to distract the tourists and steal their food!  The ringtails and one lonely sifaka curled up in the tree luring you away from your seats and the delicious smelling barbecue to take photos while the bold red fronted brown lemurs did the actual dirty work!  [Ed. note: the lonely sifaka had been adopted by the ring-tailed lemur family. All 100% cuddly.]

The strangest part of the canyon floor came as we were only steps from leaving, however.  We stepped to the side on the narrow path to allow a local man to walk past us…and he was followed by 10 boys and girls ranging in age, with the oldest at the rear, carrying a guitar on their outing for the day.  I was too confused to turn quickly enough to confirm, but I’m almost certain they were in matching outfits made from leftover Atlanta Falcon’s SuperBowl champion shirts…[Ed. note: too soon.]