NOVA Online | The Wilds of Madagascar | Update: Sunken Forest (May 21, 2000)

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May 21, 2000
Update: Sunken Forest

Following is the transcript of a voice call from Peter Tyson, who is on location in the Ankarana Reserve.

Water quickly seeps through the porous limestone of the Ankarana. The lake above is one of the few places one can find surface water in the Ankarana.

This is Peter Tyson, online producer of NOVA, and I'm on a tsingy island in the middle of a sunken forest in the Third Canyon at Ankarana, and it's absolutely magnificent. I just climbed up here along a very sheer cliff. And these tsingy, spiky rocks are very treacherous. You can barely put a foot down in between these rocks, and I didn't even ask my guide, Angeluc, to come up because it's just so treacherous.

But the site is stunning. All around me are several-hundred-foot cliffs of limestone, severely eroded. If you've ever seen Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, you'd know what I'm talking about. Just spiky limestone sticking up, kind of like toffee that's frozen in stone. It's very hot here right now, it's probably about 95 degrees, but luckily there's a nice breeze blowing down the canyon. But these sunken forests are just beautiful. They've grown up in a place where the only access is through caves. And if you come in here, you can actually find species that are found only in this little relict patch of forest. It's just an extraordinary place.

See a 360° panorama shot in this very location.

Peter Tyson is Online Producer for NOVA.

Check back on Wednesday for more sites and sounds from the Ankarana Reserve.

Dispatches
Forest of Hope (June 7, 2000)
A Great Day for Silkies (June 4, 2000)
Camp Life Unveiled (June 3, 2000)
Three Hours with the Silkies (June 1, 2000)
Angels of Marojejy (May 31, 2000)
Wildlife (May 30, 2000)
Into the Marojejy Massif (May 28, 2000)
Croc Cave (May 26, 2000)
Fossa! (May 25, 2000)
Bat Cave (May 24, 2000)
Update: English Camp (May 23, 2000)
Update: Sunken Forest (May 21, 2000)
Update: Night Walk (May 20, 2000)
Update: 70 Feet Up (May 19, 2000)
Update: Tropical Downpour (May 18, 2000)

Photo: David Parks/library photo.

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