A chameleon stretches himself between two trees in the Périnet Reserve.

In the morning, we were up early for a hike in the Périnet Reserve. The weather was cool and there was a steady drizzle of rain. As we entered the park, Maurice Ratsisakamana was assigned as our guide, a requirement of the park. Ratsisakamana's knowledge of the region was vast and the background information he provided was fascinating.

CARE Project Manager Chris Dunston and his wife Amy brought their 1-year-old son, Kai, to the park to see the lemurs. As we trekked through the park, we were able to see some of the area's lush vegetation, rare orchids and the black and white indri, whose unforgettable loud cry awakened the youngest Dunston from his sleep during our hike. The shriek was like nothing we had heard before; the high pitched sound resonates through your body. The starkness of the indri's territorial cry is intended to mark an area of a family group, Ratsisakamana explained.

The indri family we saw was high above us in the trees, but we were able to catch clear glimpses of the rare animal as it jumped from tree to tree. The indri mate every five to six years, have seven-month gestation periods, and are monogamous, Ratsisakamana continued.

The indri lives to be 70 or 80 years old, if its habitat is preserved like it is at Périnet. Many of Madagascar's lemurs also are protected through an adoption program sponsored by Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Continue to Day 4