On a night walk in Masoala we saw a Jean Claret Stump-Tailed Pygmy Chameleon. It was a new chameleon species that we named after our guide. Or maybe it was just a chameleon who had lost his tail. The guide said that we had left something behind in the forest. He keeps losing things so we asked him – What? He said ’our steps’. Very poetic.

Today we saw two Parson’s chameleons. They can grow to 65 cm in length, however, none of ours were more than 40 cm. They have a tongue which is the length of their body. We can vouch for this because twice we saw them eat flies. I think I understand why they move so slowly. Their greatest predator is birds. The birds can pick out movement from a great height. The chameleon has adapted to this by seeming to hardly move at all. All the fast chameleons became dinner.