The Upside-Down Tree. Sunset with Baobabs in Madagascar.

In the afternoon, I took a tuk-tuk. I headed toward the safari.

In the forest, the guide stopped.
There was a lemur. A ring-tailed lemur.

Its movements were sluggish. Slowly, ever so slowly, it moved along the branches. It was munching on tree leaves. It showed no sign of being in a hurry.

It stared right at me.
Large eyes. Yellow pupils.
And then, it started eating leaves again.
It seems I was of no concern to it.
Oh well.

The guide grabbed my arm.
He pointed at a tree trunk.

At first, I couldn't see anything.
But when I looked closely, there it was—a chameleon.

A small, green chameleon. It was perfectly camouflaged with the tree trunk.
As I approached, the chameleon's color slowly changed. From green to brown.
A creature changing its color. How mysterious.

At dusk, I arrived at the Avenue of the Baobabs.

The baobab is a mysterious tree.
Thick trunk. Short branches.
It looks as if it were planted upside down. As if its roots were pointing toward the sky. That is how it appears. Many of them stand on both sides of the road. They are over thirty meters tall. The trunks are several meters thick.

The sun is setting.
The sky is dyed orange. And then it turns red.
The baobab trees were also dyed red.
The upside-down trees, illuminated by the setting sun, glowed red. Their silhouettes stood out against the sky.

I just watched.

The sun continued to sink. The red deepened. From orange to crimson.
The baobab trees do not move. They have stood here for hundreds of years.
In contrast, I, the traveler, keep moving.

Before long, it grew dark.
A small eatery by the sea. A local restaurant.

The guide ordered shrimp for me.
The shrimp that were brought out were huge. About the size of a palm.

Just grilled. With salt and a little garlic. That was all.
I peeled the shell and took a bite.
A plump texture. A burst of sweetness spread in my mouth.

One more, then another. I kept bringing them to my mouth.

The sea is close. I can hear the sound of the waves. Crashing, crashing.
The sluggish lemur. The color-changing chameleon. The baobab trees dyed red.

After finishing the shrimp, I got back into the tuk-tuk.

On the way back to the inn, I looked up at the sky.
There were so many stars.

—Ah, once again, a soliloquy in a strange land.