A roar of tires kicking up dirt and gravel announces the arrival of our Gabonese co-workers right around 6:30 AM. The guides are late and I've been waiting, sipping heavily sweetened Nescafe and reading a beat novel for about an hour. The caffeine and Kerouac's propensity towards a paucity of punctuation turns my eagarness to start the day's work into one long run-on sentence of anxiety. At the thunder of the car, I drop my book, grab my bag, and step out the door. My skin is accosted by the moisture hanging in the air, thick and heavy as always. But this early, it isn't stifling. Instead, it prickles my skin with its coolness as I kick over my boots (hoping to scare out any scorpions). I slip on my shoes like a second skin and glide down the big hill to the debarcader. The dust on the road is still settling following it's abrupt disturbance from the tires of our Land Rover this morning; some of it sticks to my skin and I am covered with the first dirt of the day. Nearly everyone down by the debarcader is helping to prepare the pirogue. Lucien scoops buckets of water out of the long, thin boat until he scrapes more wood than water, and then starts to fill the motor with essance. Nicholas and Guy are collecting the wooden planks that are scattered in various boats for us to use as seats - there are 8 of us going on a short mission today, so we'll need all the space we can get. My American and Irish colleagues and I are going over the gear that we're bringing to ensure that we have all we need to characterize the transects today. When all is ready, we squeeze into the needle-like boat two by two. Ruby's and my hips fit exactly on one plank, there's not a space for wriggling between us. We shove off, and into the abyss. The fog hasn't yet lifted this morning; I can't even see the trees just across the river because the white billows are so thick over the water. The journey feels like we are slipping slowly through the sky, passing through clouds as we go. When inside a cloud, the white fog envelopes us completely. Huge islands of trees are grey outlines, even close up; the lumps in the water could be rocks, or otter, or elephants for all I can see. When we emerge from behind a cloud, it's like the air is a window that has been polished to a crystalline sheen. I see the water sparkle between the deepest blacks and the brightest silvery-green whites. The forms of trees emerge from the grey silhouette of the islands and colors fan out before me. At first I can only see the boldest of colors differentiate themselves from one another: red petals against green leaves against brown trunks. But they continue to fan out, undulate, grow - eventually tens, hundreds of tints of green emerge on the canvas of the forest; more greens than I could ever hope to name. The canopies are iridescent with their shimmering, jewel-toned emerald and wild chartruse. They fade again as we dip back into the cover of another cloud, the world aglow in bright greys. We continue - slipping and gliding, bouncing between starkness and vibrance, fog and clarity, dream and reality - until suddenly, we arrive. Today will be long: the hike is far, the forest is dense, the paths are closed, the rivers are deep, the swamps are wide. In the end though, I probably won't remember how wet my boots were or how much hiking we did. The memory that will stay with me is that of floating through a river of clouds through the rainforest. Tree of the WeekFamily: Myristicaceae
Genus: Scyphocephalium Species: ochocoa This week's tree introduces my most beloved family of trees - the Myristicaceae family. The family takes its name from Myristica fragrans or the nutmeg tree. The name Myristica comes from the greek word 'myristikos' meaning 'a perfumed ointment;' I like to think of the name of the family as describing the mystical and grandiose qualities of the trees it contains. Trees in this family are usually canopy-emergent; often with velvety, rust-colored bark and small buttress roots. When cut, the bark oozes a jewel-red sap; it's one of my favorite characteristics - they bleed red, just like us. The seeds of Myristicaceae are often covered by a bright aril, which is a thin, oily, skin-like covering that attracts many frugivores. The fruit usually ripen at a time of relative fruit scarcity in the forest, such as during the dry season. For this reason, trees of the Myristicaceae can support the frugivore community through times of fruit scarcity. Species that fulfill such a role are called 'keystone species' and play a wildly influential role in the community ecology of the forest. Scyphocephalium ochocoa, otherwise known as sorro, is a lovely example of a tree from this family. It is impressively beautiful with it velvety-russet bark that flakes off in rich browns and shiny silvers. The fruit is resinous and fleshy that is green when immature and turns yellow with velvety-brown splotches when ripe. Inside there is a single seed that resembles a walnut. The nut is aromatic and attracts gorillas, elephants, and red river hogs (A.K.A. potamacher). It is also used to flavor sauces. The bark and resinous fruit flesh are used in traditional medicine.
0 Comments
This week Megan P. and I got to stay at the station and do phenology while the other two research assistants took their turn camping at Kongou. Phenology is my favorite work to do here so far! We do phenology work the second week every month, and check up on many different tree species to learn about their fruiting and flowering patterns. Each day we go on a hike in the forest around the research station for 3 or 4 hours. We look up at the trees with binoculars and carefully consider the ground underneath the trees' canopies, searching for petals or fruit as glimpses of purples and reds. During these hikes I find so many cool things, even if they're not from trees that are on our phenology list. The fruit and seeds of the many different species here are all so different! They come in every color of the rainbow. Some are light enough to float on the wind and are even equipped with their own little wings; while others are heavy with juicy, sugary flesh or a bright, fatty aril to attract animals who will eat the fruit and disperse the seeds throughout the forest. I also got to work with Nicholas, the senior botanist, this week for the first time in a while. He paid me a wonderful complement at the end of the week - saying that he noticed that I had learned about the trees very quickly, and that he could tell I was passionate about the botany work here. Another highlight of the week is that I finally figured out my phone woes (swamps are dangerous for electronics, duh-doy) and was able to call my mom! It was awesome to talk about things happening in real time, rather than reading stories from past weeks and responding with my already-passed stories. This week I am wishing all of you the balmy breezes of spring and the brightest of twinkling stars. XX Tree of the weekFamily: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Uapaca Species: guineensis Stilt roots are an awesome adaption - they're like jungle gyms in the forest that you get to play on! They're also the reason that U. guineensis is such an easily recognizable tree in the forest. Climbing up the stilt roots to take DBHs is one of my favorite parts of doing plotwork. It gives me an excuse to take off my boots and climb on something, and the guides are always impressed. "It's good to have a lady who can climb trees," they say, "because then you have someone to help you collect the delicious forest fruit!" I am totally d'accord with that, because I loooove forest fruit. The fruits of Uapaca ripen in March or April (so, now!) and are not eaten by humans,;however, they are popular amongst giant blue turacos and moustached guenons. Hey there, friends! Here are some of the recent happenings that have come to pass in my little corner of the world during the past two weeks. Work: 1. Finished transect plant characterization for the village transects 2. Went on my first (and second) camping trip 3. Hiked 24 kilometers and characterized a transect in one day - new Ipassa record! 4. Was greeted after the longest Kongou trip ever with big hugs and a big bottle of rum 5. Finally saw some wildlife! A typical day of transect characterization usually goes something like this: We wake up early, probably around 5:30 or 6 am. The day starts off with a hike to the transect, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes – 3 hours. Then we walk along the 2-kilometer transect and set up plots in which we measure all of the trees. We have 13 plots that we do this in, and we measure the diameter at breast height (DBH) for plants over 2 meters and the height and diameter at finger height (DFH) for plants between 25 cm and 2 m. The plot measurements can take anywhere between 3-6 hours, depending on how dense the forest is, if it's old or new growth forest, if the plots are in swamps or rivers or roads, etc. When we get done we hike the 2 km back to the beginning of the transect and hike back from the transect to wherever we started. The work can make for some long days, but I've been liking it so far. It also lets us spend a lot of time in the forest, and gives us the chance to hear and see different animals. Until this past week I've only heard birds, elephants, potamacher, and different kinds of monkeys in the forest. But when we were in the national park, I finally got to see some animals too! The most exciting sighting was definitely when we caught a glimpse of chimpanzees. During our morning work on one of the transects, we were able to hear them screeching to each other amongst the trees and drumming on buttress roots. When they finally showed themselves, we were taking measurements in our penultimate plot of the day. We stayed very quiet and still as they walked along the forest floor, weaving in and out of the trees and making little noises at each other. There was also a mixed troupe of different monkeys who called to each other and scampered in flashes of orange and black in the tree canopies as we hiked back from one of the transects. Another day, we snuck up on big group of potamacher (red river hogs) who were gathered near a stream by Camp Kongou. Then finally, we saw a colobus monkey on the river who watched us as we floated past slowly in our pirouge. This past week was hands down the most trying week yet in Gabon in terms of how difficult the work was, but it was also very exciting! Fun: 1. Finished Infinite Jest 2. Food highlights: veggie burgers & tiramisu 3. Started Adventure Time season 2 4. Had some rainy, electricity-less days full of banana pancakes, hot chocolate, and lots of games of Bananagrams 5. Got a guitar 6. Finding success in eight-angle pose and various other funny yoga balances Someone else please read Infinite Jest so that I have another human to discuss it with. If I was at home, I would have done some extensive internet research upon finishing the book so that I could obsess over its beauty and strangeness a little more, but alas, there's no internet connection in Makokou. Someone's striking something and apparently cutting off the internet was the way to get people to pay attention to them. Given that I have no idea what the strike is about, I'm not exactly sure their plan worked. If anyone else has suggestions of another monsterously long book to tackle, please throw 'em at me! I finished Infinite Jest before I went to Kongou and then while I was at Kongou for 5 days I finished Me Talk Pretty One Day, Brave New World, and Factotum; started Big Sur; and made serious progress in my collection of the Complete Works of Allen Ginsberg. I have some Dostoyevsky, Proust, and Phillip K. Dick, amongst many others, but I can't decide who to commit to next. Cooking here is fun when we can actually find the ingredients to make fun things in town. We all almost died of joy when, inexplicably, there was one quart of whipping cream in the fridge at the market to make tiramisu with. If anyone out there sending me letters is so inclined to slip a lil spice packet in with the letters of your thoughts that you're sending halfway across the world, please do! I would flip for some chili powder, paprika, cardamom, turmeric, cayenne... mmm! I'll stop before I name the alphabets' worth of spices, but I think you get the picture. If my goal in life is to be a well-read yoga master/queen of the jungle who can play a rad tune and knows her way around the kitchen; well hawt damn I'm on my way there! (It's amazing what you can get done when you are forcibly removed from the clutches of easily accessible internet ;) ) Missing y'all like crazy xoxo Megan Plant of the WeekFamily: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Afromumum Species: giganteum This week my chosent plant is not a tree at all! The family Zingiberaceae is full of big leafy herbs and is known as the wild ginger family. The plants in this family are very aromatic, and Afromumum giganteum is no exception. It has a strong smell that I think is most like lemongrass. My colleagues and I call it "gorilla grass" because gorillas eat the plant and nest amongst the leaves. The fruit of the plant grows at the base of the large stalks. The bright red pouches of fruit are easily peeled open and contain many small, black seeds that are surrounded by white flesh. The flesh of the fruit is tangy and refreshing to suck on. You can either spit out the seeds or swallow them whole. 1. zzzzzzzzing! my ankles brush together a prickle shoots up my leg, spine; down my arm, into my fingers that twitch to itch just once! they promise each for the 56 bites on my left leg 2. morning senses: taste- acrid instant coffee hotly rolls over my tounge touch- my hands grasp cool rubber boots and pull them on sight- air turns pink and hazy as the sky brightens and our car speeds over the red dirt road smell- the heady smell of earth fills my airways and tickles my throat as pink dust is thrown in the air sound- a foreign voice laments to a melodic tune; his words meaning nothing, but their sound embroidered with hope 3. With Jeannot in front, the silvery Ivindo slips silently by Morning sun rises burning mist off jungle trees; sparkling on water. Day’s journey begins with a gentle pirogue ride, sleepy eyes wake slow. 4. ah! flamingo pain pink fingertips bloom from the flame too slow lighting the gas stove again **10 points to anyone who can name the poet I allude to in one of these poems** Tree of the WeekFamily: Rutaceae
Genus: Zanthoxylum Species: spp. This guy is one of the few in the citrus family that are present in the forests of Gabon. There are two species of Zanthoxylum, Z. heitzii and Z. macrophylla. Both species have radially arranged long, pinnate leaves. It usually occurs in secondary forests and has yellow wood. Zanthoxylum attracts particular attention for its impressively scary-looking trunk, which is covered with flattened, conical spines. |