Welcome to Pohnepi. I left Hawaii at around 7 am June 18th. My flight was from Honolulu to Pohnepi making all the local stops on the way. At each stop half the plane had to get off so they could conduct a security check. However, after 3 stops with about 1 hr flights from Island to Island we arrived in Pohnepi at 2 pm June 19th, and for all this time people have thought time travel is impossible while I beg to differ. I met Caitlin the other person in our team on the plane. When we arrived in Pohnpei we were both very excited. Throughout my life travels I have seen many shack like airports. However, the airports in Korsrae and Pohnepi take the cake. Our bags were brought to baggage claim by pickup truck and a fork lift. The bags were then simply placed inside the building through an open space designated baggage claim. Right behind baggage claim was customs and then we were in. Wayne and Rich picked us up at the airport and took us to our five star residence the H and E apartments. The digs are pretty sweet from left to right Rich, Wayne, Caitlin.
The Apartment is nice we have a sweet back porch with a washer. Once we got settled Wayne and Rich gave us and express tour of the part of the Island we are on. After that me and Caitlin walked into town to check out the scene. Part of downtown Pohnepi is about a quarter mile from our apartment. Downtown.
The walk is really nice. However more importantly we found the fish market. MMM fish market pretty much the most important thing to find on any Island. This is because if you cant catch fish you can always buy some.In the pacific you can eat all the reef fish that you can not eat in the Atlantic and they are really good.
These are the fish at the fish market obviously not enjoying as much as I was.
After our walk into downtown Pohnpei we went back to the place and went out to dinner. The place we went to was good but somehow they were out of Sashimi. Rich and Everyone else got pizza because they had just been in the field and Rich was hungover from Sakau. Sakau is the root they mash up and drink producing a relaxed euphoric sensation. After Dinner we were all pretty tired and just crashed.
6/20/08
Today was the first day of sorta work, but not really. We did not go into the field but met up at at CPA for a staff meeting. It was actually very informative and gave me a lot of insight into all the projects that are going on, on the island. Currently there are four different projects going on on Pohnepi; Terrestrial, Marine, Education, and us. Right now we are working with Rich who is with the USDA studying watershed and the affects of Sakau farming on the forest. The natives have been chopping down native forests to plant Sakau and this has affected the watershed because they have been moving hirer and hirer up on the Island. When they chop down the forest they expose streams to sunlight which changes their chemistry leading to algae build up. This has a direct affect on their water supply and eventually they could affect the marine life which is also economically valuable to the natives. Removing the bigger trees also increases the chances for slides because there is nothing securing the sediment. Our project is trying to reveal how the farming has affected the natural ecosystem and what it could mean if they do not alter their ways. The goal is to establish a watershed line that people wont farm above they encourage people to grow low. The marine projects occurring are monitoring the reef fish especially the ones that are economically viable and are fished by the natives. The educational sector is seeking to educated young Pohnpeians about conservation and preserving their Island habitats. This includes a camp for 40 students that takes them out to the Marine Protected Areas and allows them to snorkel on them. These are the main projects that are happening right now when I find more details I will post them. Once Rich leaves me and Wayne (NYBG) are going to begin to focus more on plant biodiversity, and the relationship the people have to their environment. This means determining what certain plants are used for medicinally, and other practical purposes like canoes. After the meeting we organized some plant specimens alphabetically by family in the lab at the local college and then went to dinner. Tomorrow is Saturday and we have decided to go diving which I am looking forward too. I am also looking forward to Monday when we will be going out into the field for 3 nights. We are going to be camping in Hammocks in the Jungle at around 600m. This is also good because I will get to sleep in a hammock and not on a couch. Well that is all for now I will have more to post tomorrow after diving which should be pretty great. Weather permitting we are heading out to another Atoll about an hour and a half away cant wait.
P.S - I had plan to upload pictures to this blog but it takes to long and uses all my internet time so just use your imagination.
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