Blogging and Picture Posting

I am able to post pictures now but only from The Village it is a resort that has its own wireless and we sometimes eat here. It is right on the Ocean and the view is great here are some sunset pics. I will post pictures whenever I can make it here, but other than that its the only way. I still have to compress them so I am loosing some quality but they still look pretty good. The wireless is town is just to slow and not reliable. However, we do try to come here often because the internet is free and fast. Enjoy and I will talk to everone soon.

The Field

June 23 to June 27

My first jungle trek was a baptism by fire. We spent three nights and four days in the jungle. This included the hike up on Monday worked all day Tuesday spent our second night at our camp and hiked to a different site Wednesday. We spent the night at that site and worked all day Thursday and hiked down that evening.

The hiking was some of the most intense and most extreme hiking I have ever done. The first day we hiked up to about 450m which does not seem like a lot but it is. Jungle miles are slow, difficult, and at times frightening. As we hiked up we would come to waterfalls that we would have to hike up and around almost vertical mud walls with very little holds and a scary fall down. You tried not to think what would happened if you fell. The local guides hiked up with ease wearing nothing but flip flops on their feet. Their balance was is impeccable and they danced from rock to rock making it look ever so easy. Me on the other hand was a different story. At times I was so afraid of falling I would clamber on all fours from rock to rock

hoping that I did not slip. The worst part about it was that most of the time you could not even see where you foot was going because the ground was covered with mud and leaves. Sometimes the leaves would cover a hole and you would put your foot down on what you thought was ground only to find that nothing was there. Your leg would fall though your heart would jump into your throat and you hoped you were able to catch yourself. Luckily I did most of the time or your leg would only fall a few feet to another rock below. however, it still frightened you enough that you did not want to try it again. Most of the time my adrenaline was coursing through my veins making it impossible to keep my limbs from shaking. Especially when going down. Down was the worst at least going up you knew that if you slipped you would fall up and could grab something at that level. Going down if you fell you fell down. The muddy ground did not help at all either it would slide out from underneath you constantly. Your only hope was to surf the mud down on one foot and catch yourself when you got to the bottom. Sometimes you slid a little further then you were really comfortable wi

th. If you were not ascending or descending mudding slops you were crossing boulder fields climbing from slippery rock to rock you could here water running underneath you which only reminded you of dark spaces below you that you did not want to fall into. Everything was always wet and it was almost nearly impossible to stay dry which made the hiking even more difficult. The hikes did quite a number on me although I completed them I am pretty beat up. My arms and legs are covered it scratches and cuts. It looks as if I was through in sack with a bunch of angry cats. Once we made it to our elevation I became more comfortable, and the second hike was less up and more across, but still very difficult. Reaching our camps was a relief that can not be explained. Although the hiking was frightening and difficult it was very rewarding the jungle is beautiful and we were up in the cloud forest at times hiking through clouds. At night the floor wold g

low with luminescent mushrooms. During our hike on the third day we came across a waterfall of epic proportions. It looked like the kind you see in pictures and advertisements. A long thin stream that fell for hundreds of feet. The locals called it a shortcut to heaven. It was scenes like this that made the trip worth it. You would be exhausted, but nature would be sure to reward you for your hard work.

Emos, and Wayne at the base of the waterfall.

We stopped only to eat and to set up camp. Other then that we were either hiking or working. Our meals were always rice and whatever cold canned food we brought up with us which included; ravioli, beef stew, chili, tuna, corn, salmon, mackerel, and sardines. The last night we made hot ramen soup and it was like a gift from the gods. Luckily the work was not that difficult we sampled four streams mainly looking at biodiversity and stream health. We are then going to compare this data to the data from the cleared streams that they farm Sakau next to. The first two nights we were at one location then the third day we moved and set up another camp to look at another two different streams. We slept in hammocks which were actually very

comfortable while the guides built a jungle hut out of palm fronds. This was also were we ate and relaxed after working. It was actually very cool at night in the jungle which was nice. Camping in the jungle was interesting and finding suitable sites was difficult, but we made the best of what we had. We were always able to keep moral up and enjoyed the evenings of eating and relaxing. I made some good friends on this trek and the next trip will only bring us closer together.

If you had told me what I was about to do before I arrived or left on the trek I would not have believed you. I would have told you that I would not be able to do

that, and probably not have even tried. This trek brought me to my limits and back, but was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. Emos one of our guides gave me a title on this trip; “Nalik” meaning man of trust. I was very honored to receive the title and it also made me feel more welcome. This experience has already made me stronger both mentally and physically and this is only the beginning. There is so much I want to write about, but I just can not put it in words. Pictures will not even do it justice. I am somewhat relived to be out of the jungle, but I am still looking forward to our trek next week.

Me Relived to have made it out of the jungle in one piece.

It is Friday here now and I think we are just planning on relaxing and maybe seeing more of the island. Maybe do some more diving which was great. Well that is all for now I will keep in touch and I will be keeping everyone updated on my adventures in Pohnpei.

Pohnepi

6/19/08

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.

Yankee Game

This is totally unrelated to my trip but yesterday Wednesday 5/4 I went to the Yankee game with my friend Tony. It was a really good game and we had a great time especially since my other friend who works there comped some of our food and drinks. The Stadium was packed out. People always say that the Yankee's get paid to much, but what other team do you know that sells out a Wednesday night game against Toronto. It is the fans that make the team and NY fans are the best. We had a really good time and it was nice seeing a game in the old Stadium before they open the new one. Mike Mussina was our starting pitcher and he had a pretty good game. We also got to see Mariano Rivera close which he did no problem. Overall it was a fun evening and a great time.