Plans

I may not have long before the generator goes again so this is a brief note on my plans for the next few weeks.  Tommorow, I will go to a satellite camp for Cantilles for two weeks, then I have two weeks at the Buenos Aires camp in the village and I'll be back at base camp for the final week.

I'm still working out exactly what research to do but at worst it is possible to join any team on  a day by day basis..

Pictures are from Cantiles

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that the climate at this altitude is nicely temperate, though too cold for hammocks to be very comfortable.

Jungle training and a surprise

P6290196.AVI I've just got back from three nights of jungle training, in which we hiked out for four hours over very steep terrain and then then had to set up hammocks and tarps. I had barely got my shelter up when it started tipping down, everything got soaked except luckily my hammock which was off the ground and under cover.  It stopped after a couple of hours and we then had to cook our evening meal in teams.  The next day we did two hikes, one up into the elf forest where in theory we should have seen the ocean and the second to visit one of the satelite camps called Cantilles and a river. On the way up from the river the rain started again, I tried my poncho but the inside was soaked so I just kept on trying not to slip.  The third day we hiked to a second camp, which involved a downhill mud slope and lots of sliding.  This one was in much denser forest with more mosquitos but they disapeared once the temperature started dropping.  We were given a brief talk on what is edible in the forest, basically palm hearts and animals and sat around the camp fire where it didn't rain! And we heard kinkajous calling in the night.

The staff radios were busy and it gradually came through that the president had been deposed by the army, it would probably be a bit unnerving in a city right now but in out here it all seems very remote. Als ojust to reasure people the FCO advice is merely to avoid political demonstartions and keep up with the news.  There is a curfew in the cities but even if they enforce it here it will amke little difference as we can't wander out of camp anyway.

This moring we looked at a shelter built of branches and learnt how to cook an egg in a leaf then we had an easy hike back to base camp and the ice cold showers.

jungle is massive

Well every piece of paper I had said the expedition started on the 25th, but at 7 this morning the phone in my hotel room rang and I was told we were leaving. I just about managed to pack and get on the bus, at a town called Cofradia we changed to trucks and headed up passing Buenos Aires, which is a lot smaller than I was told and not in Argentina.

The base camp is remarkably civilized, even with internet but connections are dodgy and it is impossible to upload pictures so my posts may become more infrequent.