Leaving take 2

So this time I have checked the 24 hour time of my flight. Everything looks set, I have to get my specimens verified by INRENA at the airport then Im clear to come home. I even think I might be less over the excess baggage limit than normal!

Ive spent the last three days wandering around Lima, making sure I had everything in place to get my specimens home. This settled I also visited the National Museum and the Zoo. The zoo was fun, very busy, with lots of the animals I had hoped to see in the forest.

I did miss my chance to go to Paracas, as cost and time conspired against me. But there is always next year...

Chiclayo, Chapirri and more mud pyramids

After realising I didnt have time to go further north to the great fortress of Keulap and the forests of Chachapoyas, I decided I would head back down to the coast. All transport out of Cajamarca was headed for Chiclayo, so off I went. I arrived way to early and eventually found breakfast. I then booked myself in on a couple of day trips, firstly to see some more ruins, then the next day, to the Chapirri Nature Reserve.

The ruins were interesting, the first and acient burrial tomb from the Mocha culture (I asked if it was because they drank coffee with chocolate in it, but I dont think the guide understood). Anyway, apparently they found a lot of cool stuff in the tomb. We saw "the best museum in South America", which was cool, a display of everything found in the tombs, but I felt I had stopped learning anything after the second room and the other 20 were just "pretty pieces of jewellery". Then we went to Tucume, the place with the most mud pyramids ever. 26 mud pyramids in on site! The views and site were amazing, although the pyramids themselves are highly dissolved!

After an early start the next day we went to Chaparri Nature Reserve, which is a dry forest reserve. Dry forests are very exciting. This one was located at the foot of a big mountain, and was full of birds. The bromeliads were located higher up the reserve, and the guide told me we would have had to start walking at 5am to see them without being out in the mid-day heat. Instead I had to settle for feeding the rescued spectacled bear and helping photograph a snake someone had found. My own camera batteries gave up, so I have no photographic evidence of any of this. I noted 2 important things in my diary "1. I want to go back and live in the lodge at Chapirri for a long time, 2. Chapirri is cool". After the fun of the reserve I relaxed in the central Plaza in Chiclayo, enjoying the warm evening sun before getting the night bus back to Lima.

Cajamarca, like Cuzco but not as good

So Im in Cajamarca, a small mountain town at 2900m in the "northern highlands". The town is essentially like Cuzco but not as good. The ruins are smaller and less impressive, the banos los Incas (where the Inca king was relaxing before his "meeting" with the Spanish) were a bit like a community swimming pool (I was hoping for luxury spa), the inca house,where the Inca king was imprisoned after his meeting, took about 30 seconds to walk round. On the bright sight I found a great Ice-cream parlour called Heladeria Hollanda, and so far Im on 5 scoops, and the night is young. Im back on the bus tonight, which will be 4 out of 5 nights on buses, and I think I will be in desperate need of a hostel tomorrow, when I will arrive in Chiclayo. I also saw 3 species of bromelaid, and my tour group thought I was a bit weird for running up a hillside to take photos of them. I also found out that swimming at 2900m is as hard as anything else at this altitude. Who knows where tomorrow will take me!

Learning to surf

The first destination on my journey north was Trujillo, an overnight bus and a strong coffee and I was ready for some serious sight seeing. The areas around Trjujillo about with pre-Inca ruins, form the Mocha and another culture. The sites are some of the largest in Peru. The riuns themselves are pretty much mud pyramids with painted walls, but the size and scale is impressive. We also got to see some dancing. I tried goat´s meat too, but it was not very nice. The tour finishing in the seaside town of Huanchaco, and deciding the beach was what I needed, I jumped off the bus early and checked into a hostal.

The hostal itself was remarkable, with a swimming pool, free wireless and hot showers, all for a fiver, I could not complain.

Unable to take more ruins I spent the morning learning to surf. This was the most fun I have had for some time, and after 2 hours of lesson I was quite good, but also cold and tired. Still, it was a success and I was happy to have had the exercise.
Now Im heading inland, back up the mountains to Cajamarca...

Missing a flight

So I was thinking that after checking in slightly early to my flight, without my specimens, I would sit down in Lima airport´s starbucks (the only place with free wireless) and write a final post about Lima and the colourful night fountains I had enjoyed.

However, I had not reviewed my flight time for a while, and despite knowing the shee said 10:00, it never once crossed my mind, as I stood in a queue at the HQ of the Ministry of the Environment, that 10:00 was different from 22:00 or 10pm. I calmly went about the day, enduring the panic of having to unpack my specimens because the permits would take yet another week to complete, and finding some way to make them safe, but findable for someone else. Eventually reaching the airport, I saw 2 flights for Lima but none with AirComet. I took out my schedule to check and realised my mistake.

Anyway, this was the second time in the day when I was completely caught off guard. What do you normally do after missing a flight? My first instinct was to get a strong coffee and make use of some free wireless internet in the airport. Eventually I started to sort things out. I called the airline but the mistake being my fault they were not able to help me. I understood but felt hard done by. I have been perfectly on time for 58 previous flights, surely they could forgive me this one and let me on another flight? I returned to the airport in the morning but they were equally uncompromising! So I resigned myself to buying a new ticket. The cheapest option was to wait until Peru until the Monday 17th, flying back with Iberia. This being the case I resigned myself to staying in Peru for another 9 days. Free from work, but not really of sane mind. I chucked a few clothes and a book in my bag and Ive embarked on an abitious travel plan to see much of the north of Peru in the few days I have spere. Luckily my export permits will be ready before I fly so the one big silver lining is that I can return to the UK with my specimens!

One final time on the Trocha

The Trocha is still not my favourite place, and walking it in 2 days with a full backpack was once again hard work. However, with my team , Guido, Payden, Liz and Sally we set off from Paucartambo at 3:30am to watch a stormy sunrise at Tres Cruces before heading into the forest. It took exactly 1 minute of walking to discover my wellies had developed a large split at the base, and had filled up with frozen water! Having changed back into my boots we headed down the rocky upper part of the trail to work in the 2750m plot, before walking down into the rain for camping the night in the 2500m plot. The 2500m plot has space on for 2 tents so 5 of us fitted into 2 x 2 person tents, digging trenches round the outside to re-direct the flow of water away from the tent. I think it was mostly fatigue which meant we all had a reasonable sleep.

We woke up already in the plot so I was able to start work quickly and before long we were hiking again. The afternoon was spent working in the 2000m plot, with the rain once again arriving to add to the challenge. With a team of 5 we were finished quickly and set off on the final walk down, arriving at the mirador at 4:30pm, greeted by an armed police guard!!! A group of bird-watchers were kind enough to take our bags the remaining 5km to the hostel so we ran the short-cut down through the river. My final day was spent working in the San Pedro plot for the morning followed by a river adventure in the afternoon. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect was that after 5 months in the field, I finally saw a snake on my very last day! A small coral snake (the most poisonous) made its way across the road infront of us!!! Later a second snake also made an appearance! Two in one day after 5 months of nothing was quite something!

Now its a crazy rush to get everything ready in time to leave on Wednesday...

Tambopata

Im writing two posts in one night because Im off to the field again tomorrow...

Our research group has selected, as its lowland site, some plots in the Tambopata National Park, which is a 16 hour trek by bus from Cuzco. Being short of time I decided it would be easier to fly. So on Friday we jetted down into the Amazon proper, ready for some heat and sun, big trees and and invasion of insects!

We got the big trees, however the weather was not co-operative. We arrived during a "friaje" or cold-spell, and it felt more like the top of the mountains! Completely unprepared for this I spent a very cold night under my mosquito net. The cold weather had its advantages, we were relatively insect-free for the trip! The wildlife mostly stayed away aswell, a footprint was the closest we got to seeing a jaguar! We got all our work done, hiked the trails and even found time to go rowing on the lake! On the last evening I joined in the football game too, although I didnt score, I did set up a few goals and my team won!

Machu Picchu: details

At 3pm on Wednesday we decided it would be fun to make use of a spare Thursday by visiting Machu Picchu, so at 4pm I had thrown some things into a bag and along with Kathryn, Sally, Payden and Liz was standing by the side of the road to get a taxi to Ollyantaytambo. This was followed by the train to Aguas Calientes, the town beneath Machu Picchu. We found a hostel and purchased supplies for the day ahead, having not been at all prepared in advance. We woke up at 4:30am, and were comfortably far back in queue for tickets to get into and to the reserve, to get bus ticket then to get on the bus. Queueing is not one of my favourite activities and by the time we strolled through the entrance gates (7:30am), with the grey clouds hanging overhead, and the rain spitting down on us, I was expecting a lot from Machu Picchu to make up for the so far trying morning.

Inside Machu Picchu really is something special, to have built such a large city in such an inconvenient place defies belief. The steepness of the mountain can only really be appreciated first hand. The surrounding mountain scenery also adds to the amazment value of the site. The entire time I was in Machu Picchu though, I couldnt help but wonder what it was really like when it was alive, how it would have felt to live there, to work there. Perhaps they should have some reconstructions of some kind...

On site entertainment was provided by fighting, spitting llamas and our illegal picnic. We walked the site and a few of the paths taking lots of pictures. The sun never shone though. In all it was a great experience but if I were to go back I would come when there are less people, or hike to the top if I had more time!

Machu Picchu

I went to Machu Picchu! Last minute decision. I will write more soon but Im flying to the lowlands in 1 hour!!! Hasta luego...

Sometimes things dont go to plan

A little bit of text on the past few days to accompany my panorama...

The most exciting discovery of the 4 days we spent at Wayqecha was a really cool waterfall. The second most exciting discovery was 3 frogs inside a bromeliad. I photographed the first one, the second one escaped before we could catch it and the third one was also caught. Anyway, I had long hoped to see a frog inside the bromeliads I was collecting so this was very exciting!!

The main purpose of my trip was to take measurements of photosynthesis of the bromeliads and then to go to the Trocha Union to measure biomass in the 3 plots I havent yet visited. However, things dont always work the way you hope. The photosynthesis machine was not co-operating. Internal battery problems meant the time to take measurements was limited, and the plants were not to happy about being measured, often just giving up on photosynthesis completely. Once the machine is fixed I need to figure out how to persuade the plants to co-operate. The second part of the plan, to go to the Trocha, relied on new permits arriving on time. This of course didnt happen either, so eventually we came back to Cuzco to look for them and re-plan the way ahead.

Since the things I had planned to do didnt happen I had time for some fun activities - mostly hunting for new bromeliads. We walked down a new trail at Wayqecha (Trocha Trogon) and found a nice mountain stream. It was shallow so we wandered up it to find a little waterfall, and down through a canyon to some rapids. Above is 'team bromeliad', my assisstant Guido and my three volunteers, Liz, Payden and Sally.

I also had time to plant out bromeliad seeds in the Wayqecha greenhouse! I hope that these will germinate and grow and then we can use them in experiments to see how well they survive if I transplant them in different locations!

An evening at Wayqecha

A photo-entry. Some text might follow later...

Urubamba adventure

Normally our work is confined to one slope of the Andes, so I decided I would go and check out a valley a bit closer to Cuzco, to see how different things were. It turned out to be quite different. We took the bus to Urubamba at 6am, and "team epiphyte" were in full flow. I am back working with my assisstant from last year, Guido and am now helped by three American undergraduates, Payden, Liz and Sally.

We just spent 2 days, each time hiking up a different valley, and then working in some of the forest we found. The hikes were not easy, but the views were amazing, and both times we followed close to a mountain stream. We found 4 new species of bromeliad, all in flower, which was great! The adventure was a success and I wish I had time to go do some tourism in the Urubamba valley, with its famous Inca ruins.

Im off back to the field tomorrow for about 10 days, my final stint in the cloud forests, with hopes of getting some new data on the photosynthesis and respiration of the epiphytes, but we will see because the equipment we have to use is old and prone to breaking. We were discussing the other day how three research groups who study forest ecology could not manage to buy a decent machine to measure photosynthesis/respiration, and how a Department of Plant Sciences could similarly lack such a machine...!

Anyway, off to Wayqecha and the Trocha Union for one last time this year...

Cape Farewell

Meeting with the Cape Farewell group (the team of 'artists' documenting climate change) was great fun. I met them in Wayqecha, after they had woken up at 3am to watch the sunrise at Tres Cruces after a night in the cold house! They had a night to recuperate in Wayqecha before they were put to work with the group. Apart from a small team who went early with Kathryn to collect river water, the group had a tour of the weather station, the new canopy tower and the plot. Afterwards two of them were assigned to Bromeliad collecting with me, Jorge Orta and Marije de Haas. We wandered through the plots collecting a plants for biomass and shape-size analysis, then went down a trail to collect a specimen for the herbarium. Back at the cabin Marije got her hands dirty helping to pull apart the bromeliads and the film crew returned to film the preparation of a herbarium specimen. I think both Marije and Jorge enjoyed the day. Jorge also mentioned that he will have an exhibition in the Natural History Museum based on the expedition, which I am VERY EXCITED about. Im excited to see what else they produce, but Im hoping for a nice picture book because there are some great photographers on the expedition. Im less excited about the film footage, because Im sure I will look stupid!

On a less exciting note I have spent the last few days drying specimens and typing up data from the field. Im probably not going to get back into the field until Sunday or Monday. Im making the most of having cake and coffee around the corner for as long as possible...

The same with differences

So I finally arrived back in Cuzco at 6am after almost 2 weeks collecting data and plants. I revisited most of the sites I worked in last year and added a few new sites to the collection. Going back to Wayqecha was the most enjoyable, with food cooked and a nice warm bed to look forwards to each night. We worked in the new Esperanza plot from Wayqecha and also visited the new canopy walkway which should be completed very soon. I laid scientific claim to the first research done using the canopy walkway by collecting some bromelaids removed in the process of construction!

We then moved onto Tono. Tono is notorious because of the difficult hike in and high rainfall which makes camping hard. I went with another Oxford researcher, Josh Fisher and his assisstants, and we were feeling confident enough to get in and out in a day. Our confidence was well placed, and on the drive back to civilisation a downpour started which lasted until almost midday the next day!!! We celebrated our luck with a few beers before moving onto San Pedro for a few days work. Last year the trail around San Pedro had the best selection of bromeliads. This year it was not so good! But we got our work done things have progressed well.

Wayqecha and a haircut

I finally got round to having my head shaved. I look a little bit like an alien but also I am growing a large beard to make up for it! Maybe I will post a photo when I return.

Anyway, lots of Oxford people are here now and we will be shooting round in the field bumping into each other at various locations. Im first heading to the luxurious Wayqecha field station where we will be cooked for and have nice cabins to sleep in! Then Im heading down to the lowlands to make friends with insects and warm weather again for a few days.

The trip should be a lot of fun. While in Wayqecha we will be visited by a group of artist travelling on the Cape Farewell Expedition, taking a look at the science we are doing and the plight of Peruvian rainforest in general. I hope I can feature a little in their work so if you monitor their website you might see me making a guest appearance!!! It will probably be around the 28th - 29th when our schedules overlap! Link below.

( http://www.capefarewell.com/expeditions/2009.html )

Landslides and sunsets

My first venture into the forest was shorter than expected. Due in part to my inability to organise myself for camping. Having forgotten numerous items, and misjudged the size of a 2 person tent (it fits 2 small people with little or no luggage). Based on my incompetence I decided it was better just to come home early than to stick it out with dwindling supplies!

Anyway, we were blessed with great weather, wonderful views of the forest and my first cloud free view of the massive landslide by the side of the Trocha Union Plot 2. I found the species of Greigia, one of the potential new species, abundantly in flower in the highest altitude plot, and plenty of other species in the other plots.

Finally we caught the preparations and the start of the Inka festival of the sun. I forget the name, but on the longest night they sing and dance until and

beyond sunrise. Its the only time of the year the house at Tres Cruces is used, its also the most people they have on top of the mountain.

This seems to be a time of festivals. Last night in Cuzco there was live music and fireworks and the centre of town was packed full!

Rain, no sleep and work

So after a few days gathering equipment and food I am now ready to hit the forest once again. Heading off to do some camping on the Trocha Union, probably not the easiest place to start work but Im thinking its best to get the difficult bit out of the way first! Anyway, Im feeling increadibly sleep deprived because I spent last night worrying about the trip and barely slept. Really Im just hoping there is no rain, since we would not have to pay a ridiculous fee to stay in the only shelter - the house at Tres Cruces, and camping in the wet for more than 2 days becomes a complete nightmare. Also maintainance of the trail has decreased since last year so getting through to the plots will be harder. All in all this could be physically and mentally, a very challenging few days, with little on offer to help us out if things get bad. What I wouldnt give for a nice lab-based PhD!!!

Arrival success and a long bus journey

So I arrived in Cuzco approximately 60 hours after leaving my house! A sum total of 3 taxis, 2 trains, 2 flights and one bus journey have moved my about 7000 miles along and 3500m upwards.

I could have arrived a lot quicker but I decided to take the bus from Lima to Cuzco (a 21 hour adventure) as opposed to flying (a 55 minute hop over the mountains). My main motivation was actually not the £100 it saved (also the bus was like flying first class so comfort was not an issue) but instead it was my curiosity to experience the Andes from one side to the other. However, I hadnt thought through carefully enough the fact that in a 21 hour overnight bus journey the scenery becomes invisible for a good long time. I did see the expanse of coastal desert stretching south of Lima, but darkness fell as we headed up into the mountains. The sun, and my consiousness reappeared high in the clouds as we passed though some agricultural landscape, small fields surrounded by Eucalyptus trees and Agave plants! From there we passed into the cactus-filled canyons before emerging in the valley where Cuzco sits. I will remain clueless about the bits inbetween for the time being!!!
Im also aware that I was planning to blog about the things I got up to between my last post and leaving, but I didnt. I did however have a lot of fun so I will quickly mention some of these things. I spent a week teaching undergrads at Orielton, I saw 2manydjs live, I saw a martial arts show by the Shaolin warriors, I saw not one but 2 stone circles, Stonehenge and Avebury, drank some beer, drank a lot of tea and had my brain scanned (apparently I do have one!!). All in all it has been great fun :D Im going to miss it and everyone over the next two months :-(

Off again

Once again Im heading to rainforest, perparations are underway as I gather equipment and try to finalise my methods. Its 46 days until I have to be at Heathrow, and there are lots of things happening between now and then...I will try to post whenever possible!