foray into the forest

So I’ve realized that the difference between a good day and a bad day in Africa is phenomenal, so much greater than in the West. Today in a way felt like the beginning of my time here, because I got to go into the forest for the first time—and it more than made up for my epic train experience. I still can’t get over that I am really here, that I am one of the few very lucky people from outside Tanzania who will ever get to see this magical, hidden place.
I went along with some of the WCS guys who needed to collect some additional GPS points of forest boundary lines and to re-GPS the location of a monkey trap. After about forty minutes drive we turned off the tarmac road and made our way along a bumpy track (listening to Michael Jackson who is super popular here, along with 50 cent and nelly) past tea plantations and various shambas (ie farm plots) with maize, potatoes and avocados growing. We got to the last shamba, found the farmer, and began the walk, following him along a narrow muddy path up a steep hill, down a ravine, and deep into his land. The landscape is so lovely, it is impossible to describe, really. Eucalpytus trees, pine trees, palm trees all mixed together amongst various crops growing. We finally reached the monkey trap, just at the edge of the forest at the base of Mt Rungwe, which was shrouded in clouds. It suddenly started bucketing with rain, and the farmer yanked off a big banana tree leaf and gave it to me to hold over my head—a “forest umbrella”. It did the job okay, but the rain didn’t look like it was going to stop for a while, so the farmer led us over to this little shelter made of sticks and banana leaves, with a very smoky fire going underneath (in the photo). Finally the rain cleared after a while, and now Mt. Rungwe was in full view! I could hear tons of different bird calls, and watched brilliant blue and yellow butterflies flit past, while trying to keep up with the WCS guys as we made our way back to the car (for some reason i’d worn flip flops on this trip, bad idea)...more michael jackson on the drive back, as we ate sweet bananas (ndizi tuma) and waved to all the barefoot kids and farmers working under the sun and rain in their fields.