Fisherman

This young man was leaning against the wall of Peña's store (see Jenaro Herrera) with his fish one afternoon when I came back from the field.  Noteworthy, because this is the exact place where I would collapse to catch my breathe every day after returning from the field before walking the five kilometers back to the CIJH field station. Thought it deserved a photo. [NOTE: The fish are piranhas].

Varzea Still Life

This little piece of forest floor in my Grias study site (see Grias Predated) caught my eye. Two beautiful sacha mangua (Grias peruviana) flowers artfully arranged on top of some huasai (Euterpe precatoria) leaves. [NOTE: The flowers were gone the next day].

Grias Predated

Grias peruviana (Lecythidaceae) is another varzea species that I studied while I was in Peru (see Camu-camu, Jenaro Herrera, Umberto Pacaya, Regeneration Surveys, and Yield Studies). The fruits of this tree, which are produced by caulifory along the trunk, are known locally as "sacha mangua" or faux mango.  They have bright orange pulp like a carrot, and a large football-shaped seed.

To quantify size-specific fruit yield, I marked several adult trees and made daily observations of flower and fruit development. During the period when the young fruits were maturing, I noticed each morning that several of the fruits had small scratches on them.  Just deep enough to cut through the skin and expose the pulp. The scratches continued appearing until the fruit reached maturity, at which point, rather than scratches, I would be greeted by the image above, i.e. a predated fruit with no seed. 

It turned out that the culprits were squirrels, and each morning they would scratch the fruits to see if the pulp had started to turn that bright orange color which would indicate that the fruit, or more importantly, the protein-rich seed, had now reached maturity and was ready to eat.  Like a savvy shopper testing cantaloupes in the produce aisle.

Picnic at Transect 3

We always took time out during the rattan inventory work (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey and Myanmar 2005) to have a nice lunch.  We ate a lot of spicy (really spicy) tofu and white rice. [NOTE: Transect 3 was particularly steep and loaded with rattans and everybody was happy to stop and eat the day that this was filmed (thx, Tun Shuang)]

Bird's-Eye View

Part of my fieldwork with Brosimum alicastrum (see The Curious Case of Brosimum alicastrum and Gas Exchange) involved climbing trees to get a closer look at their flowers. I opted for rope, ascenders, and a sit harness, rather than the metal spikes used to climb telephone poles, because I had to climb the same trees several times during the flowering season and I didn't want to damage them or effect flower production.

Was a wonderful way to get away from the mosquitos, although I did fall asleep (briefly) on my observation platform one time (I was roped in). [NOTE: It wasn't so much that I was worried about snakes in the canopy. I just forgot to take off my leggings before going up the rope when this picture was taken (thx, Lauro)].

Living on a Log Raft

As part of the PNG ecoforestry project, we set up a small sawmill in the town of Kikori to process timber harvested from local flooded forests. The forests along this part of the Kikori River are tidal, and they flood - and drain - every day with the tides.   Landowners who wanted to sell their timber to the mill were required to go through a training program where they learned the basics of sustainable forestry, inventory the forests they wanted to harvest, and write a detailed management plan. Participating communities were given lots of technical assistance as they struggled with these tasks.

A group of landowners showed up at the mill one day and said they wanted to join the project. I looked at a map and discovered that their community was located way downriver in the Kikori estuary.  When I asked them if they had a boat to pull logs, they shook their heads.  I had serious doubts about their ability to get sawlogs to the mill, and I was reluctant to commit to the training and inventory work if neither the mill nor the community would ever benefit. As a compromise, I suggested that they go back to their village and fell some trees, and if they were able to get the logs to Kikori somehow, the project would be happy to collaborate with them. And I promptly forgot about the whole incident.

Two weeks later, the group came back to Kikori.  They had gone back to their village, felled a few trees, and tied them together into rafts.  They floated up the Kikori River as far as they could each day with the rising tide, and when the tide started to fall, they tied up next to the bank and waited for the river to start rising again the next morning.  It took them five days to get to Kikori, sleeping on top of their logs. We gave them a bite to eat and enthusiastically welcomed them to the project. [NOTE: We rented a boat to bring their next load of logs to the mill].

String of Pearls

The Banjarese farmers in Punggur on the coast of West Kalimantan create diverse agroforestry systems by draining, burning, and slowly getting rid of the peat that underlies local forests. A network of canals - dug by hand - grid the area and regulate the daily tidal flow.

Coconuts are one of the most important plant products during the early developmental stages of these systems. To get the coconuts to market, they string them together in long chains and float them out in the canals.

Sharing a Ride

I had walked from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yunnan, China to a nearby Dai village to look at some tea gardens. Just as I was starting to walk back, a motorized rickshaw appeared out of nowhere.  So did a young Dai women who had just finished working in her rice field and was looking for a lift to her village. Although we couldn't communicate verbally, it was clear that we were both amenable to sharing the ride.  We had a very pleasant five minute trip together. [NOTE: I thought it appropriate to start the new year off with a smile].

A New Year

Carved wooden Buddha from Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon

The spring flowers, the moon in autumn,
The cool breezes of summer, the winter's snow;
If idle concerns do not cloud the mind,
This is man's happiest season.

Case 19 - Ordinary Mind is the Way
Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate)
1229 C.E. 

Bayin Nyi Monastery and Caves

On the road between Hpa-an and Thaton on the western bank of the Thanlwin River in Kayin State, Myanmar is a beautiful monastery and a cave filled with statues of Buddha. To get to the monastery, a monk ferries you across the river in a large wooden boat. [NOTE: The boat is a little leaky and requires some occasional bailing.]

The monastery, marked by several golden pagodas, is built at the base of a 400 foot limestone cliff.

The upper level (where the monks live) offers a beautiful view of the surrounding area.  I visited Bayin Nyi during the rainy season and most of the Thanlwin River valley was flooded.

The cave contains a small limestone pool, a full complement of stalactites and stalagmites, and several dozen gilded, and incredibly refined, life-sized statues of Buddha. There is also a box containing the names of all the pilgrims who have visited and payed homage to the site.  My name is in this box now, too.