We woke up early--very early--grabbed our luggage, stowed our laptops, and trudged up IPE's driveway to our waiting vehicle. Much to my surprise and intense pleasure, a bus awaited us rather than our typical 15-passenger vans! (Those vans are ridiculously uncomfortable.) And what a bus... More luxurious than any coach I've ever traveled in--the seats leaned back to almost horizontal orientations and there was more than enough legroom. If only Greyhound buses were half as plush.
Amanda and I chatted for most of the 5 hour drive. We stopped at Ubatuba (a small, seaside village) at 11am for lunch at a self-service, pay-by-the-kilogram restaurant. Amanda and I skipped lunch to shop instead; I didn't buy anything, but she purchased two itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny Brazilian bikinis. I tried a couple on... no thank you!
We arrived at our home for the week--a reserve in Picinguaba in Rio de Janeiro state--during the early afternoon and immediately donned our field clothes and walked to the beach. What a beach! Long and flat, with smooth, fine-grained sand pleasant under the feet, extending for several miles without interruption, bordered by the thick foliage of the Mata Atlantica. The salty water broke on the shore in low but powerful waves; no reef was apparent but the clear horizon was interrupted by tiny jungled islands and mountains in the distance.
Our first task was to complete a Bioblitz, a technique commonly used by ecologists in which they spend 24-hours counting as many species as possible in order to measure the biodiversity of a given area. Luckily, we spent about 2-hours counting species rather than a full day, but I still found the experience very valuable. I was placed in the marine invertebrates group, which basically meant that I got to walk barefoot along the sunny beach with my eyes on the sand, picking up pretty shells, skate egg-cases, and sand dollars. I also explored the surrounding mangroves and found a few small shrimp and dozens of fiddler crabs. (And lots of gnats and mosquitoes.)
We had a late dinner after we finished wandering the beach; I don't remember what it was, but I do recall that it was just as delicious as the food we eat at IPE (which is usually tasty, although almost always in casserole-form). Our dorms were ready for us by the time we had finished eating and we all rushed in to choose beds; all 16-girls were in the same room and pickings were slim. Amanda and I snagged a bunkbed in the corner, strategically away from those whom we knew to be snorers.
Tuesday
Unfortunately, upon waking and showering I learned that breakfast at Nucleo Picinguaba (the reserve) was sub-par--ham, cheese, white bread, and papaya (the only fruit I don't like!). I've been trying to avoid dairy since it tends to disagree with me, so I was limited to the white bread...strikingly similar to Wonder Bread. And the coffee was also something of a a let-down, although my expectations were high since the beverage at IPE is exceptional.
We split into two groups and parted ways to complete our field activity for the day, investigating toposequence, an ecological study of the layers of an ecosystem as they vary over a gradient (such as altitude). My group went to the lower montane region and hiked up a beautiful trail through the forest. We collected both soil and water samples along the way and carried them with us for later analysis. After about an hour of uphill hiking, I was starving to death. I think I might have passed out if Hannah hadn't been kind enough to give me her Clif Bar. I've never been too fond of protein/energy bars, but I choked it back and felt revived. It was chocolate brownie flavor and really wasn't half bad.
In the afternoon, we switched places with the other group and explored a different layer of the toposequence, the mangroves. We sat in a small dingy and paddled ourselves along the shore; I was elected to row for most of the way because of my crew-team qualifications, but I didn't mind because I always appreciate a little exercise. We spent most of our time in the boat, but we did hop out at one point to trudge along the water's edge through thick, dark brown muck. Fernando was kind enough to spread some across the backs of my legs with his foot. Lovely. I managed to ignore the ick-factor and enjoy the natural beauty for the most part though; this trip has definitely given me an even greater appreciation for the outdoors.
The rest of the evening was laid back; we had dinner and then went to bed really early (about 9pm). I was glad for the early night, but I didn't have much of a choice: without combating the darkness and the blood-sucking insects, there was no where to retreat except our shared dormitory.
Wednesday
Today was absolutely lovely. We spent some time in the morning analyzing our results from Tuesday's field work, then we had the rest of the day free. We had planned on playing on the beach for a few hours, but it was overcast so we decided to make an early departure for our evening activity: a tour around Paraty, a touristy historical town on the coast, about a 1.5 hour drive from Nucleo Picinguaba.
It was Julia S.'s (a 5'11 ex-model affectionately referred to as "big Julia") birthday, so we decided to go all out. In Brazil you can just walk around on the streets, beer in hand, pursuing unrestricted merriment! Fabulous. We also did some shopping--pretty cheap kitschy stuff, good for gifts and souvenirs. Unrealistically, I didn't bring a purse with me to Brazil, so I bought a new bag (Mum, stop rolling your eyes), but it was only R$16 and it's so cute! We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant; Amanda and I split a pizza with mozzarella, tomato sauce, squash, eggplant, and broccoli. It was delicious, although I was in the bathroom when the food was served to the table and my portion had been mostly decimated by the time I returned. Oh well.
By the time we returned to our lush coach for the drive back to the reserve, I was giggly and rosy cheeked; I slept comfortably for the entire ride... and then went skinny dipping in the ocean with most of my SEE-U classmates. Delightful. But thank goodness it was dark.
Thursday
I mentioned to one of the TAs that I was unable to eat anything filling at breakfast, and this morning I found two hard boiled eggs in a bowl next to my cup of coffee. I tried not to grimace as I knocked them back, doused in hot sauce in an attempt to disguise their eggy-taste. I appreciate the consideration, and I understand that my dietary needs are a little difficult, but I really don't like eggs. I only ate the whites, but I still tasted egg on my breath for hours. Gross.
We spent the morning in the lower montane region, measuring palmito population dynamics. Those tasty canned hearts of palm that often top salads or adorn gourmet sandwiches? An endangered species. Who knew? It's actually a really big deal; although the species is protected, they are often harvested illegally. The edible heart of palm is found at the meristem of the plant, the very top of the stem. When cut off, the entire plant dies. Each plant produces about one can of palmito, which poachers sell for about US$1. There are alternative species that are farmed legally, but the resulting product is less tasty, and therefore poaching is often preferred by poor natives who are struggling to survive.
We had some free time during the afternoon; I read Into the Wild on the beach and then went for a run. By the time I had jogged down the beach, it was pretty dark--and I really don't like the dark. I was amazed by how fast I ran when stimulated by the fight-or-flight adrenaline coursing through my system.
For dinner, we had a barbecue, which would normally disappoint me since typical grill fare consists of burgers, sausages, steak kababs, etc. These options were all available, but there were also some delicious soy patties. Yay! Not bad at all when covered in hot sauce and eaten in combination with black beans. After we finished eating, we arranged the long benches in the barbecue pavilion into a circle and awaited the arrival of our guest speaker: Seu Genesio, the president of a local Quilombo.
According to Wikipedia, a Quilombo is: "A Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by Quilombolas, or Maroons and, in some cases, a minority of marginalised Portuguese, Brazilian aboriginals, Jews and Arabs, and/or other non-black, non-slave Brazilians that faced oppression during colonization. Quilombos was in fact a group of African fugitive slaves and their descendents...It is widely believed that the term quilombo establishes a link between Palmares and the culture of central Angola where the majority of slaves were forcibly brought to Brazil, because, during the time of the slave trafficking, natives in central Angola, called Imbangala, had created an institution called a kilombo that united various tribes of diverse lineage into a community designed for military resistance during that time of upheaval. However, the documentation on Palmares typically uses the term mocambo to describe the settlements, and quilombo was not used until the 1670s and then primarily in more southerly parts of Brazil."
This 81-year old man spoke to us in Portuguese for over an hour, his words translated by Fernando the TA. (Although I fear we may have lost some of the meaning behind his narrations because Fernando's English is less than perfect.) Seu Genesio gesticulated with gnarled fingers while he spoke, the bent angles of which I assumed to be a result of old age. He later explained that as a young man, he was fishing one day on a rock when a wave knocked him from his perch and crushed him against the edge of the cove, where he was battered by the surf for over 12 hours. It's amazing how human beings can defy conventional limits on bodily strength when fighting for life.
It was wonderful that we got to hear this man speak and share his stories, but I wish I knew more about Brazilian history; I don't think I gleaned as much from his visit as I could have, had I been better educated about his country's colonial past.
Friday
This was our last day in Picinguaba--I'll miss the beach, but not the mosquitoes nor the fiddler crabs and bats that frequented our dormitory! We packed our luggage before breakfast and then most of us headed to the beach to begin our hike along the coast.
This may be the best hike I've ever taken--it was incredibly beautiful, reminiscent of the island setting of Jurassic Park (I was sure that we were going to see pterodactyls circling overhead). Pictures of me posing like a velicoraptor, coming soon. We trekked through the jungle for several hours and stopped at three gorgeous rocky beaches along the way. At the second beach, several SEE-Uers swam in the surf, but I refrained, which was a good choice since most of them complained enthusiastically about the sand in their hiking boots for the remainder of the day.
At the end of our hike, we got straight into the bus--despite being covered in sweat, sand, and bug spray--and began our journey back to IPE. We stopped at Ubatuba again for lunch. This time, I ate at the self-service restaurant; I was not impressed. Everything I tried tasted salty and vinegary, even the fruit. The food was served buffet style, except it was pay-by-weight rather than all-you-can-eat. Brazilians are definitely more reasonable about their portion sizes than Americans, but I still think I'm getting fatter. Don't know why. Can't possibly be my fault though. Hmm.
About five minutes outside of downtown Ubatuba, we stopped at the Projeto TAMAR center, a visitor facility designed to attract public attention to TAMAR's cause: protecting sea turtle populations. Sea turtles are pretty much my favorite animal, so I was thrilled. We saw lots of turtles swimming around in bright blue (much too small) pools and also had a special tour of the injured turtle rehab room, where there were several sad examples who had been hit by speed boats or crippled by birth defects. There are seven species of sea turtles in the world; five of them are found in Brazil. Although these animals have garnered significant press coverage in recent years (they are considered charismatic megafauna), they are still threatened by poachers (who hunt them for their shells, used for combs and jewelry) and accidental deaths by fishing nets.
"The TAMAR Project, administered by IBAMA in partnership with the Pro-TAMAR Foundation, monitors 1000 kilometers of beaches, with 20 stations covering 8 Brazilian states. Ninety per cent of the people involved in this work, are members of the communities where the bases are established." TAMAR combines ecological with sociological missions by providing turtle poachers with alternative means of income. This is definitely an organization that I would consider working with in the future--this is just the type of mission that interests me.
Even the TAMAR gift shop has sociological intentions; all of the goods sold have been produces by local inhabitants, stimulating the surrounding economy and educating nearby residents about the plight of the sea turtles. I bought a beautiful silver ring (with a turtle at its center, of course), in hopes that I will be reminded of these amazing creatures while I'm typing at my computer or scribbling notes in class. In New York City, it's so easy to forget about nature; I never want to lose sight of my intentions to spend my life working with the incredible flora and fauna that cover this planet and provide human beings with the resources we need to survive.
So ended my week at the beach, undoubtedly the best field trip I've ever been on.
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