Day 1
After a harrowing ride from Negombo to Tangalle – stopping only for the occasional stray cow across the road or directions, we've all vowed to take nothing for granted in our lives and are grateful every day we reach our destination. At the very least, it gets the heart pumping. After arriving, we had a typical Sri Lankan meal – rice and curry, dahl (lentils) and fish. Luckily they tempered the usual spiciness for those with softer palates, although I was personally looking forward to the heat (luckily I did not have to wait too long).
Day 2
Our first day in Tangalle was quite full. Instead of the mangrove marathon, Dr. Jayatissa broke up the day. First, we had our own general safety awareness, which I must admit, was more
interesting than the Zurich online class. For all you Jack Bauer fans out there, yes, we have a SAT phone for emergencies. I don't think they're going to let me use it for the heck of it, but I may ask Kumara, our Phd candidate, to at least let me take a picture with it. Valerie, on the other hand, was excited to find and take a picture with her beloved Diet Coke.Anyhow, we spent the morning learning about mangrove trees, their uniqueness, and the economic and ecological benefits they provide. I'll save most stats for my presentation later, but there are only 60 species of mangrove in the world and Sri Lanka has 21 of them on this island. So, we came to the right place for this project!
After the morning presentation, we ate lunch and then headed out to the field for hands-on instruction. We saw some different species, root types, fruits and propagules. Lectures in the field remind me why I used to enjoy biology class. We walked around the mouth of the lagoon which opens and closes every few weeks, letting the seawater enter and the freshwater leave. We also learned about the impact of a recent bridge to the lagoon and the local prawn fishing. The Sri Lankans are still working to rectify the situation, but they've made some progress. Interestingly, the government was very involved in the bridge, which initially surprised me based on the small village involved. However, much of their economy is tied to the environment and fishing, so it makes a lot of sense.
Along with Jayatissa and Kumara, there are 3 Sri Lankan volunteers – each of whom have their own positions with environmental organizations here. One of them works on the Turtle Conservation Project and we visited a TCP site nearby. There are 7 species of turtle in the world and Sri Lanka has 5. If we're lucky and there's a turtle landing at night when we're here, he'll get the call and we'll dash out to the site. The TCP researcher actually sleeps in an open hut with a hammock on the beach keeping an eye out for the turtles.
We then returned to the hotel where Kumara then presented the project, its work to date and our involvement. It should be interesting. I think we were all grateful to return to the hotel after being out in the sun in the afternoon. I knew it was hot and humid, but until you experience this kind of heat, it's tough to understand. Basically, we sweat a lot, throw more suntan lotion and bug spray on. Then repeat, sometimes skipping the rinse cycle. Why bother removing a layer that might entice any mosquitoes? At least that's my thinking after getting eaten up the first day I arrived. My compadres might not be as happy with me though…
Day 3
Our third day was our first day of manual labor. After mud-clomping through the bog to get to the mangrove stands, we picked up our mattocks (hoes) and began the task of clearing the existing plots of mangroves (young growths) and clearing new plots for our plantings. The 1st team will be happy to know that they look good to our untrained eyes (I'll let Jaytissa and Kumara be the real judges).
Now, if you've ever pulled weeds out, you have a slight idea about what we were doing. Very slight. Imagine pulling overgrown weeds with an over-sized garden hoe, trying to avoid rows of little saplings while sinking your calf into the mud and trying to maintain your balance. Then you get to pull the weeds closest to the mangrove saplings up. And when you hoe or pull up the weeds, sulfur dioxide trapped in the anaerobic soil is released. It smells like rotten eggs…I should never complain about pulling ordinary garden weeds again ("I hate 'em…I hate 'em."). I think we'll all sleep well from now on. I hope so, since we've got a lot of work to do.
Before Our Work
After Our Work
We should have paid more attention to the pics from the first group. We might have gotten a better clue about how muddy the work really is. My applause to all of those who have done this work before – it ain't easy when you're swinging the mattock, pulling weeds or hauling the debris and inhaling the lovely bog aromas! I think an earlier comment was appropo – we'll be feeling muscles we didn't know we had tomorrow. Montse also thinks that we’re really on Big Brother on tv and you are all watching and laughing at us. Luckily, we’ve got much more camaraderie going on here.
Walking back to the car, Val stumbled across an iguana crossing the road. She played it cool by screaming like a little school girl, jumping up and down and waving her arms frantically as if she were trying to fly away. The iguana might have been more frightened. We saw another one later, but she said the first one was a lot bigger – about 5 or 6 ft with the long tail. But it gets bigger everytime she tells. By the time we get back to our home countries, it will be 10 ft long (of course, none of us saw the first one). However, we have been assured none will not attack us; like the Tamil Tigers, the iguanas respect tourism.
Walking back to the car, Val stumbled across an iguana crossing the road. She played it cool by screaming like a little school girl, jumping up and down and waving her arms frantically as if she were trying to fly away. The iguana might have been more frightened. We saw another one later, but she said the first one was a lot bigger – about 5 or 6 ft with the long tail. But it gets bigger everytime she tells. By the time we get back to our home countries, it will be 10 ft long (of course, none of us saw the first one). However, we have been assured none will not attack us; like the Tamil Tigers, the iguanas respect tourism.
After collecting our wits about us (or at least Val doing so – behind the rest of us), we walked back to the entrance and hosed off at the research station. Then we walked down and had a delightful lunch with the local family. I got to show my hot pepper prowess by eating a local grilled pepper straight without flinching, winning the respect of some and the envy of others. I personally am loving the food here. It's got enough kick to keep me more than happy, though Val and Montse are on a mission to find something hot enough to make me leap like Val did. But I'm doing the betel, I want my taste buds intact!
We polished off the day with a "sea bath" in the warm ocean water, heard a couple more presentations, relaxed and then had a nice dinner and conversation. Tomorrow, back to the grind!
Day 4
More work. King coconuts for a snack. Finally got to the internet....
