Hey all,

After my last email I took a boat to Cayos Cachinos, the home of Operation Wallacea’s marine expedition in Honduras. The island is run by the Honduran Coral Reef Foundation and has some very impressive facilities. They run three compressors for the dive tanks. There is permanent electricity supplied by solar panels, and energy cells topped up with a generator. A "restaurant" serves really good food (even if the portions are too small) where I had proper meat for the first time in ages. Accommodation is in stilt huts for the long term researchers or tents with mattresses for the short term people like me. Luxury!

My main job in going to the island was to set up two new computers and then network the computer room with the dry-lab and the science rooms. So there was more crawling around under buildings drilling holes and hammering in wire clips for me. Away from the coolness of the cloud forest it was incredibly hot work, with sweat running off me in torrents. But at the end of the day I could run down the pier and dive in to the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

On my second day on the island I managed to squeeze a dive in. I tagged along on a dive for an Advanced Open Water course down to the wreck of a 2-seater Cessna aircraft that had crashed while National Geographic surveyed the area. It was a pretty cool dive, but a far cry from the colourful waters of South-East Sulawesi.

Tim Coles, the Project Director, was on the island with me and he wanted me to get back to the forest quite soon to help with the visit of an important government figure. So I only spent two and a half days on Cayos. But that was enough. While it was nice to lie on the pier in the sun, reading my book and listening to music, I found myself getting quite bored; particularly in the evenings. It is cliched to say, but in the forest it is very much like a big family, with logistics staff, scientists, volunteers, local guides, and school groups all chilling out and chatting together. At Base Camp there is no social hierarchy or disparate groups like on Cayos, and for that reason as the 4×4 was winding up the track from Cofradia I was really looking forward to getting back.

Unfortunately my cheesy expectations were dashed, as back at Base Camp things were pretty frantic. Ed (the Cusuco Operations Manager) had taken a few days off and his presence was sorely missed. Adrian had taken up his role of Camp Manager and had, with an unnecessarily militant attitude, managed to alienate quite a few people. Meanwhile, Richard Field (the head scientist) and I worked our asses off to get all the documentation for the research programme up to date and collated a mini-website on the Base Camp intranet. The government people came and left without much impact and several of us wondered why such a fuss had been made.

Ed arrived back and some semblance of order was restored. But with his departure due in 2 or 3 weeks there were concerns as to what would happen when he leaves for good. Over the weekend we had a staff meeting and a follow up logistics meeting to discuss the outcomes of the staff meeting. One of the main outcomes was the need for better coordination of the school groups as the mismanagement of them was creating difficulties for the scientists. Adrian stepped (was pushed?) into the role of Schools Liaison Officer with me and Lynette taking up is responsibilities as Camp Manager.

I only took the job as Computer Systems Manager because I wanted to work on an expedition; I had originally applied for a jungle training position. So it is actually really cool that I am now officially working logistics — though the prospect of Ed leaving Lynette and me in charge is quite scary. Everyone has faith in our abilities so I?m hoping it will be ok!

Over the last week I feel I have slipped into the role well, so much so that Ed has now taken a few steps back and can actually concentrate on his role as Operations Manager planning emergency protocols and refining the systems that are in place. Adrian is also happy working with the schools, he is much more cheerful and everyone?s first impressions of him as a nice guy have been restored.

The only drama from last week occurred at 3am last Monday when we received an emergency radio message from Buenos Aires. BA is a village 6km from Base Camp where the Social Science projects are run. They run programmes promoting sustainable development and encouraging eco-friendly tourism in the region.

Sally, one of the bat scientists had become seriously ill and needed urgent attention. So it I was called upon to escort the Doctor down to BA. William is from Columbia and on the way down he told me stories of his country and his time in the military. It seems an incredibly volatile and dangerous place with doctors and nurses being killed if their patients die, so in his profession it pays to be diligent. We arrived at BA, William administered some drugs and at about 8am left Sally in the capable hands of the medical electives, we then walked the 6km back up to Base Camp. Nice way to start the day!

I am currently en route to Cayos again to fix a few things there. I’m not overly enamoured with Tim’s decision to send me there. I will arrive tomorrow lunchtime and will leave again at 4am on Tuesday morning, so it seems unlikely I will be able to fit a dive in. But again, it is not so bad if the only chore you have is to travel to a desert island in the Caribbean Sea!!

The expedition is past half-way now, so before I know it I’ll be back in the UK. Hope you’re all doing well and do send me emails ’cause I really like hearing what’s going on.

Take care

Dan

PS: More photos on the Honduras page.

Hey all.

I hope all of you are having a good summer and the weather?s not to bad back in the UK. Things are really cool out here in Honduras. I have just finished setting up all the computers at the forest base camp and am heading over to the island of Cayos Cachinos to do the same thing there. Plus a bit of sun, sea, sand, and diving.

The past few weeks have been interesting and as expected my job here is a lot more than simply being the ?Computer Systems Manager?. I have taken on a role of assisting the Camp Management team and when I return from Cayos I think it might be formalised. Currently there is Ed, the head of operations out here in the National Park. He?s in his mid 30s and has a massive amount of experience working on expeditions around the globe. He has an air of worldly wisdom and always seems to approach any situation calmly, knowing exactly what needs to be done ? unfortunately he?s leaving in 3 weeks, people are already worried about what will happen?. His side kicks are Adrian and Lynette, for whom this trip is there first time as staff on an expedition, but they?re doing a wicked job anyway. There is a hell-of-a-lot that needs to be done running a field site that can house and feed up to 125 people, as well as constantly being responsible for their well-being.

Generally I have been helping out where I can ? digging trenches, building shelters, manning the radio for coms, taking photos of animals, helping with field reports and presentations, and arranging volunteer movements ? but on a couple of occasions it has been a little different?

Now, last week there had been a lot of discussion about the liability issues surrounding taking school kids (yes, we have school kids here) out to the satellite camps. Some of the scientists were very worried about being in charge of teenagers while working on hazardous terrain where weather conditions can go from sunshine to stormy in the space of 30 minutes. However, not one mention was made to the process of actually getting the volunteers up the mountain in the first place. I have always considered that the most dangerous part of any expedition, or trip, is road transport. Either being in a crash or being hit by a vehicle.

So, last Friday we had this stunningly huge storm. The rain was heavier and thicker than any power-shower and the thunder was so deafening it actually made you duck. Lynette had been down to Buenas Aires, a nearby village where the Social Science projects run, to pick up the weekend cooks in the Emergency Vehicle. At about the time the storm fully hit she was on the track back up to Base Camp. This cliff path is treacherous at the best of times, but with 4-inches of water on the track it is positively lethal.

I was on my way back from the toilet when I found people running around gathering equipment. Someone grabbed me and we jumped in the back of a 4×4 that belonged to some Dutch tourists who had turned up in the park and got cut off by the storm. About 4km from camp the car had fishtailed and nearly slid off the road. As we approached we could see the red Nissan pickup tilted with its left-hand-side wheels on the road (just) and the right-hand-side wheels off the edge of the cliff, resting on loose top soil on the downward slope.

It was hard to organise everyone, shouting over the roar of the rain and the crashing of thunder, but we managed to arrange ourselves and come up with a plan. There was no way we could use the Dutch guy?s 4×4 to help, because if the Nissan did go over the edge it would just pull the much smaller 4×4 with it. So, we attached ropes to the under carriage of the car, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. Adrian bravely took the driver?s seat and gunned the engine, while the 10 or so of us tugged on the ropes with all our might.

The Nissan chugged and spluttered but to no avail, there was no way it was going back on the road and what little soil was holding the car from going over was becoming dislodged.

I suggested Danielle (the senior social scientist) go back to Base Camp with Antonio (one of the Hondurans) who was going blue with cold, and the Dutch guy?s car with the aim of coming back with digging equipment and planks of wood. The rest of us stayed to try and formalise a plan.

If it was possible the storm began to get worse, and people were starting to get very cold. Up to this point no one had been injured, so after a while we decided to cut our losses and if the car was there in the morning then bonus! Most people ran back, but I walked with Robin, one of the older bird scientists, who has a dodgy ticker (he?d been in the car on the way up). The walk back was insane. The road had become a river and the lightning was repeatedly striking trees less than 100m away from us.

But we all made it back safe and sound. With the Emergency Vehicle out of commission Ed ordered everyone to be super careful ? no machete juggling for me!?

Stupidly, an over worked Alex (the Cofradia Office Manager) made it up the mountain for the Friday party along with several crates of beer. En route he?d had to negotiate land slides, huge gapping holes where the track crosses rivers, and many other deadly obstacles. But he made it and we all settled into Friday night ? party night.

Anyway, I should probably bring this email to a close. So other news in brief:

* My lost bag arrived two and a half weeks late, having been ransacked by those fine people at American Customs. Books torn, CDs scratched, and several pieces of equipment missing: 40 AA batteries, my hair clippers (they left the plug), my software, and a DVD-ReWriter (the bastards had replaced the DVD drive with my towel? cheeky or what!!).

* Wiring the network underneath the science building didn?t cause me to be stung by scorpions.

* Loads of amazing animals are being discovered; new to Honduras, new to the park, and some new to science.

* Tried to have a hot shower on Thursday (a 1 per week luxury here at Base Camp) but it blew up? Risk Assessment Entry Number 14: Electrocution from Shower

* By the time you receive this I will hopefully have uploaded the first batch of photos, check out at http://pupius.co.uk/photos/travel/honduras/. They?re not such good quality as it is a problem uploading them here.

Finally, that?s it!

Take care,

Dan

So I’ve been in Honduras over a week now, but the clocks are ticking slowly and it seems a lot longer.

After leaving Sheffield at 2am two wednesdays ago, my flight troubles started as soon as I arrived in Heathrow. British Airways were checking in for Iberia’s flight to Madrid, but no one at the BA desk knew how to handle my further flights to Miami and then on to San Pedro Sula. So I was ushered around from counter to counter by various supervisors before finally being able to check my luggage in.

The flight from Madrid was delayed by 2-hours, and another half-hour was lost in Miami. When I finally touched down in Honduras I hadn’t managed more than 3-hours sleep in 36 hours and walking through customs I had a sense of foreboding. Low and behold one of my bags had gone missing. Luckily it wasn’t my clothes bag, but instead contained computer equipment and supplies for Op Wall, even so there are several extra things in there that I wish I had access too!

After much faffing around I finally managed to meet up with Justin, the coordinator who had been setting up the infrastructure for Operation Wallacea in Honduras, and a few other members of staff.

The main control centre for the forest operations is in a town called Cofradia, 1-hour outside San Pedro Sula. Problems with the generator and supplies meant that instead of being taken straight up to Base Camp on the Thursday, I stayed in Cofradia for several days.

I spent the days helping organise incoming volunteers and buying supplies. The scientists already up at camp have a tendency for asking for weird and hard to source supplies. For example: 75 10-gallon buckets, 10 sheets of 15mx15m plywood, or wellies (Disculpe, a donde puedo comprar una Botas Goma).

Now, buying all this stuff along with food for 60 people (soon to be 150) is hard enough in a 3rd world country like Honduras, but to make it worse our two 4x4s kept breaking down. On one occassion I ended off pushing the Toyota 7-blocks to the mechanics.

Last Monday I was finally due to go up to Base Camp to stay. The electricions were finishing the wiring, I had sourced the final computer equipment we needed and the vehicles finally seemed to be running smoothly.

Alex (the Cofradia manager), Joe (the head butterfly scientist) and myself left Cofradia at 2pm with much needed water supplies for Base Camp. Everything seemed to be going fine until the chevy 4×4 started struggling. We stopped and opened the bonnet to see it smoking and nearly on fire. We waited 30-minutes for the car to cool down and then topped up the radiator with nearly 3-gallons of water that should have been destined for Base Camp. We tested the car for 10-minutes but to no avail.

Now, Base Camp is at 2000m above sea level and a two hour drive along an incredibly rough, cliff edge track from Cofradia. The radios had not yet been delivered and of course mobiles dont work so we were kind ‘a’ stuck. Since Joe is fluent in Spanish we decided to leave him alone with the car to guard the supplies. Alex and myself then walk-ran back down the mountain to Cofradia. A very hot hour-and-a-half later we arrived back at the office, much to the suprise of the people still working there. We took the Toyota and a mechanic back up to met Joe, but even with a mechanic we were unable to stop the Chevy from overheating and by now it was getting close to dark so we needed to get off the mountain. It took another 10-gallons of water to get the Chevy back to town — it is still in the shop today!

The next day I finally made it to Base Camp. It is increadibly stunning up there. The camp is situated in a clearing amidst a forest of towering pine trees. There are two wooden buildings and tents for all the staff and volunteers. Within minutes of arriving at camp the bird team had brought in three species of birds that had never been sighted in the national park before, and the enthusiasm is really contagious.

Over the last few days the electicions have been finishing up wiring the buildings to the generator so I have been unable to do my proper job. Instead I have been helping the camp management team, building shelters for firewood, digging trenches and carrying supplies to the sattelite camps. Its pretty amazing out here (and no leaches, so it seems!).

It tends to rain several times a day, but when it’s not raining it’s bright sunshine. Even at base camp there are animals all over the place — snakes, butterflies, lizards and birds — and several times a day one of the science teams will bring back something interesting.

The first wave of volunteers has been out on jungle training this week and arrived back last night. All the staff were not looking forward to their return as it had been really nice chilling out with only a few people, but last night we had a few beers, some rum, a bit of a gang-show, and a bonfire under a fullmoon. It’s all looking prety good!

I?m down in cofradia today to see if I can fix some problems with the computers. Unfortunately the crap internet connection means that the 14mb download isn?t working too well!!

I hope to stay at Base Camp for a while longer yet, but soon I will need to move over to the white sand and sea of Cayos Cachinos, where the marine research is based. Its a hard life!!!