Benjo in Brazil

Last post from somewhere that's not in Kenya I promise! I'm flying back this weekend.
As some of you may know I've been in Brazil with my little brother for a wonderful month of travelling and visiting an A Rocha Brazil (sort-of) project in northern Brazil. We spent an intial week in Rio, followed by a week in the state of Bahia to the north, two weeks on the nose of Brazil near Joao Pessoa and back for a final week in Rio. This entry is a bit of spider's walk of different stories and thoughts while we were there and  actually gives a much better idea of how we saw Brazil than a chronological activity report could give I think.
In many ways Rio is the post-card image that people imagine with crazy mountains, skyscrapers and beach bums. Its a huge city and there's loads of wealth around, so its not exactly a budget destination (excellent prior research on my part, oops). We found an awesome little hostel near Copacabana, up a hill towards the jungle, which eventually takes over the steep slopes of Rio's geology. As you leave the flat areas near the beach and enter the favelas the roads become more broken and the faces become more African. Arriving in the favela of Babilonia late on a Thursday night the street was full of people with live samba music and dancing, quite an incredible welcome.
In many places we went we were welcomed strongly, perhaps not with music and activity, but with enormous acts generosity and acceptance as we travelled around. In Joao Pessoa Hernani and Maru (connected with A Rocha), welcomed us into their house for two weeks, in a busy period of transition and change on their organic coconut farm. During that time they took us to great beaches, did activities with us and made sure that we went home knowing the best of that time we were with them. While there we went to a capoeira class in the local village to the farm, and again there everyone was so glad to see us, not in an overpowering awkward way, just in a simple acceptance and joy. The mestre gave us a free CD of his music and kept the class going for an extra hour so we could enjoy it to the full (also meaning our muscles wouldn't allow us to walk for two days afterwards!)

Hernani and Maru

Back in Rio, the generosity we experienced in our hostel, called Chill Hostel in Babilonia, was second to none, so much so we went back for an extra week at the end of our stay. So many times we were given free food and drink, or taken to some incredible place that most tourists wouldn't get to see, such as the party at Alto Vidigal, on our second night being in Brazil. We were told it was one of the best parties in Rio and only happened once a month, so we much go! After Ollie convinced me to fight jet lag and come out we went with people from the hostel and the taxi starting winding higher and higher through a favela near Ipanema and we began to wonder where on earth this party was. At the very top a bar terrace overlooked Ipanema bay and out to sea. It was an unbelievable view and, true to the recommendation, an incredible party. However, when we came out at 5am in the morning the only option was to walk all the way down the hill! Nutters living on improbable mountains.
The next day, after recovering from our hangovers, we went up Sugar Loaf Mountain. The geology in this city is mad. The mountain rises near vertical from sea level to 400m and somehow they built a cable car to the top. As we stood on the top geologist Ollie looked out across the stunning views and said, "I think this mountain is Gneiss", after half a second I replied, "yeah its not bad is it? (weirdo)". As the sun went down over the city and lights began shine, it gave an idea of how big the city was and how it just kept going and going into the distance. There's around 10 million people in Rio (depending how you cut it) and another 14 million in Sao Paulo, not a million miles away. Brazil itself has 200 million people living in what feels like quite an isolated Brazilian world, where everyone is connected by Portuguese and therefore separate from everyone else in South America. Their economic growth is evident everywhere, and just the attitude of consume and construct was fascinating for someone from a stagnant economy. They are doing things their way and don't worry about anyone else. As a result they have some unique foibles, such as turnstiles on buses, drink tickets at bars and paying by weight in restaurants (forget the vegetables and stock up on steak!).
The first week we were in Rio the whole city was buzzing for Rio 20+ conference, a repeat of the seminal World Summit in 1992 for sustainable development and environmental justice. We hadn't planned on getting involved, but it was impossible to avoid the numerous events across the city and the many suited foreign delegates, including meeting President Kibaki's bodyguards at Christ the Redeemer and, believe it or not, Richard Branson when we were walking through Santa Teresa! Little did we know, but the favela we were staying in was a show-case for sustainable growth. Its not clear to me exactly how, but in the first week we were there it was transformed. There's now a tarmac road all the way to the beach, new plastering and white wash and even a flower bed, in just 5 days! They even had a couple painting days where they covered the walls in incredible art work on the road up the hill. Its difficult to know what to think. Of course a nice road and fixed pavements are a good things, but what does this re-beautification tell us about the council's plans from Babilonia and the many favelas like it? On Saturday night there was an enormous samba party and dance off with everyone from the local houses; such an incredible community spirit in this enormous city. It would be a shame if it became converted into yet more apartment blocks like Copacabana below, but money talks and developers want to sell the stunning views that this favela has enjoyed for free for so many years.

Ollie's ex-girlfriend Danni often says that many of my stories just sound like rubbish if I tell them to an average person in the street in England. Ollie and I have laughed at some the crazy things that have happened on the trip and how out of context they sound mad. Here's a few of the best tall tales, with photos to prove their validity!

Jesus and the Armadillo
One day four friends decided to go and see Jesus, so they woke up early and climbed up a mountain covered with thick rainforest to go see him. As they neared the top they found an armadillo, who sneezed in terror when they approached. Sadly when they reached the top of the mountain Jesus was covered in clouds and the friends didn't see him that day. 

Rivers for Life
One sunny day on the beach hundreds of Amazonian tribes people came together all dressed with feathers of all the colours of the forest and painted in their traditional way. They sat in strange groups, often facing the backs of the people in front, sang and chanted. High above a tiny helicopter with a camera revealed their message to the world; Rios para a vida - Rivers for life.

Party on the Steps
In a city far far away there are some steps leading through a neighbourhood on a hill. These steps are no ordinary steps they are decorated with the tiles of every colour in the rainbow and come from over 150 countries around the world. Not only this but they are constantly changing, being removed and replaced by a man, who is often depicted as being pregnant, with an enormous moustache. Every Friday night thousands of young people make a pilgrimage to these steps and the creativity and passion of the pregnant man's masterpiece seeps into them, resulting in one of the greatest parties on earth.

The Pregnant Man

The Pregnant Man

Diamond Mountains

High above a hot dry desert the diamond mountains rise vertically into the sky. The two brothers wandered through the sleepy village at sunrise trying to find somewhere to sleep until they met the Spaniard call Lefty, who led them through the rainforest to his home where they camped. Once they set up camp, they started walking up into the mountains, first up the vertical sides and then horizontal across the top. On the far side of the mountain a small river fell off the side of the mountain to the jungle many hundreds of metres below in a great plume of water which evaporated into smoke before it reached the bottom. After enjoying the views for a while they walked back across and down the diamond mountain to their camp.

Two other friends of Lefty also stayed there and the four sang and talked late into the night; or so it felt, but in fact the tired brothers fell into bed at just 8:15pm! As the sun rose over the mountains and forested valley the next day the campers enjoyed tea and cake before heading into diamond wilderness once more.

They started the day deep under the mountains where water trickled through the billion year old rocks to form crystals, disco-balls and even a portrait of Bob Marley. They then went into the mountain snorkelling in a sapphire lake with hundreds of fish, into a tunnel through the heart of the mountain. Lastly they climbed to the top of a small mountain no bigger than a cube and the sun set over the desert below, they felt quite patriotic.

Benjo in France

Well, life is a winding path for sure. Last week I was sitting in Bob's office working on things for going back to Kenya and a call came through from Andy Lester, the conservation director for A Rocha UK. He was going to France that weekend and his assistant had come down with glandular fever and so last minute he was asking around trying to find someone to go in her place. He called Bob not knowing I was there and knowing that Bob probably wouldn't be able to come, but as a last ditch attempt rang anyway. After about 30 seconds Bob passed the phone to me and I obviously leapt at the chance to enjoy a week long work trip to the south of France!
The site was called Les Courmettes and was a large nature reserve on the side of a mountain in the maritime Alps near Nice and Monoco. It had a large mansion in the middle of the reserve over looking the valleys and forests down to the Mediterranean on the horizon. A Rocha France own this site as one of their two field study centres (similar to Mwamba in Kenya) and wanted to start a research project on the various fauna and flora of the mountain side and how these species were going to respond to climate change. Their land extends from the Olive forests at around 400m altitude through the temperate Oak forests and other vegetation types up until the alpine meadows on the peak at 1200m. The site is really perfect for looking at how these vegetation types may change or even which species will succeed and which will succumb to climate changes in these mountains; maybe the forests will creep up the hill and the alpine meadows will be squeezed off the top or maybe some completely new communities will establish, there's many possibilities.
The week was a collection of A Rocha staff, associated scientists and volunteers from predominantly France and UK, but other places too. All were working on a particular group, either birds, plants or invertebrates, looking at the species found there and setting up sampling protocols about how we might detect changes in those groups as a result of climate. As there were very few fish or coral too look at, my job was to input data and I also did some simple analyses and commented on sampling strategies of the different groups. I still managed to spend a lot of time out and about as well, going with groups in the field to better understand their data collection methods. The nice thing was the realisation that I actually really felt confident and knew what I was doing. Ecological sampling and data analysis is a very specific skill set, but it was a nice feeling to feel like I had reached a skill level where I could go at things independently.

The best part of the week of course was being outside in beautiful stunning wildlife and sunshine and even warmth on most of the days. I don't need a lot in life, but the key things which keep me happy are just not found in Southall! I did a lot of hiking and got some great exercise, I saw a lot of new things and just generally had a fantastic break from reality in many ways. On the last day we drove to a national park in the Alps proper and climbed through the dramatic landscapes of pine forests, gushing rivers to the snow fields near the summits of these enormous rock protrusions of earth's innards. Only a stone's throw from the Italian border was a frozen lake around which Marmots were barking and Chamois were grazing. I and my fellow hiker Heather decided to plunge into the icy water. It was totally exhilarating and a complete freedom; just me, some friendly people and nature.

Benjo not in Kenya

I've been back in England for 4 weeks now and apart from some difficulties relearning how to exist in the post-individualistic metropolis of London, where no one has a soul there has been the wedding of my lovely friends Emma and Andrew. And what an incredible wedding it was! It was my first friends' wedding and even cooler because I was involved in quite a big way. Over the past few weeks Hannah, Liam, Tom and I have been getting music ready for the service and reception and finally the big weekend was upon us! Unfortunately two days before the wedding I came down with a bad case tonsillitis! I quickly acquired some antibiotics desperately trying to kill the bugs so I could sing for the big day we'd all been waiting for. On Friday I got on a train and curled in the corner praying to get better as we speeded towards Oxford. 

The great thing about weddings is that its not really about the ceremony or even just the bride and groom. Its an entire weekend of fun, activities and loads of people you know and love all in one place. The night before was a last practise and back to Hannah, Emma and Catherine's house where the tables, floors and sofas were covered with cakes for after the service and there was a whirlwind of cooking for final touches. In the morning we got everything to the church and in good wedding tradition the fight for the shower began. It was a silly idea for Liam and I to stay at a predominately girl house! 

The service was wonderful, the band kicked ass and everyone looked great. It was an incredibly personal service, especially because Jane, our beloved vicar, did the honours. It was particularly great when she gave them each a present for coping with the other partner. For Andrew this was a pair of dashing washing-up gloves and for Emma it was a toilet plunger!

There was a strange moment when Emma stood there at the altar in her beautiful bridal dress, that this was real. Stepping into her empty room at the house the night before had been the same thing. Here is a person I've known for five years and lived with for two and consider to be one of my two closest friends from university. All those memories and times we were close, times we shared and sometimes vulnerable together. Now those times are for Andrew. Of course we will remain friends, but its strange how friends and families lose a bit of the person they love. I know this is particularly difficult for her current house mates. However, because I love her, I was mostly bursting with joy for them both! Get in!

The reception was great. The first half spent judging the limits of drunkeness and still being able to play our set! I enjoyed playing the set a lot, despite some truly terrible choices (mostly from the Tomlinson side!), but by the end my tonsillitis ridden throat was dead! I danced long into the night and long past when Emma and Andrew left. My favourite moment was dancing to "Mama do the hump" with Rita. :-)

To finish on Sunday we had a lovely brunch with Andrew's familiy. Such fun people! And such a great weekend, I love weddings. 

Which one is getting married again?

Lovely ladies

Looking a little worried

Emma overjoyed to see Andrew hasn't pegged it

We're married!

Best photo of the whole day

Tope can't watch the smooching

Then the party really begins

Running to the end

Many apologies for the lack of entries for almost 4 weeks. I have been in the thick of data collection for the last 4 weeks. I feel like a data vacuum with the amount we've managed to cram into the last few weeks. A volunteer called Joy, who has lived in Watamu for a while, has been helping and she is an angel. She enters all the data, processes it and is someone to discuss plans with and download to. I really couldn't have done nearly as much data collection alone. There's only two and a half weeks until I return to the freezer of Europe! Terrifying. For this blog I'll just briefly mention a couple of things which are quite cool.

The first is Chuk-Chuk. When I got back from Wasini, Andrew had a baby squirrel, who had been given to us by a local resident who found him fallen out of the nest in their garden and asked us to look after him. Chuk-Chuk as he became known, was an instant hit with everyone at Mwamba. He is extremely adorable and very quickly became completely domesticated, having no qualms about drinking out of people's glasses and running down their shirts when he wanted to be affectionate. Over time he's grown up fast and as he grew he became more and more cheeky, which some guests didn't appreciate; imagine if you came to a hotel where a rodent tried to eat your breakfast! We moved him to the tent that Andrew and I share back in the nature trail. At first he wasn't happy and spent all day hiding in the tent and pestering us when we got home. However these days he knows to get up early drink dew drops from the leaves and where to find bugs and nuts. He still comes home every evening and always greets me when I get into bed demanding a belly rub for at least 5 minutes, where he comically and very adorably sticks all his limbs out, while lying on his back with his eyes half closed in ecstasy!

Hanging out in the office with Chuk-Chuk

This weekend just gone, Joy, John, Ayoti and I went camping at the lookout point in the forest. We drove the car deep into the forest and parked it about 4km away and hiking the final bit up to the top of cliff, which looks over a spectacular vista of the whole forest and back to the sea. We cooked sausages and chicken kebabs (which were a new concept to John and Ayoti!). The sunrise was stunning. This time we had no issues with elephants, but I did see the incredibly rare Ader's Duiker, which was a first for me!

There's about a week and half of work to go and the heat is really really building for the rains. At night you can see the storm clouds flashing with lightening and feel it in the air. If its anything like last year, this heat will continue until we're all begging for mercy and then the rains will triumphantly come. Until then I and everyone else are very sweaty and agitated!

Left to Right: John, Joy and Ayoti

Sunday

Sundays are fantastic in this place. One can truly feel in paradise, with not a care in the world. I sat in the nature trail this morning simply watching the birds and the monkeys. After lunch I paddled out to the back reef, had a glorious snorkel, where I saw a turtle, big marbled grouper and a shoal of unicorn fish. It just feels so idyllic, like the world is simply there for enjoyment and beauty, and on Sundays one can just soak it in.
Sundays are also timeless. There's no past, of how pristine the reef used to be, no present issues and no future with ongoing abhorrent corruption and potential violence in later this election year. The irony is I'm writing about these things on a Sunday, but for the most part the weekend is not just a break from work, but from the world too.
This week I felt less ready to just accept the status quo. In order to survive in a place like this one needs to adjust one's expectations and acceptance thresholds. Over the time I've been here this process has become second nature which is mostly useful for sanity, but not always the best. For example a big issue here at the moment is ring-netting, a destructive illegal fishing practise, which is going on in front of everyone's face, but very little is being done. On Monday I saw the boat fishing right next to the park and when I got home there was an email from the Dive Instructor to the whole community with photos of the boat. Suddenly there was a flurry of angry comments from various people. The KWS warden Korir sent his apologies saying he would deal with it after returning from upcountry and another guy said there was to be a meeting with fisheries. I was telling Joy, a volunteer helping with marine work, about it and said that I felt encouraged by the Warden's response and the upcoming meeting. Stanley overheard the conversation and shouted from the office next door, "Rubbish! This is an illegal practise carried out by one boat, whose owner we know. Just arrest him! What will you talk about in the meeting!?" Stanley is a respected community figure who has worked with A Rocha from the start. He followed through by emailing that comment on the chain going around. I was inspired and realised that I had spent so long learning to accept crazy situations I could no longer yell when necessary. In response, I called the second in command at KWS, Sergeant Tinga, and told him exactly what I thought. I could say it as a friend and colleague and someone who has been here a little while. I don't know whether it had any impact, but it certainly felt good to get it out!
It is so hard to exist when so much around you is going wrong. Its a tight-rope of apathy and despair, stress or defeated acceptance. And that is where I feel God comes in. He is the Rock on which we base our hope. There are signs of hope in the world, but it really can be a battle and we need to stand in Christ and fight the battle with love and gentleness and peacefully say, "This is not ok."
This Sunday, like many I've enjoyed at A Rocha, has been a time to rest and simply enjoy and recharge for the week. A time to remind myself what is beautiful and what we should strive for.

Hawksbill turtle

Ring netters in action