We have spent the past couple of days in the Nou Highland Forest. Unlike the previous environments where we’ve camped, this campsite is located in a cloud forest, making the vegetation denser and cooler at night.
In the morning, some students woke up early to photograph the sunrise. We also set up camera traps that morning to see what wildlife inhabits in the Nou Forest. Camera traps are motion and heat censored, taking a series of five pictures when activated. The first night’s photos revealed a leopard. In addition to these photographs, we found several tracks and scat from elephants. We hiked through the jungle to a hidden waterfall led by Iraqw village members. We swam in the refreshing pools surrounded by the beautiful plant life and butterflies. The Iraqw forest guard, Karoli, introduced us to his family and showed us his home. It consisted of two levels made of sticks and mud with many storage spaces for objects ranging from cooking supplies to a shelter for their livestock. We interacted with the children by playing ring-around-the-rosy, giving piggyback rides, jumping rope, and sharing cookies. We played a pick-up soccer game that evening against the village team. After a competitive and fun match, we were defeated 3-1. Our one goal was scored by the amazing Miranda Reinson and assisted by Christina Connell. We laughed more than we scored, but we will always remember the times we got to spend with the Iraqw people.
We are excited to continue our adventure. Next we will be traveling to Yaeda Valley and spending the next handful of days with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers.
In the morning, some students woke up early to photograph the sunrise. We also set up camera traps that morning to see what wildlife inhabits in the Nou Forest. Camera traps are motion and heat censored, taking a series of five pictures when activated. The first night’s photos revealed a leopard. In addition to these photographs, we found several tracks and scat from elephants. We hiked through the jungle to a hidden waterfall led by Iraqw village members. We swam in the refreshing pools surrounded by the beautiful plant life and butterflies. The Iraqw forest guard, Karoli, introduced us to his family and showed us his home. It consisted of two levels made of sticks and mud with many storage spaces for objects ranging from cooking supplies to a shelter for their livestock. We interacted with the children by playing ring-around-the-rosy, giving piggyback rides, jumping rope, and sharing cookies. We played a pick-up soccer game that evening against the village team. After a competitive and fun match, we were defeated 3-1. Our one goal was scored by the amazing Miranda Reinson and assisted by Christina Connell. We laughed more than we scored, but we will always remember the times we got to spend with the Iraqw people.
We are excited to continue our adventure. Next we will be traveling to Yaeda Valley and spending the next handful of days with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers.
Sam Fino (left) and Emily DiMaio (right) play ring-around-the-rosy with Iraqw children in the village. Photo by: Marina Reise.
From left to right, Kristy Chong, Sam Fino, Christina Connell, Annabelle Halpern, and Amelia Nolan play soccer against the Iraqw village team. Photo by: Kelly Byrnes.
From left to right, Carly Costello, Colleen Donnelly, Natalie Fioretti, and Sam Walsh play in the Nou Forest waterfall. Photo by: Rebecca Guzzo.
We set up a camera trap at our campsite and the first night's photos revealed a leopard.
