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29 January 2006 

Mazumbai 2

Good morning, and welcome to Teamwork Day! My group, which included Therese, Josefine and Magnus, focused on freshwater ecosystems, coral reef ecosystems and climate. We bid the agriculture group adieu and headed back up the mountain. The first stop was a creek, where the other groups assisted us with sampling. We netted, trapped, palmed and otherwise accosted numerous creepy-crawlies, otherwise known as an assortment of benthic macroinvertebrates and fluvial vertebrates. Details can be found in the report ‘Fresh Water Ecosystems’ by Muñoz et al.

After measuring some water characteristics and completing a routine climate recording we headed uphill for lunch: more tuna and sardines! After lunch we helped the forestry group count O. usambarensis seedlings along transects. We did not find very many at all (OK, I didn’t find any), but the foresters seemed to be enjoying themselves anyway. I can attest to the fact that climbing huge vines and swinging like Tarzan helped group morale immensely.

Iria, Marco and I decided to take an ‘alternate path’ for the hike to the research facility rather than backtrack. We hiked toward the summit and traversed around some rock cliffs, trying to avoid the huge mounds of rock hyrax (perhaps Heterohyrax bruceii) feces. Our rock-climbing dead-ended at a sheer cliff of several hundred metres and the view over the canopy was one of the most breathtaking of the trip. The decision to bushwhack down the mountain left us with numerous cuts and abrasions, but a memory that will last a lifetime. At the station we found the others lounging on the grass and chilling beer in the creek. The day in a word: sublime.

Why so much science? What is this?