Meeting Angelina
- 2 May 08, 03:18 PM
Posted from: LBA Research centre, 2 hrs north of Manaus
Very exciting, we are hitting the end of our journey and this morning we've headed north of Manaus to a Biological Reserve, called Cueiras. It belongs to INPA (National Institute for Research in the Amazon). Here the LBA (The Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia) researches the interaction between the Amazon forest and the regional and global atmospheres.
The scientists will give us all some enlightenment, that's what we all hope, so Bruce, the crew and everybody at home can learn why should we care so much for all this greenery. It's an opportunity for Bruce to hook up with a modern tribe fighting to make sense of our world and our footprint on the environment: trying to decipher the mysterious interactions and reactions present in nature, especially in the largest rainforest on Earth.
We arrived at the support base, dumped the kit and jumped into quad bikes (for a bit of adventure) entering the forest. The area is pristine and has more species of pall trees and plants per square metre that I have ever seen in my whole life. We were heading to one of the research towers to spot a majestic tree, which would be used for the experiments and would hold Bruce and Alessandro in its arms over the night. The view from the top of the tower was breathtaking and you didn't have to look much to realise what tree they would be climbing. Known locally the Angelim tree, it was immediately baptised by Bruce as Angelina.
Bruce makes his bed
James A and Ollie, our 'arbonaught' climbers, assessed the safety from the tower and now we would try to find its base on the ground - it would have been a good idea to bring a compass. There was no trail and spike plants were all around. We found Angelina (it wasn't that difficult) and our super climbers started getting ready to check it on the top.
James Smith asked Sol and me to build a shelter for the gear. Machetes on hand and off we went. It seemed like a good idea to protect the equipment from getting rained on, but it hid another jeopardy...
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