Alice Springs! (AKA The Outback)

Hey everyone...so since there was rarely any internet at the places I visited I had to save all the blogs that I wrote on my computer & then post them once I got home where internet was readily available so here it goes.

So after visiting the Northern territory we flew to Alice Springs, which is part of Australia's well known Outback. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Outback , it is located in the center of Australia & has a desert landscape. When I visited (which is during Australia's winter) it was warm during the day (around the mid to low 70s), but would get very cool during the night.

Alice Springs (The Outback)

6/24/09- I am now in Alice Springs, which is part of the well known Australian Outback. It is located in the center of Australia where desert landscape dominates. Our first stop was Desert Park, where we went on a bush walk with our tour guide Doug who showed us the plant species that dominate the area such as spinifex and Bloodwood. It was interesting learning about how the aboriginal people would use the landscape and plant species; for example, they used the red sap of the Bloodwood as a skin anesthetic.

Out next stop was Angus Downs where the land was just recently (6/10) signed over to the aboriginal people. We met up with aboriginal elders, one woman and her brother-in-law & they told us how they planned on fencing off some of the land to keep out feral animals, such as the camels, but . They showed us pictures of how camels affect the landscape & it was very dramatic. They do a lot of destruction when they trample on the land & virtually little to no plant life can grow where the roam regularly. The aboriginals also informed us how they plan to create a wildlife sanctuary, nurseries for plant species, and emoo reserves.

The Rundown of the Past Few Days

Here is a rundown of the past few days.

As part of our coursework, we were required to collect data to measure the health of coral reefs on Little Cayman. Such was done by laying down 30m transects and noting the percent coral cover half a meter on either side of the transect. Also, one m2 quadrats were placed at random points on the transect and the percentages of coral cover, substrate cover and algal cover were determined.

The project that I was involved with required us to monitor the growth of juvenile corals over a four year period. This monitoring project had been started in 2005 and I had analyzed the data of coral growth over that period of time. The coral growth data obtained at Little Cayman seems to be far more optimistic than at other parts of the Caribbean. Just to give you guys a heads up, coral reefs across the world are in imminent danger of collapse due to coral bleaching, coral diseases, over fishing and nutrient enrichment. I prepared a poster of my findings and will present it to soon.

We were also taken on a field trip to various sites on the island and our instructor explained the geological significance of the sites. We also fed banana peels to the Little Cayman Rock Iguana, which is endemic to Little Cayman. However, a conservation photographer who was with us during the time was quite upset with us baiting the iguana to get pretty pictures. We also went diving and jumping off a dock with a lot of us showboating our most acrobatic diving maneuvers. On our day off, we went to “Point of Sand’ which is an absolutely gorgeous beach, for a barbeque and some much needed relaxation. We also were quite excited to go the hermit crab races where we were allowed to name and race our own hermit crab.

Pictures will be up soon.
Nick

Little Cayman

Hello everybody,

I have been here in Little Cayman for about two weeks now and I should have written something a little earlier. Nonetheless, below is a rundown of the exciting adventures that I have thus far had on Little Cayman.
On the first day of the trip, our instructor had us identify and learn the names of well over a 100 species of corals, algae and fish. To add salt to the wound, we had to memorize the scientific Latin names of the coral and algal species. All the same, we snorkeled to the reefs in order to the reefs to gain some practical experience in species identification. The reefs of Little Cayman are absolutely immaculate and pristine; much due to the reason that the anthropogenic effects on this island of 200 residents is scant. The reefs and lagoons are inundated with fish species of all colors, patterns, sizes and shapes thus making it an exceptional diving and snorkeling destination.
Lowell, the dive master at CCMI (Central Caribbean Marine Institute) on Little Cayman, took us on a turtle walk in search for turtle nesting sites. We were able to see a couple a turtle nests which are located by spotting turtle tracks on the beach. On a side note, we were also allowed to get coconuts off trees which made for a delicious treat.

Will write soon.
Nick

Preparing for Kenya

Hi everyone!

I am not in Kenya yet- but I thought I would write a little bit about my preparation for the trip. I am leaving my house tomorrow morning, and I think I finally have most everything ready. 

I am studying abroad in Kenya for Primatology, Ecology and Conservation, through Rutgers.  The Program takes us through multiple areas of Kenya- so that we get to see various parts of the country! I will be living in a tent for the month, which should be quite an experience. As I look at all the "stuff" I am bringing (one small duffel bag, one medium sized duffel bag and one backpack) I have to keep reminding myself that I don't have that much for including my house and bed (tent and sleeping bag)!

I am getting very anxious now that it's so close! I have been in close contact with a few of the people going on the trip so we have been able to compare what we are bringing, and find out who is on the same flights.

I am not sure what kind of access to internet will be available, but I will keep you all updated as well as I can!

Sara

Kakadu National Park

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven’t written in a bit…I have been doing a lot of traveling to places with little or no internet or even phone service! So let me back track to what I have been up to lately. After my trip to the Northern Territory Museum (on 6/18) I had class the next day & then left to go to the Kakadu National Park on Saturday (6/20). I have to say that I have never seen such beautiful landscape until this 3-day camping trip. When we left Darwin that morning we first went to Fog Dam which is a major floodplain & we saw a lot of different bird species there which was pretty cool.

We then visited the Adelaide River where I saw jumping saltwater crocodiles!! It was so awesome…we got to go out on a boat in the river and the people who took us out would put fresh meat out on a rope which they would hold over the edge of the boat & the crocs would jump right out of the water! These things were massive too…must have been well over 10 ft. long! And don’t worry I have it all on video which I hope to post soon. Another highlight of the trip was the night walk with the rangers where I saw the biggest spiders I have ever seen, and then one of the rangers caught a wild baby croc!

The second day at Kakadu we went on a bunch of hiking trips where we learned about the Aboriginals that lived in the national park. We also learned a lot about conservation efforts for the land & how they deal with the wild fires that are common during the hot, dry summer. At night we sat around the campfire listening to our tour guide play the didjeridoo as he told us some pretty funny Aboriginal stories. For those who don't know what a didjeridoo is, it's an instrument that is made out of a long hollow piece of wood, which usually has wax at the top where you blow into & is naturally hollowed out by termites. According to the Aboriginal belief, only men are allowed to play the didjeridoo & if women play it, they could be punished by getting pregnant! (However, all the girls on the trip attmepted to play it anyway!)

The last day of the Kakadu trip had to have been my favorite. We went on a pretty intense hike to the top of a mountain where we got to swim in gorgeous waterfall pools. The water was so clean with a really intense green color. You could see right to the bottom of the pools which were covered with sand & smooth rocks so I didn’t have to worry about stepping on weird things at the bottom. Then on the way back we stopped to see one of the biggest termite mounds in the area, which are really common in Kakadu. This thing was serously 20+ feet high! And yes I have a picture of that as well! So overall, I had an amazing time at the Kakadu National Park & I highly recommend visiting there if you are ever thinking about going to Australia!

More Darwin!

Hey everyone or anyone reading this! So let me back track to what I did this past Wednesday (6/17)...My two professors took my class to the Northern Territory Wildlife Park which was amazing!! This park only has native animals so everything we got to see was unique to Australia which I thought was pretty awesome. This park is quite different from a regular zoo in that all of its animals roam freely throughout the reserve & aren't locked up behind cages so I acutally got to get very close & even touch some of the animals...well only the ones I wanted to touch.

One of the animals I touched was an agile wallaby (it's like a mini kangaroo) & it's little baby it was carring in its pouch! I think it was the cutest thing I have ever seen & the baby even started to nibble on my finger! I was really surprised how calm the mother was when so many of us came up to touch her, but I have lots of pictures of it & will upload them asap...I also got to get close to some freshwater crocodiles that we laying right next to the railing of the deck I was standing on in the billabong ( I must have been only like 4 ft. from it!) I also ALMOST accidentally ran into the web of a golden orb spider which I wasn't exactly excited to see...for those of you who know me I am frightened of spiders..& these spiders were seriously the size of my whole hand..maybe even bigger! I got to see a bunch of other cool stuff as well...& I almost stepped on a snake that was crossing right in front of me so that was pretty interesting too..but luckily I don't think it was poisonous...at least that's what the park ranger told me! And lastly we saw an amazing bird of prey show which I have pictures of as well.

And finally yesterday (6/18) my class & I went to the Northern Territory Museum where we saw a bunch of aboriginal art, some cool fossilized Australian organisms, & Sweetheart...the 17 ft. saltwater crocodile (don't worry it was stuffed) that was caught in Australia in the 1970s, but the trappers accidentally killed it when they sedated him...yes Sweetheart was a he... (I don't get it either)

So today (6/19) I just had class & have to pack tonight for my 3-day camping trip in Kakadu...so wish me luck & I will be posting soon!