Hey out there everyone,
Obviously it has been a while since I have posted anything, and for that I apologize. I decided for those of you following along this adventure that you might be interested in the next phase of this research. Why should the adventure end in Madagascar?! The photos are on hiatus until further notice, but I think everyone might like know exactly how the trip ended and what I have been doing since I returned to San Francisco. O.K. here we go!
During the last two weeks in Madagascar (February 1 - February 12) things were moving much more slowly then they had been the two weeks before. We had completed most of our field work, aside from one trip, and were finalizing all the steps before shipping off our new-found specimen to the US. Danny and I spent day after day typing/writing notes for the mushrooms we found, acquiring permits and documentation to export our precious finds, and most importantly packaging each specimen with every detail written on the package. That doesn't seem very time consuming, but I am telling you it literally took the entire time.
We managed to slip in a few more outings in the field, after all we were here! We took a day trip (which totally should have been a two or three day trip) to Ambohitantely Reserve.This place was incredible! It is quite literally a rainforest in the middle of savanna grassland. During the drive, I was waiting and waiting to hit a rainforest, and we never really did. Instead, we drove down this very muddy hill to a small station. Behind the station was a faint trail leading up to some trees, but you would never be able to tell that behind this hill of trees was a large, isolated rainforest. There is debate over the history of this area whether it was initially rainforest that has been chopped down to grasslands, or if it was grasslands all along and this patch just sprung up over time. You be the judge.
Once, we completed our paperwork and paid our park fees we entered up this steep trail. Mind you it was raining when we arrived and the trail was more like a Slip 'N Slide. We managed to get on top of the water and into the sopping wet forest. This was hands down the wettest forest we had been to so far, and it was full of mushrooms! I immediately asked Roki why we didn't get more time here. Bummer. Oh well, must make the best of it!
We couldn't stop collecting and photographing, we were busy until the sun set, and we had a lot of success! I even spotted a giant snail! This was the biggest snail I had ever seen, and I love snails! I was alone when I saw it though, so I had some private time to dance around and rejoice with the find, being mindful not to loose the pile of Marasmius I had in my right hand. What a thrill!
We had one more day of field work in store. We wandered over to the zoo on a particularly fickle day. One minute the sun was shinning, the next it was pouring rain so hard we couldn't see. We were carrying camera equipments and some lovely baskets so we kept dashing from one shelter to the next, even hiding under the branches of trees. When the sun crept back over us we managed to find a whole land of Marasmius and Tetrapyrgos under a bamboo hedge. We were there for quite some time, scanning this one hedge of bamboo that was full of finds. It ended up being quite a successful field day in the zoo!
After we got back to the field station, we spent the remainder of the trip finalizing all the details to get us and our mushrooms back to the states in one, totally dry, and undamaged piece. This was no easy feat, and we were working until the very last minute. We safe guarded our box with plastic bags, duck tape, and more plastic. At one point Danny said "I prepare for the worst when I pack dried specimen. If this box was to crash land in the ocean and was recovered, they would all still be intact and dry." Needless to say, it was secure. We sent the 6kg box through FedEx and crossed our fingers that it would make it home safe.
Danny and I journeyed back to the US on February 12th, and even got stuck in New York during the freak snow storm that hit that week. Eventually, we got home, and the box arrived safely a few days later. HURRAH!!!
Now... it May 6th, 2014 and what has happened since February? Well, things were slow to start when I first got back. Eventually, I got settled down and started to get organized. I put my specimen through one more series of freezing and drying, just to make sure no bugs came along the trip. I took my first specimen after a week of freezing and drying and cut into it. After all this work, it almost breaks my heart to have to cut into this little guys, but I did it and I mounted my specimen on a slide and took my first peak under the microscope. Marasmius have the coolest microscopy! They have interesting cells everywhere, and little by little you will know more about them as I learn about them (pictures to come!).
Once I have my slides and I draw what I see and take copious notes on the structures. I have been doing this as often as I can. In addition, I am taking tissue from my samples and conducting molecular work on them.
I think it would be cool for you to know how this all works, and so as I continue I will keep you posted with pictures of my drawing, my lab, and the molecular findings! STAY TUNED! <3
Mushrooms of Madagascar
For my work as a graduate student in the Desjardin Lab at San Francisco State University, in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences Madagascar Biodiversity Center, I am traveling to the rainforests of Madagascar to seek new species in the genus Marasmius. Join me as I discover and seek new tiny mushrooms and learn about the wonderful country of Madagascar! If you are reading this for the first time, I suggest starting from the first blog posted and working back that way.
May 7, 2014
February 10, 2014
January 29-31th: The Littoral Forests
Life off the littoral forests and sea (hebergements-villageois.com) |
We kept going, it was so hot, miserably hot, and the bugs just kept coming. Some Marasmiellus here, another Marasmius there. Just as we left the forest, Danny spotted a viper! Yikes! We headed to another spot and collected some more that day.
Day two was a little more sparse. It was so dry and everything was looking a little sad, but in the end we had collected a nice amount of specimen, and we had even more mosquito bites. Danny made an attempt to visit one more spot on our way out. He jumped out of the car and dashed into a clearing in the forest, and then he ran back to the car, a little red in the face, and told us he walked right near a big wasps nest with 50 wasps! These wasps are no joke. Tahina was stung a few times, and she had big lumps on her neck. When Danny asked if it was painful she said “Ya!”. No wasps for me please!
After the second day, we decided our third day we would pack up the car, head to one more spot for a half day of searching, and head back to Tana. A long day indeed. We went to what we thought would be a wetter location in the littoral forests, but no one could have predicted how dry it was here. It has just been a warmer year.
Danny cuddles with kittens |
Thank you for all the late night hours of working, for all the laughs, and spontaneous moments. Thank you for making this trip even more unforgettable. It has been a pleasure and more. <3
We started driving back to Tana late in the afternoon, even though we had been warned of a major storm over the highlands. The drive was hands down the scariest road trip I have ever been on, and I have been on a good number of sketchy roads. The climb into the highlands was long, the visibility was 2% due to the pouring rain, and don't forget the massive trucks racing down the mountains! My nerves were totally shot by the time we got back to Tana. We would hit a little bump in the road and my eyes would well up with water from the stress of it. all. Danny managed to "sleep" through the whole trip while I sat in the front pinching the skin between my thumb and index finger trying to calm myself down. Rocky on the other hand was singing to his playlist and having a grand old time, this was not his first rodeo on these crazy roads in the middle of a cyclone. Piece of cake! Needless to say, by the time we got home, I was shaking and my anxiety was through the roof. I managed to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. We had some work to do in the morning, but for now my body and my mind needed some TLC, and that's what I was going to give it.
January 28th: Trip to Ambila-Lemaitso
Hello Madagascar rainforests, my how green you are today. :) |
Ravenala madagascariens (Traveler tree) |
Soon enough though we cross a small bridge, and in the river below is a jolly man taking his afternoon bath in some red boxer briefs. Emile gets very excited, and asks Rocky to stop the car. The half naked man is all smiles as he approaches the car. Emile knows this area well, he has friends here and spends his vacation time in these parts. Why was I not surprised when we were informed that this man was the ‘president’ or chief of the area. We had a short introduction and he welcomed us “enchanté!”. We continued along the road until we reach a large shallow estuary/river, the sea water coming in slowly onto the land. Another Toyota Land Cruiser was in front of us, very handy cars in this country, and was boarding a ferry to cross the river. How cool!
River crossing to Ambila-Lemaitso |
Once we crossed the river, we drove up the coast for another 10 minutes before reaching our very cool bungalow-style hotel. The manager was a customer service master, in Malagasy terms, and darted out from behind the bar to greet us with this cheesy smile that grew on me during our stay. He and Rocky chatted it up. Danny and I are now so used to Rocky just handling everything for us, it is a real luxury. In no time at all, we were looking at rooms and I was excited. These bungalows are situated on the shore of the channel coming in from the sea, the ‘natural bath’ as Artour, the manager, described them. Electricity here is run on solar power, which was not enough to meet our needs, and so we purchased a generator to power all of our equipment. We settled in, but it was getting too late to do a quick survey of the nearby littoral forest, and so we enjoyed some time off in this paradise of a town.
View from the bungalows, solar panel power, and fresh water to bath. |
I have to admit, it felt like we were on vacation, but I know I am here for work. Work couldn’t start until the next day, so for this moment we enjoyed some ginger and cinnamon infused rum and appreciated the moment. Once the sun set, I bathed in the water and watched the stars for the first time in a while. I often forget to look up when I am hunting for mushrooms, and it was a clear night and a beautiful sky in the warm water. Trip highlight. “Rest easy tonight, tomorrow is another day” I said to myself as I drifted off into a rum induced sleep.
January 27th: Andasibe Piste 5
Forest ceiling makes it so dark in the afternoon |
The vegetation was a little less spiny, which I was happy about, and it was easier to wander off the trail. There were little patches here and there that were open. Sabotsy would wander off trying to track down the people illegally cutting down trees. He was a distracted. We would walk over the places where they had been, it was obvious that the cutting was recent. Piles of wood shavings littered the trail. We were just getting a hang of the habitat when Rocky called it (even earlier today 3:00pm), but everyone seemed a little on edge about the cuttings, so we respected the safety protocol and packed up, not before taking some wonderful shots of a Marasmiaceae with no gills, Gloiocephala!!! I had never seen these before, so we collected it and photographed it. They were so tiny 1-5mm wide cap, but beautiful! The hymenophore was just exposed, no lamellae! Ah so cool!
As we left the forest, we passed a sleeping Madagascar boa constrictor! He was out cold, must have just eaten lunch, and so we took some pictures, and when everyone had walked by it, I decided I need to pet it. I know, not the smartest idea I’ve ever had, but I had to, and I did. I touched a wild boa constrictor. Aaah! So awesome.
AH! Madagascar Boa!!! (Photo by Danny Newman) |
This was our last day in Andasibe before continuing our trip to the east, and we felt like we could have had another day, but we collected a lot of good stuff, so we were happy. Another night of work, and some Radio Lab podcasts, which Danny and I listen to while we work. Yay Robert and Jad! Love Radio Lab.
February 8, 2014
January 25th-26th: Andasibe and the Vohimana forest
Once we were back on the road, I became excited again. I was looking forward to heading to the east coast, though this time I insisted on sitting in the front seat. Our team had one modification: Paul the CAFF/CORE representative was replaced with an herbarium employee, her name is Tahina. She is very expressive, AHing and OHing at the slightest stimulation, I found it very entertaining. This trip was much shorter, only three hours to get to our destination of Andasibe. The forest there are similar to RMP in that they are humid forests, but with different vegetation, hence maybe some different Marasmius. The trip went by quickly, and soon enough we were searching for our new Dada Paul in a town near Andasibe. Rocky told us about a man here like Dada Paul. His name is Sabotsy and his level of respect and knowledge of the local vegetation was unmatched in this area. We tracked him down by asking a neighboring village if they’d seen him just as he zoomed past on a motor scooter. We caught up with him, and conducted the official introductions. Sabotsy was so different from Dada Paul, he was way more energetic, and it seemed like he was half here and half everywhere else. Sabotsy was also the chief of the village, so he has a lot of responsibility, and a lot to worry about.
Office of the forest service, and fun hut. |
When we finished in the village we drove to our hotel in Andasibe. We all grouped up together in one bungalow for the five of us. It was cozy and nice. We went to bed early that night knowing full well tomorrow would be a different story.
View of the Andasibe National Park from our bungalow |
January 26th:
Indri (photo by Zafison Boto) |
The road is cut in half! |
The team from left to right Danny, Sabosty's son aka guard man, Sabosty in the car next to Rocky, Tahina and of course Emile on the far right. All ready for our big day in the field. |
As we were driving back, Sabotsy’s son told us about a patch of mushrooms near a small village on the way back. We jumped out of the car, crossed a little river, and walked past what smelled like a massive pile of zebu poop. A man was thigh deep in it scooping some of it into a bucket. Although she was speaking in Malagasy, Tahina asked what this man was doing and why he was doing it, she had the same look on her face that I did. A bit gross, but hey I guess it’s fertilizer. Just past this zebu poop pool was a pile of corn husks and stalks from the harvest in November, and growing out of this mound was dozens of big, beautiful, Volvariella (pink spored Agarics). Some of the locals eat them, though we were not feeling adventurous enough to do that ourselves, it was nice knowing this cycle of decomposing, growing and eating was happening. It’s a lovely cycle!
We dropped off Sabotsy and his son, and drove back to Andasibe where he had dinner. This town is situated on a major road that goes from Tana to the east. Most of the vehicles on this narrow two-lane road were huge trucks, some with beer, some with mountains of green bananas from the south, some with bags of grass/hay for livestock. These ten-wheeled trucks are considered monsters by the locals. Different trucks have different names, but all the names represent some sort of terrifying creature. As we ate dinner by the road, the sounds of them driving at top speed down this winding mountain road, at night, made us a little on edge...maybe a lot on edge! More on this deadly road later.
We made it back to hotel and got straight to work, we know how much time we need to process all of our specimen, and so we were diligent, moving at a steady pace until we were done. Sleep feels so good.
February 3, 2014
January 23-24: A long trip to Tana and preparing for Andasibe
We packed like sloths. We were silly, a little grumpy, and fuzzy. For me, when I don’t sleep it feels like I'm dreaming: light, airy, but fleeting. We managed to get all of our stuff together, dry our specimen, and eat something before leaving Ranomafana around late morning. We decided to take the backseat of the Toyota, or back benches I should say. We thought we might be able to sleep through the ride. We could not have known how different the pothole-ridden road feels from the front seat of the car to the back benches. It was so bumpy and uncomfortable, but we have seven hours to hold on and hope we could close our eyes for a little. We would take turns falling asleep here and there, but no real sleep was promised until that night. The day dragged on, and when we thought we had made some progress it seemed we still had so much more trip to go. It was much different from the magical journey to RMP. We did have fun though. We ate lunch at a hotely in a small town, and we were the last ones to eat lunch. The staff didn’t see us in the corner of the restaurant, and started to blast the music to attract more customers. Emile wobbled around the corner and said in Malagasy “Um, did you forget we are here?” It was funny. There were many moments like that.
The highlight of the day was souvenir shopping at a crafts shop along the road. Rocky informed us that this place was the origin of many cool craftsman artwork from this area. We got to watch a little demonstration on how they make these gorgeous panels of inlaid wood of a variety of colors. They stain different types of wood in mud for a month to get a range of colors including yellow, grey, green, brown, red, and white. They then cut our patterns or designs from thin slices of this wood and inlay them in bigger board, creating this mosaic panel that is just exquisite. I had to indulge my artistic side and get some things to take home.
Before heading into the car, we managed to get some famous wild silk scarves. Finally we hopped back into the car, and I realized that sleep depravation and shopping is a dangerous combination. The rest of the ride was long, and I kept getting these strange waves of nausea, but finally, around 11:30pm we drove up to the biodiversity center, and I was so happy to lay down my aching body in my soft bed in the dorm room here. Sleep came all too quickly and I drifted off into my malaria medicine dreams once again.
...
I woke up in a daze, but thankful that I had got some sleep...finally. I knew I needed to do laundry today. My Peace Corps skills came drifting back into focus as I submerged our soiled clothes in OMO (laundry detergent) and cold water. I had washed my clothes by hand for two years in Morocco, and I knew exactly how to do it. There is nothing quite like the smell of laundry that has been line-dried by the wind and sun. I volunteered to do all the laundry, and I managed to finish by 3:00pm, just in time to catch some rays and prepare myself for another day trip tomorrow. We only took one day between field trips, and it was not enough for me. Though I am glad we are using our time here as efficiently as possible. We left again for Andasibe at 7:00am in the morning. Phew!
The highlight of the day was souvenir shopping at a crafts shop along the road. Rocky informed us that this place was the origin of many cool craftsman artwork from this area. We got to watch a little demonstration on how they make these gorgeous panels of inlaid wood of a variety of colors. They stain different types of wood in mud for a month to get a range of colors including yellow, grey, green, brown, red, and white. They then cut our patterns or designs from thin slices of this wood and inlay them in bigger board, creating this mosaic panel that is just exquisite. I had to indulge my artistic side and get some things to take home.
Before heading into the car, we managed to get some famous wild silk scarves. Finally we hopped back into the car, and I realized that sleep depravation and shopping is a dangerous combination. The rest of the ride was long, and I kept getting these strange waves of nausea, but finally, around 11:30pm we drove up to the biodiversity center, and I was so happy to lay down my aching body in my soft bed in the dorm room here. Sleep came all too quickly and I drifted off into my malaria medicine dreams once again.
...
I woke up in a daze, but thankful that I had got some sleep...finally. I knew I needed to do laundry today. My Peace Corps skills came drifting back into focus as I submerged our soiled clothes in OMO (laundry detergent) and cold water. I had washed my clothes by hand for two years in Morocco, and I knew exactly how to do it. There is nothing quite like the smell of laundry that has been line-dried by the wind and sun. I volunteered to do all the laundry, and I managed to finish by 3:00pm, just in time to catch some rays and prepare myself for another day trip tomorrow. We only took one day between field trips, and it was not enough for me. Though I am glad we are using our time here as efficiently as possible. We left again for Andasibe at 7:00am in the morning. Phew!
January 21-22: Field Day #2-3 Ranomafana National Park
Breakfast/brunch at the local hotely restaurant |
Gorgeous morning views of the park waterfall |
Danny working in the field in the thick of the forest, so green |
Danny is the official photographer. All the photos are in editing, but you will get to see them later. They are incredible. Go Danny!
Day three we went back to the park entrance and hiked to a higher elevation to reach the primary forest. We collected the most fungi the final day, and it was also the hottest day. We were all moving slowly, but surely. We found a lot very quickly and spent the remainder of the day hiking around. We even ran into some lemurs (Aapalemur giseus), and we happened upon some rare lemurs that are difficult to see (Hapalemur aureus)! I felt so fortunate and lucky, and it was a wonderful day in the field with a lot of work ahead of us.
After three days of collecting, Danny and I had a lot of work to do before leaving for Tana again. We gave a heartfelt goodbye to Dada Paul and tried to start our work. The weather was not on our side though, and one of the most beautiful lightning storms came and hovered over us for a while. As Danny puts it “the sky was falling”! The power went out and without power there was very little we could get done in the pitch black forest with our little headlights, so we decided to wait it out, and just sit back and enjoy the best light show I have ever had in my life, and I have had my fair share of light shows ;). The sky lit up in different colors with different intensities of light. Pink was the most intense, when there was a bolt of lightning, the yellow, blue and green tones to the lightning came from lightning behind the clouds and muddled with the thickness of the storm. It was pouring rain so hard that just the back-splash of water from the ground would soak you. Danny and I cracked open some beers and toasted the storm of a lifetime. The light would ignite the entire landscape making it look like midday for just a second. Truly magical experience, and a nice break from our work.
Eventually, the thunder began to fade and the lightning became a calm flickering, and we decided we just need to work with headlamps and flashlights. Eventually the power came back on so we could use our working light and our dehydrator, but our bungalow light had blown out. It was still sweltering hot, so all the windows were open, and the insects just loved the light, and our legs! We were getting eaten alive, and no matter how much bug spray we used, they just kept coming. I saw some of the most crazy insects I’ve ever seen, and I ducked it out with a camel spider and scorpions! There were cicadas the size of my iPhone flying into my head! A huge black pray-mantis-like insect, and when I mean huge I mean it would be uncomfortable inside my Nalgene, lingered around the table. In local folk lore a giant black pray-mantis is magical and brings you god luck...I’ll take it, thank you!
We continued working tirelessly through the night in the light of our lamps. I kept telling Danny not to tell me what time it was. I knew it was late, but I figured if I didn’t know what time it was then when I went to sleep and woke up I wouldn’t know how little I slept. The sleep deprivation from working three nights like this, started to make us a little silly, and we started laughing at the slightest comment.
Happy little Marasmius family |
Marasmius sp. |
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