Trip to Barcelos Mario Cohn-Haft - Friday, September 20, 1996 |
So, too, for Barcelos: eventually I was able to track down everything I needed. A nice
lady lent me her husbands bicycle while he was travelling. That turned out to be a
handy way, not only to do errands around town, but also to get into the primary forest at
the outskirts, which otherwise were a 3 km walk through town and second growth. You
should have seen me on a proto-mountain bike (that is, the old-fashioned, balloon-tired,
one gear, girls frame type) with my recording equipment in the basket on the front, my
hunting vest and knapsack on my back. I had to pedal mostly standing up (because the
bike was too small to really stretch my legs), and go rattling along a muddy and bumpy
track through second growth past manioc and banana plantations, asking to be excused
by folks with heavy loads balanced on their heads who looked at me like I was some
kind of high-tech, Rambo, Mary Poppins.
Gerry was a real trooper. He had been a participant on an eco-tour Id led, had taken an
interest in my research, and had offered to join me as a field assistant, just for the
experience. But, he wasnt really prepped for the heat and chiggers and waiting around,
the unglamourous parts of field work. Mostly he accompanied me, carried some of the
equipment, and struggled with Portuguese. He tried to tell one Brazilian that he likes to
sing, but it came out as Im a jerk! In another couple weeks hed be doing great here.
His spirit and desire to help out the project were real assets.
This trip, my time was restricted by Gerrys need to return to the States and by a birding
tour which Ill be leading, which starts in a few days. Ill have to go back to
Barcelos at some point, but for now I think its more important to hit other sites and see
where the sampling weaknesses are, rather than overemphasizing complete samples at
any one site.
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