The End of the Road
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2008
1
26
27
Trip End
Aug 25, 2009
Bayanga, Central African Republic
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I always knew that my last trip to the forest would be an emotional trip for me as I have somehow cultivated a bizarre and rather intense relationship with the forest. It is hard to explain to anyone who hasn't spent extended periods of time working in the forest. I myself wonder if sometimes I have actually lost my mind as I have arguments, discussions, and inside jokes with the forest. It has somehow taken on the role of a friend, companion, and enemy all at the same time. The relationship can be described as part "When Harry me Sally," part “Alice in Wonderland,” and part “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” No matter how often we argue, I think it is safe to say that the forest and I have resolved to spend a majority of our lives together. Now matter how much time I spend in the forest I am always overwhelmed by sights, sounds, and smells as if I have taken a pill and slipped into another person’s life. Now matter how far I walk I find my imagination is always running at full speed.
It was difficult to leave for the last time but this was coupled with an overwhelming sense of personal accomplishment. I remember before Lelsey left and we would sit around and think “Can you believe you actually did this?” I know find myself asking the same question. It has provided me with unparalleled tests of will, determination, and emotional stability but I think I have done the best that I could.
True to the spirit of our relationship I believe the forest showed her distaste for my final trip by taunting me with the possibility of seeing certain animals and then finishing it off with an annoying elephant encounter. It has long been a joke amongst my crew and I that the animals of RDS actually are conspiring against me. They have a vast underground network to communicate my locations and to insure that I will just miss seeing them by a second. For example…there was a chimpanzee group that spent a lot of time around our camp (never to be seen by me) and then the typical gorilla encounters where I am busy looking for duikers and dung and miss the gorilla sitting on the transect. One night we were walking out to work on one of our final night transects when I noticed the trackers in front of me stop. This typically indicates that they think there is an animal nearby. They started walking again and so did I (I know have a talent for looking at the ground with one eye and at the trackers with the other). After a few steps I had forgotten about the potential animal presence and returned to my internal debate regarding scheduling, presentations, my future etc. Of course just as I do this a silverback gorilla begins to vocalize and pound his chest about 6 meters from me on the other side of some very dense vegetation. I was caught off guard and tripped and got stuck in a tree. There he was, just feet away, and I missed him. This led to much laughter and discussion of how they really were taunting me. It was like we were on the playground and he came up, yanked my hair, and ran away laughing.
This last trip was also one of the first times my body really struggled to finish the work. Thank Nzapa it was the end. It was our last night transect when I had to make the call that it wasn’t safe for us to go out. Jean Boscoe had blown out his back and my legs had begun to shake so badly from fatigue that I had difficulty walking. If we were to have a problem I couldn’t run and wasn’t sure I wanted to rely only on adrenaline. The day before this the forest had let me know she was angry at my leaving by nearly killing me with a tree fall. I will leave out the details but lets just say after the sprinting and the collapse of the top half of a tree we stood around staring at the ground in disbelief of the fact that the tree fell where I was standing (all of my belongs were scattered about it from my sprint in the other direction).
The very last day of research was marked by the visit of a Mama elephant and her infant. Suffice it to say that Mama elephants with babies are not to be messed with in any way shape or form. After nearly 3 hours of banging machetes and waiting for her to move on (she had parked herself in the middle of the transect) we had to turn back and give up.
Even with all the crazy things that happen in the forest I miss it everyday. But it is over now, the end of the road. All I have to do now is wrap up in the village and make it out with some amount of my sanity in tact. I have given up on keeping control over my emotions as there is little that can be done there. My brother will have his hands full on the way back to Bangui.
Comments
celebration
I for one am glad the end is near. Close encounters of the fourth kind are too much for me. Exactly why did the tree fall......
congratulations
Carolyn, I've enjoyed reading each and every one of your posts. You write so well from your heart and vision that I've felt like I've been there living it with you. I know it will be very hard to come back to the states but I eagerly await to hear from you when you have transitioned back to the heartland. My condolences about Libby - I was SHOCKED to hear!! Safe travels!! -Honbon