I'm finally back in town after 4 days and 3 nights at the Forest Defenders camp.  I've really begun to enjoy being out there.  The main building is complete, and we've installed all of the lighting (powered by solar, of course) so we can stay up later, working, talking, etc.    There's still a ways to go to complete the camp, but it's looking good.  As John, our tech guru says, it's really beginning to look like the television set of "Survivor Sumatra" 

I've begun to get a little involved with the design.  A building in front of the Belair Adat (the main building, and I really have no idea how it's spelled)  was being built.  and they were going to clear out some very small trees/shrubs.  After I threatened to chain myself to one of the shrubs, the architect yielded, and now it has become a nice deck area, with some small trees coming up through the coconut wood to provide shade.  Now we've planned to get some party lights (or what we may call "christmas lights&quot and string them on the trees for evening lighting. 

 This morning I went on a hike into the concession area (the area of forest that the company Duta Palma is clearing for palm plantations) and we surveyed some canals that were dug in order to drain the peatland.  This is a crucial step in clearing the land.  After the canals are dug in the peat (that in this area is many meters thick) the water drains out, irreversibly drying out the peat.  The dried peat is then ready for burning, which as I mentioned earlier, releases enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the air.

 We were measuring water flow and water depth of the canals.  While I could surmise many reasons, I honestly can't tell you exactly why we were doing this, as it was a request from some science geeks back in Europe.   But it was very interesting to see the clearing process first-hand after reading so much about it. 

A few notes about the Forest Defenders Camp: 

 There are so many insects there, it's incredible.  Now that we have the lighting installed for evenings, we've become extremely popular with our six legged neighbors.  Probably the most noteworthy are the Rhinoceros Beetles.  They are freakin' huge!  And when they dive bomb into camp, they circle the lights and are the size of small birds.  They slam into anything in their path, including you.  I got a great picture of one who visited us two nights ago.  They really do have horns similar to a rhinoceros. 

 Also, an update on my bag, which on my last entry I mentioned was stuck in Taipei.  Well, it finally arrived and was kindly delivered to me by Hengki and Yusef, two new forest activists who just arrived from Papua.  I immediately popped my malaria medication, and I'm hoping that none of the first 100 mosquito bites I received were from malaria carriers.  I'm sure I'll be fine. 

 One more update:  I'm also now one of the camp medics.  Our camp doctor, Naki (who we endearingly refer to as Doogie Howser) is leaving for Idol Fitri.  So it's me and a local nurse who arrived today.  Funnily enough, within an hour of her arrival she ended up being my first patient.  She was unpacking her supplies and happened to burn her hand on a bottle of pure hydrogen peroxide (unlike the %1 or %2 solutions you buy over the counter) -  oh the irony.

 More to come...

 Hayden