Rachel is off in the rainforest counting tree species again, this time as leader of the expedition. We talked to her on July 7th, shortly before she left for the 8-day trip. She had been out buying rice to feed the whole members of the expedition. She said she bought it by the kapoaka [empty condensed milk can used to measure rice, beans, and other dry stuff at the markets in Madagascar] so that she could spread the wealth around among a number of ladies selling rice at the market. I think she said she bought around 350 kapoaka for the 8-day trip. That will feed the guide(s?), porters, and cook, as well as Rachel and her Malagasy counterpart.

She told us that the Malagasy porters, guides, and cook are each paid the same daily wage. A portion of their pay is deducted to cover their food (the above-mentioned rice), which WCS supplies. Teresa remembers reading, in the late 60s, about such treks into uninhabited forest undertaken by French colonialists and described in The Great Red Island; never thought a daughter of ours would be leading one!

Rachel said that she would take a small book (The Ladies of Missalonghi) she received from us recently, along with some expendable magazines, since everything she takes along on the trek will be damaged or even ruined by the damp. She now has the rain cover for her day pack, at least, so she should be able to stay dryer this time. She may not wear her hiking boots in favor of sandals and socks since her feet suffered so from the damp on the last trip.

She had to take her locally purchased day pack to be repaired because it was damaged on the last trip into the rainforest. She asked for some carabiners (those metal clips that are like the ones mountain climbers use) to hold it together. We have sent some, but she has not received them yet. She also asked for ‘patches’ and we finally established that she wanted the kind she had in Girl Scouts, but she wants to use them to repair her clothes which are getting holes in them. She thinks those patches will be sturdier. We bought some in Williamsburg and sent them off.

After this trip, Rachel will go out only occasionally on such WCS treks, mainly to train others, apparently. She expects to undertake similar treks on her own (with a Malagasy team as described above) to visit the villages that are located in a 4-day distant part of the rainforest. She is supposed to be responsible for raising environmental awareness there, along with in her own village (which is more accessible as it is located near the coast.) These WCS treks will certainly prepare her for that part of her work.

We asked whether she thought that Peace Corps was okay with her doing so much work counting trees and tree species for the Wildlife Conservation Society, instead of spending time in her village. She said that PC works closely with WCS and is willing to accept the priorities of WCS.

She will be back in her village in about 10 days or so. Meanwhile, the association for environmental education [fikambanana is the Malagasy word for association] that she helped form while she was back will be meeting again. When she returns to her village, she mentioned that she is supposed to talk about HIV/AIDS to members of that association.

In one recent conversation Rachel mentioned having breakfast at the local hotel with two women tourists from the American Embassy who were visiting her banking town. She had yogurt and butter from Tana and it was heavenly, she said! First time she has had such delicacies in a long time.