Some of the 
plants in the jungle were really interesting. The trees were huge - not only tall but with immense trunks. Some had growths that looked like fins at the ground level. The fins could be almost 2 ft tall and about 3 inches thick and looked like a bench. They might be 15 ft long, running along the ground. There were tall trees where the trunk wasn't actually connected to the ground, it was just supported by a series of vines. The trees gave a lot of shade over the path through the jungle, and it kept us somewhat cool while we were walking between villages. We would look for a nice breeze to make a comfortable spot for a break while walking. We figure that we walked about 80 to 100 miles during our 2 week trek in January. I walked about another 40 to 50 miles in February and March. The villagers don't measure the distance in miles, they measure it in hours. What takes them 3 hours to walk would take us 4 hours. They are a lot faster, as they have been walking all their lives, they are not overweight, and they are used to the heat! We walked a total of 47 hours in January when we visited 13 villages. In February and March, I walked about 26 hours to and from the villages where we worked on the wells. I knew in advance that we would be doing a lot of walking, and I was somewhat apprehensive about it. Looking back on it, it wasn't too hard. It was very interesting. I'm ready to do it again!
plants in the jungle were really interesting. The trees were huge - not only tall but with immense trunks. Some had growths that looked like fins at the ground level. The fins could be almost 2 ft tall and about 3 inches thick and looked like a bench. They might be 15 ft long, running along the ground. There were tall trees where the trunk wasn't actually connected to the ground, it was just supported by a series of vines. The trees gave a lot of shade over the path through the jungle, and it kept us somewhat cool while we were walking between villages. We would look for a nice breeze to make a comfortable spot for a break while walking. We figure that we walked about 80 to 100 miles during our 2 week trek in January. I walked about another 40 to 50 miles in February and March. The villagers don't measure the distance in miles, they measure it in hours. What takes them 3 hours to walk would take us 4 hours. They are a lot faster, as they have been walking all their lives, they are not overweight, and they are used to the heat! We walked a total of 47 hours in January when we visited 13 villages. In February and March, I walked about 26 hours to and from the villages where we worked on the wells. I knew in advance that we would be doing a lot of walking, and I was somewhat apprehensive about it. Looking back on it, it wasn't too hard. It was very interesting. I'm ready to do it again! We didn't see many animals along the trail. The hunters have cleared them out. We did see evidence of the animals. We saw elephant footprints and broken down trees where they had crashed through the jungle, near Kondesu. We also heard some elephants crashing through the trees, but we didn't see them. They are very dangerous, so I'm glad we didn't see them. We didn't have any way to protect ourselves. It's like avoiding bears in Alaska.
They had some animals in the villages, but they don't raise them on their farms. They keep a lot of chickens in the villages, and I had hours of entertainment watching them. In Lowuma, they had 2 sheep that the government had distributed. The villagers carried them in from Fassama (7 hours). While I was there, a new lamb was born. That was exciting. So, they are on the way to repopulating. Previously, they had lots of sheep, but they were all eaten during the war. The villagers keep cats, dogs, and monkeys, but they don't treat them like we treat our pets. Our pets are better cared for than their children.
I have more photos of plants and animals in my photo album.
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