This weekend we took a trip into the town of Moka, where we will later be doing our field research, to get acquainted with the area and where we will be staying. It was great to get out of Malabo and be closer to nature. I didn’t want to leave and go back to the city!
Moka is a really small village with people living in more of huts than actual houses. The weather is much cooler than in the city which was a welcome change. It also rains a lot more and can be very foggy. It’s cool to watch the fog roll in and out; one minute it can be foggy and the next it is completely clear.
We got our first taste of the jungle through a 4 hour hike. It was great to finally be in nature, but it was a pretty tough hike for me. The terrain is very muddy and slippery. Luckily it wasn’t raining; I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if it were! Especially on the way down where I was slipping and sliding a decent amount. There are only a few things you have to look out for while on the trails: traps which are set up for snakes or small mammals, snakes themselves (for the most part they don’t want anything to do with you and they are more of a concern at night), and most of all, the ants. The ants are pretty feisty. They’ll climb onto your shoes and into your clothes and bite you so you have to be pretty vigilant about checking for them.
When we reached the top of our hike, we enjoyed the view of a huge lake. The original plan was to hike down to the lake itself, but it takes about an hour to do that and we were running out of daylight. We decided we want to go back to that spot and camp out for a couple of nights so we’ll probably hike down to the lake then. After resting for a little while we made our way down and headed to the house.
After our hike we went to Kareem’s house – a very nice, funny Syrian guy who also works for BBPP. There are actually a lot of Syrians on the island; they do construction work (it’s the same with Chinese people, there are a lot of them here also doing construction). We enjoyed a feast of chicken and rice, beef kebabs, sausages, salad, fries, tzastiki sauce, and other things I can’t even remember. The food was awesome, especially after hiking and eating a lot of the same stuff for a while. We had heard stories about Kareem’s friend Machmud (no idea how to spell his name) killing a cow by tying a rope to its leg, throwing the rope over a tree, and tying the rope to his truck. He then drove so that the cow was hanging from the tree; then he went and slit its throat. Pretty brutal. We had heard this story one of the first nights here, and we finally met the infamous Machmud and learned that the delicious beef kebabs we enjoyed with dinner were from that cow. He was a pretty funny guy, he had a hookah to himself and barely ever stopped to breathe. He also cooked the majority of our dinner.
It’s funny how generous and hospitable the Syrians are. If you finish your plate, they’ll just keep piling more food on. If you don’t want any more you have to leave some on your plate, otherwise they’ll never stop. It’s the same with beer. If you finish one, they’ll just give you another.
When we got back from Kareem’s we went on a short night walk. The stars in Moka are amazing (when it’s a clear night, which it was – sometimes it can be really hazy) because there’s no light pollution. Andrew, the director of the research station at Moka (yes, there’s two Andrews), found two chameleons in a tree: one male and one female. We held them and checked them out for a little while. They are so stinkin’ cute and little. After bothering them for a little while we put them back in their tree and let them be. Can’t wait to do some real research on the little dudes! It had been a long day so we headed to bed. This time around we slept inside in beds but when we come next we’ll be camping outside in tents.
On Sunday morning we just lounged around. In the afternoon, some men from Marathon oil came and barbequed lots of food – sausages, chicken, corn on the cob, three types of fish, and even some filet. Another delicious feast! We also hung out with an adorable stray dog that apparently hangs out there a lot. His name’s Titi/Abdul (he has two names, I prefer Abdul haha). Afterwards the UNGE bus came to pick us up and back to Malabo we went. Can't wait to get back to Moka though.
Moka is a really small village with people living in more of huts than actual houses. The weather is much cooler than in the city which was a welcome change. It also rains a lot more and can be very foggy. It’s cool to watch the fog roll in and out; one minute it can be foggy and the next it is completely clear.
We got our first taste of the jungle through a 4 hour hike. It was great to finally be in nature, but it was a pretty tough hike for me. The terrain is very muddy and slippery. Luckily it wasn’t raining; I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if it were! Especially on the way down where I was slipping and sliding a decent amount. There are only a few things you have to look out for while on the trails: traps which are set up for snakes or small mammals, snakes themselves (for the most part they don’t want anything to do with you and they are more of a concern at night), and most of all, the ants. The ants are pretty feisty. They’ll climb onto your shoes and into your clothes and bite you so you have to be pretty vigilant about checking for them.
When we reached the top of our hike, we enjoyed the view of a huge lake. The original plan was to hike down to the lake itself, but it takes about an hour to do that and we were running out of daylight. We decided we want to go back to that spot and camp out for a couple of nights so we’ll probably hike down to the lake then. After resting for a little while we made our way down and headed to the house.
After our hike we went to Kareem’s house – a very nice, funny Syrian guy who also works for BBPP. There are actually a lot of Syrians on the island; they do construction work (it’s the same with Chinese people, there are a lot of them here also doing construction). We enjoyed a feast of chicken and rice, beef kebabs, sausages, salad, fries, tzastiki sauce, and other things I can’t even remember. The food was awesome, especially after hiking and eating a lot of the same stuff for a while. We had heard stories about Kareem’s friend Machmud (no idea how to spell his name) killing a cow by tying a rope to its leg, throwing the rope over a tree, and tying the rope to his truck. He then drove so that the cow was hanging from the tree; then he went and slit its throat. Pretty brutal. We had heard this story one of the first nights here, and we finally met the infamous Machmud and learned that the delicious beef kebabs we enjoyed with dinner were from that cow. He was a pretty funny guy, he had a hookah to himself and barely ever stopped to breathe. He also cooked the majority of our dinner.
It’s funny how generous and hospitable the Syrians are. If you finish your plate, they’ll just keep piling more food on. If you don’t want any more you have to leave some on your plate, otherwise they’ll never stop. It’s the same with beer. If you finish one, they’ll just give you another.
When we got back from Kareem’s we went on a short night walk. The stars in Moka are amazing (when it’s a clear night, which it was – sometimes it can be really hazy) because there’s no light pollution. Andrew, the director of the research station at Moka (yes, there’s two Andrews), found two chameleons in a tree: one male and one female. We held them and checked them out for a little while. They are so stinkin’ cute and little. After bothering them for a little while we put them back in their tree and let them be. Can’t wait to do some real research on the little dudes! It had been a long day so we headed to bed. This time around we slept inside in beds but when we come next we’ll be camping outside in tents.
On Sunday morning we just lounged around. In the afternoon, some men from Marathon oil came and barbequed lots of food – sausages, chicken, corn on the cob, three types of fish, and even some filet. Another delicious feast! We also hung out with an adorable stray dog that apparently hangs out there a lot. His name’s Titi/Abdul (he has two names, I prefer Abdul haha). Afterwards the UNGE bus came to pick us up and back to Malabo we went. Can't wait to get back to Moka though.
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| We stopped to look around and snap a few photos on our bus ride to Moka. |
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| A butterfly I captured at our stop. |
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| The visitor's center. |
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| The research station house in Moka where we stayed the night. |
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| The view of the lake from the top of our hike. |
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| A house in Moka. |
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| On the walk back to the house from our hike. You can see how foggy Moka gets. |
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| On our little night walk - with the female chameleon! |
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| A teeny little frog we also saw on our walk. |
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| Abdul! |
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| The male chameleon in the daylight - you can tell he's anxious due to his dark coloring. |
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| A little snail. |
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| The ants walking in their perfectly formed line. They're crazy! |
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| Some Cebu (a type of cow) we saw on our bus ride back to Malabo - the same type that we ate at dinner in Moka. |
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