Friday 28th November, from Montpellier. There you go! Our expedition has come to an end, we are back home (or on our way, for those of us who are not home yet). The journey was long but went well. So there won’t be any daily information on this blog any more. No picture today, it is over! (translated by Lara … Continue reading →

Sunday 23rd November, from the APSOR in Sorong. The days consists in unloading the dhow, as well as cleaning, sorting out and putting away the equipment. A few more efforts and quite a lot of sweat, but the return is fast-approaching. (translated by Lara Denis, L2 SVC–Life & Earth Sciences–UM2, France)

Saturday 22nd November, from the APSOR in Sorong. The journey to Sorong carries on smoothly. We dock at 5:30 pm. The students of the ASPOR are on the dock, waiting for us. They help us unload, which is very appreciated by all the passengers. The dhow, a little slower, arrives in the evening. Our Indonesian colleagues arrived with the ferry … Continue reading →

Wednesday 19th November, from the Airaha 2. The morning consists in dismantling the camp and transferring equipment to the Airaha 2 and the dhow. The zodiacs are going back and forth to load the boats. Before leaving, the women gather to take a photo of the ladies of the expedition. Sylvie is missing, she went back to New Caledonia midway, … Continue reading →

Tuesday 18th November, from the camp in Kumawa. The mountain summit explorers (Vincent, Christophe, Antoine and Philippe, accompanied by Olivier) came back yesterday from their treck. The climb and the descent were very tough. Only Vincent and his guide, Deman, managed to reach the top at 1,425 meters, because it was so steep. The researchers and the guides had to … Continue reading →

Sunday 16th November, on board the Airaha 2. Sunday, a day off? The atmosphere at land base camp is somewhat peaceful. It is not a non-working day, but the excitement of the first days has disappeared. We can feel the expedition is coming to an end. We will be leaving in three days for Kaimana, before continuing to Sorong, then … Continue reading →

Saturday 15th November, from base camp in Kumawa. To begin with, let’s reassure those who are worried. We heard that there had been a tsunami in the area but we have not seen any of it. Today, I interviewed Yayuk and Arnaud, who are both interested in soil-dwelling and underground arthropods. Yayuk is specialized in springtails (Collembola), and Arnaud in … Continue reading →

Wednesday 12th November, from the base camp in Kumawa. The ornithologists and herpetologists, accompanied by Vincent, the “botanist-climber”, are going today to the peaks of the Kumawa mountain range. There is no time to waste because they plan to climb to a height of 1,600 meters. A team of porters is going with them, carrying food and water for the … Continue reading →

Tuesday 11th November, from the Airaha 2. While the land teams finished setting up camp, the divers took their first  dive (25 to 30-meter deep) not far away. They did not find many species, but there are a few interesting specimens. Gofir and Amir found a piece of sponge which is 80 cm in diameter. It will be analysed at … Continue reading →

Saturday 8th November, from the dhow. Saturday is being spent travelling from Urisa to Kaimana. We should have reached our destination (the Kumawa mountain range) without passing through Kaimana again, but an unexpected event has obliged us to return. Indeed, the Airaha 2’s captain has lost a relative and has gone back home to Sorong for a few days. The … Continue reading →

Friday 7th November, from the base camp in Urisa. While everybody is busy bringing down the camp, the ornithologists and the herpetologists are back from their stay near Sewiki lake.They tell us about their adventures. The terrain was rugged and difficult, overlooked by very steep, unstable and sharp-edged limestone lapies. Their stay was punctuated by violent storms, which were a … Continue reading →