Word: ndoki
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...have left behind the overhunted west bank of the Ndoki, where elephant trails are abandoned and overgrown. On the east side we see fresh signs of elephants everywhere. We do not, however, see the great beasts. Because of the vast territory they roam, and perhaps because of their ability to communicate with one another, they are the only creatures in this ecosystem that know about humans. They stay away from...
...charges, then abruptly stops and drops down in the vegetation to stare. Fay observes that gorillas favor the herbaceous plants growing in marshy lowlands and in places where elephants have created clearings. Farther from the water, the canopied forest suits chimpanzees. With both populations at very high levels, the Ndoki is one of the few places on earth where chimps and gorillas live close together. Fay and the Japanese researchers have even seen gorillas and chimps feeding in the same fig tree...
That night termites reduce Fay's one T shirt to tatters. This gives him the excuse to try his "new system," which means stripping down to a bathing suit and sandals. "Come back in two years, and you will find me completely naked, living in the middle of the Ndoki with six Pygmy wives," he jokes. He thinks that the Pygmies have it right: the less you wear, the faster your skin dries after rainfall and the less likely you are to get parasitic fungi and footworms. Fay has already accumulated four nasty footworms, which burrow under the skin until...
...second day after crossing the Ndoki, Fay announces that we are entering the "unknown," and we set off in search of the two clearings, called bais by the Pygmies, that he failed to find in 1990. Fay is certain that the bais are elephant strongholds. According to maps drawn from aerial reconnaissance, we have to cross at least 15 km of dry land before reaching the next watershed. Unless we find a stream by dusk, we face a waterless night after a full day's hike. Ndokanda sets an uncharacteristically slow pace, so Fay decides to shame him by taking...
...because of the long dry spell that has reduced rainfall more than 10% over the past 30 years. Many scientists believe the shortage of rainfall stems from the widespread deforestation by humans in other parts of Africa, which may have changed the continent's weather , patterns. Already the Ndoki is one of the dryest tropical rain forests on earth, and if rainfall keeps decreasing, the woodland may be doomed no matter what legal protection it receives...