Gulf of Guinea VIII - Done!

The last two weeks have been hot, rainy, sunny, and full of some of the most memorable moments of our trip!
The remainder of the week following Easter we traveled to schools that are far from the main city of São Tomé first and then went to the main school in town on Friday. The Portuguese TV station, RTP,  came out to film us making our presentations - we were on the six o'clock news!

 Just to give you an idea of the crowded conditions we encountered - there are 72 students in one classroom we visited in a town called Neves that is on the Southwest side of the island.

 To Bob's right stands Quintino Quade who has worked with Bob for the last 14 years. He is an excellent teacher in his own right (English and French) and helps out as translator in the classes.

 We gave the middle school students a ride to their school in the back of our truck.

It is always a good sign to see some of our materials from previous years' visits. Here a student is wearing the patch from GGVI in 2012.

 The girls wanted to feel what my hair was like. They were so charming and lovely!

Roberta, me and Bob taking a break!

 This is a group of 10th and 11th grade students at a private high school that we always visit at the end of our trips.

 The main primary school is still using our materials - the poster from GGV 2011 has been repurposed. It was so worn that they had to cut apart the pictures - but they are still using it!

Here we were served fresh bananas from the school yard tree by the principal, Francisca de Ceita. We will be visiting her 3rd grade students (500) to start the process all over again on our next expedition in January of 2015.

 This is Andrew Stanbridge photographin the critter in the picture below - it is our mascot, the Cobra Bobo or Cecillian. An endemic anphibian that live only on ST.

 São Nicolão Cascade

 Quintino and family

This year our car actually has a spare tire!  No spare wheel, but there is a tire!!!

Now we are ready to pack our bags, say farewell to our dear friends, and head for home. We depart São Tomé Friday morning and will arrive in California/Nevada on Saturday evening. It has been a wonderful experience and I'm sad to have to go.

But - I've got a flight booked for my next adventure out to see on Tuesday May 6 for Kyoto, Japan!

Here is a link to the blog that Bob Drewes posts on about this project
Gulf of Guinea Blog

Gulf of Guinea Education Project - School Visits Days 1 & 2

Yesterday we began our school visits. Our team: Bob Drewes, Curator of Herpetology at The California Academy of Sciences, Roberta Ayres, Science Educator/Translator, Roberta Dos Santos, local teacher and long time friend, who lives in São Tomé, Andrew Stanbridge, World's Largest Photographer and I headed to the southern community of Angolares to see the 5th graders there. It was raining hard, but the road is in good shape so it only took a little over an hour to there. The photos below are a little foggy because my lens kept fogging up.

We were all delighted to see that the posters we brought to this school in 2011 are still up both outside and in the school office! The Principal remembered us and welcomed us back warmly. The kids were fantastic! 

 This is a large home just of the main road in Santana and across the street from the school.

Our school visits later this week will be more challenging because the schools are larger and there will be many more students. Here in the community of Santana we visited two secondary or middle schools. and 330 students in 8 classes. Here are some photos I took in between passing out books while trying not to pass out! It was very hot!!!

 The rain and humidity takes its toll on paint and buildings, the second school, below, was freshly painted, this one is due!

 We ask two students to come up and read a few lines from our booklet. When they are finished Bob gives them one of our stick on patches. We have 500 patches to leave behind this year - we are giving each teacher a few to use as incentives for their students. 

Over the last two years we have given out 1000 patches and we see them on many of the students' uniforms. The patch design is the same as the front of our book. I guess you could say that we are trying to brand ourselves!

What a difference fresh paint can make!

 The Principal at this school came with us to all 5 classes. Once he heard our presentations of the booklet, he totally took over and was having a blast introducing the book to his students.  

One of the things Bob most enjoys is being in the classroom and handing out the books. 

 Giving each child their own book is very important.

Músicas da Carochinha - Papagaio Loiro

This is a cute little tune that we are hoping to put our own words to for a biodiversity song to teach to our students next week. Does anyone know how to extract just the music from this? If you do, send me an email with instructions.

Thanks so much!

Biodiversity Presentation and Bom Bom Island Resort

After we completed our school visits (271 5th grade students in all) we put on a Biodiversity Presentation for all of the teachers and other interested citizens of RA Príncipe. Dr. Bob Drewes gave an insightful lecture on how these islands came to be so special and why they are deserving of conservation today. If you are into it - there is a FORA TV video of a similar lecture available here: http://fora.tv/2010/04/21/Expedition_Spotlight_Sao_Tome

Here is a photo taken by our photographer, Andrew Stanbridge during the lecture

After the talk we shared a delicious spread of cakes, cookies, juice, tea and coffee organized by
Estrela Matilde, Environmental Health & Safety Supervisor, HBD TI - Tourism Investments, Lda.

Many Thanks to Estrela and to Ana Alice at HBD!

Our thanks to HBD for being a sponsor of this expedition and for allowing us to "camp out" at the beautiful Bom Bom Island Resort. http://www.bombomprincipe.com/


Since I am now also a travel professional, I thought it would be nice to show you one of my favorite places on this planet of ours - Bungalow # 8 - where I treated myself to just one night of pampering!

To my delight, I was not alone in this room! (It's not what you might think!)
Here was my tiny roommate - Hemidactylus principensis, the Príncipe golden-eyed gecko. An endemic species that is new to science (2013) and named for the island and her citizens!

Good Bye Príncipe - I'll miss your gentle people and warm sunshine.

Gulf of Guinea Education Project, São Tomé & Príncipe: Príncipe School Visits

 The sunset from the beach at the Bom Bom Island Resort (HBD). Saw the green flash!
HBD is one of our sponsors and we are always very appreciative of their support.

 Fifth grade student checking out the biogeography booklet we presented to each class

 We added in a lot more information this year. Hopefully the students will share it with their family and friends as they usually do. In this way our impact is multiplied.

 We asked two students from each class to come up and read a little from the booklet. Bob gave each brave student a patch. Many of the students were wearing patches on their uniforms that they had earned the previous year from their third and fourth grade teachers.

This was our 3rd visit to this cohort of students. We will begin again with third graders next year and hope to continue the project for as long as we can! It was wonderful to see them again and to be remembered by them so well.