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American University of the Caribbean in Le Cayes, where we stayed before and after trip up Macaya, and where Enold and Anderson attended college

elaborate gardening in front of the University

butterfly catching sun on the warm rocks

main street, Le Cayes

Haitian license plate

butterfly outside the Ministry of the Environment office in Le Cayes

putting my backpack (inside the black bag) on the mule (Le Pret to Formon)

kids in Le Pret, they followed me up the hill for ~half a mile

cutie

mountains where we are headed

another view of the mountains from Formon village

house we stayed at in Formon village; concrete area in front is for drying coffee

Poinsettia

porcelain figures in the house

bed where I slept, complete with pumpkin pattern

Hispaniolan Cuckoo (Anderson)

woman likely carrying water in an old laundry detergent bucket (Anderson)

hiring porters and guides to take our gear up the mountain

Enold (white hat on right) instructing the porters

school in Formon

final adjustments to the gear before the long haul

Anderson taking a swig

starting the trip

lots of the porters posed for their picture as they passed me

Anderson and Jim

erosion (and hot pants)

trail from Formón village to the biosphere reserve (Jim)

"hard-worker" (as we came to call him) taking my pack up the mountain

Hispaniolan pine!

pine needle close-up

Anderson struggling up the hill...

so nice to see flowers in December

break time, the porters love breaks

again, in a "natural" setting

sun on tree ferns, approaching top of Pic Formon

waiting for the cutters to break trail

purple mushrooms

Hispaniolan pine above the canopy

big pine tree

I think I'm trying to ignore all the hanging sausage. (Jim)

and yet another vista; the coast is just beyond where you can see through the clouds

funky insect

common butterfly

and another type

trail through miserable vine that rips your skin up

lichen and moss

part of a plant

me next to a big pine

I like the cragginess of this old tree

interesting flower

camp on Pic Formon, night one

tree ferns and pines

Anderson on western ridge of Pic Formon--very steep!

up in the clouds

pine forest, near where we watched a pair of Hispaniolan Crossbills feeding a juvenile

we were above the clouds a lot on this trip

Enold talking to his family

taking a nap at the base of Macaya (Anderson)

walking stick! (Jim)

camp at the base of Pic Macaya, night 2 (my camera didn't work on Macaya so I'm waiting for Jim to fill in this gap)

Jim looking studly (Jim)

panorama of Pic Macaya (Jim)

our porters, taking a break (Jim)

Pic Macaya--we hiked up the ridge on the right coming toward the viewer (Jim)

taking in the view from the saddle (Jim)

clearing a spot for our tents (Jim)

Elvis "President" with his machete (Jim)

the view to the east between Macaya and Formon (Jim)

Elvis, ministry representative, man who taught me to shed pigeon peas, the Secretary

Macaya crew minus Jim (Jim)

Hurry up and take the picture, my legs are shaking! (Jim)

Enold and valley to the west between Formon and Macaya (Jim)

We still have to go up that?! (Jim)

starting up Macaya (Anderson)

Enold and Jim (Anderson)

Anderson and me (Enold)

south slope of Macaya, notice the burn evidence on the trees in the foreground (Jim)

the last push up Macaya (Jim)

mist and slippery fallen trees (Jim)

Enold, me, and Anderson (Jim)

one of the big Hispaniolan pines (Jim)

"Hard worker" standing on a fallen pine. Most of our walking along the ridge was across these slippery logs. (Jim)

Jim and me trying to estimate the diameter of a huge Hispaniolan Pine tree (Enold)

western ridge where we saw a flock of goats (Jim)

regenerating pine! (Jim)

flower (orchid?) (Jim)

looking south toward the ocean

Elvis made most of us handmade walking sticks--crucial for getting around on Macaya (Jim)

Hiking down (Jim)

did I mention it was a steep downhill hike? (Jim)

looking south over the saddle toward Pic Formón (Jim)

eating my special veggie meal right out of the pot (Jim)

another big pine (Jim)

I had no idea there were still some parts of Haiti with such luscious vegetation (Jim)

phew! we made it down (Jim)

goats inside the park boundary (Jim)

an empty street market (Julie)

hiking back to Le Pret (Jim)

more karst landscape, obviously very difficult to move around in (Jim)

looking back at the mountains (Jim)

Formón village (Paul)

deep trenches for crops lead to erosion (Paul)

notice the terracing--people farm wherever they can (Paul)

this is what karst landscape looks like--the soil surrounding the karst rocks has been eroded from cultivation (Paul)

another view of the karst (Paul)

small patch of pines near an old fort--a great patch for watching migrants and crossbills (Paul)

Enold and Anderson decompressing after the trip

Paul Rudenberg and family in Le Cayes

Coleen and Ima's family--great hosts!

Davide, Marika, and me celebrating before a great meal (Jim)

Ima, Davide, Coleen, and Sem (Jim)

Jim and me on the bus between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo (Jim)

eating a tortuga de pan with Esteban's family (Jim)

me and Esteban's kids (Nahun, Ecelsie, and Estephanie) (Jim)

Esteban's dog--"doggie" (Jim)

Christmas Day in Oviedo, DR with Esteban's family. This is Eselsie.

the kids were fascinated with my camera

all three of Esteban's kids--so cute!

me with extended family

Jim and I all dressed up for Christmas day

sunset in Oviedo

view of the ocean and Pedernales from the Sierra de Bahoruco

old Alcoa mine...

and one of Jim's field sites. There are Golden Swallow boxes up around the edge of the mine.

a large fritillary

close-up of the "cones" on the cedars Alcoa planted to restore the mine

Jim next to one of his boxes

we came prepared

and it only took us 40 minutes!

anyone know what kind?

pine forest at Loma del Toro where we heard crossbills every day

my tent in the pine forest, so peaceful

Jim making swallow houses

Gringo, ranger at the Loma del Toro caseta, assisting Jim

Gringo trying out the power drill

do you see that clear line of trees?

that's the border between Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republic (right) with Lago Enriquillo in the background

at the base of this pine is a Black-capped Petrel nest

watching Jim prepare to rappel to a Black-capped Petrel nest (Jim)

Jim rapelling down to check out the nest

Black-capped Petrel burrow (Jim)

another view of the petrel burrow (Jim)

follow the green grass road to Loma del Toro (Jim)

another view of the landscape

close-up through binoculars at the terracing on the Haitian side

there is even old terracing visible below the "forest"

waiting for Jim, surrounded by pines

nothing down there this time of year, maybe in January

we didn't stop here, but we did go for a sunset swim at Cabo Rojo with the Royal Terns and Brown Pelicans

Valle Nuevo central

Angel, range at the Valle Nuevo caseta, feeding his chickens

Jim pointing out a natural swallow cavity that was active last summer

Rum, anyone? seems like the local rum is more important than the town name in many places

Yoli and Jim working on boxes

it's hard to recharge the batteries in the field

drilling the entrance hole

pretty orchid-like flower

garden outside the small church in Valle Nuevo

"organic" strawberry farm in Valle Nuevo (yes, inside the park boundary and totally sanctioned by the government)

Angel offering Yoli and I some strawberries. Yum!

one of the plants Angel put in his special tea to help me get rid of my cold

some of the workers at the strawberry farm work here

water filtration system

another plant for my tea

another plant for my tea

darn it! it flew just as I snapped the shutter (mid-flight on the left)

lemongrass for my tea. It did help and was tasty, but the cold lingered in my lungs after we left.

one of the clearings at Valle Nuevo where Jim has a bunch of boxes

Jim right at home

putting up some more boxes

Manchita, to keep the mice out of the caseta. The rangers told us that they were going to cut her ears off when she gets a little older so that she will be a house cat. Their thinking is that she will avoid going outside because she won't want her ears to get wet. We tried to convince them otherwise....

putting a box on one of the few snags

Yoli on our excursion to one of many second houses of a rich senator

pretty flower, note the ugly color combo on the senator's house

kind of like reindeer moss, but stiff

we couldn't figure out what this contraption was used for

large wingless cricket that likes Jim's swallow boxes

box full of crickets

Manchita playing with my hair

dominoes! a VERY popular game in the DR

these fields are left after agriculture was abandoned and the park was formed

it was really wet and cool

casa installation

Jim in his element

los pyramides, a famous tourist destination

hmmm, not as grand as the real pyramids

site of a dictator's assassination

lichen hanging from pines, much different than the usnea spp. observed further west

view from the caseta at Valle Nuevo

A-frame house with a dormer, kind of out of place

Yoli and I dressed up for New Year's at Yoli's parents (Jim)

view of the mountains in the Cordillera Central, heading towards Pico Duarte, the highest peak in the Caribbean

road into Monabao

lots of big rivers to cross

the trail is really well-defined because most people hire mules to take their gear (and them) up the mountain

this forest was great for birding

hmm, I must be taking too many pictures

jimmied radio--very creative

the Caseta at Los Tablones

cooking over the fire at the base of Pico Duarte (Jim)

more of the mossy pines

butterfly, looks a lot like the ones I took photos of on Macaya

isn't this majestic?

do you see the clear-wing butterflies?

the forest around Pico Duarte is so lush, I plan to go back to do the whole hike to the summit someday (Jim)

getting oranges

Jim can't resist climbing

The trek to the summit. I really want to return to finish this hike.

Our guide and his family. He also remembered guiding my PhD advisor, Craig Benkman, in the late 80s. (Jim)

Julie Hart
photos

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