Exploring Saipan's Jungle

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers,

     I thought I would share my experience of exploring the jungle last Sunday as it may have been my last on Saipan or at least first to last time.  I am not writing because I found something cool while exploring.  I'm writing this time to share how much effort it takes in order to explore the jungle in a crazy place like Saipan and some of the experiences I have had.  I hope you enjoy the wildlife pictures.  If I am able to get out exploring one last time hopefully I will take more pictures of the plant and animal life.  So before I share some pictures from my exploration last Sunday, I'll share some of my experiences and hints I've learned by trial and error.
     One thing I've learned is to always pre-hydrate and take vitamins/minerals.  If I were to do hiking on Saipan over again I would supplement with minerals more often.  The reason for this is the constant threat of cramping.  I don't know if it because I was born in a cold place or my body just sweats more than others, but lake of fluids has at times taken its toll on me.  Potassium can help stop muscle cramping, but you need lots of minerals not only potassium and salt.  Salt only further dehydrates your body.  One day I spent about 6+ hours in the jungle exploring and even with pre-hydration two nights before I still cramped up and felt like throwing up.  Luckily I didn't blow chunks, but I realized then that more needed to be done and that even though I went into the jungle with 6 water bottles and 4 Sports Drinks (like Powerade etc)  I still needed more.  The heat in Saipan is anywhere from 76-96 on a consistent basis, this is further amplified when it rains or you are in dense jungle.
   Two, listen to the sounds in the jungle in order to catch yourself from getting hurt.  If you hear buzzing look around for a boonie bee hive they are so small a hive of 30-60 bees might be under a leaf or attached to a twig.  If you hear rustling, look for lizards or rats (yes the jungle has rats and they are ugly), if you hear noise that sounds like a human look for at the plants to make sure you haven't ended up on a pot farm or been in the path of a crab poacher.  One time I spotted a crab poacher and he was so quiet that if I hadn't caught a glimpse of his camo-fatigues I would have guessed it was jungle lore come to life.
    Three, always bring flags to tie to trees and put your own sign on them in permanent marker.  Mine was a black cross.  It is important to do this because the jungle can grow thick and the sky can turn dark making it hard to see your path.  Also, when I have been extremely dehydrated I have found that my sense of direction becomes almost nil and the only thing that has helped me get out of the jungle are my flags.
     I hope you enjoy the pictures of wildlife and plant life below. Click on the picture for a larger image.

 I know what you are thinking; I Photo Shopped this little guy onto a
leaf... No, he is actually real and sat there long enough to get a quick picture.
This lizard is called a Green Anole or in Chamorro a Guali'ek.  They were
first found on Saipan in the 1970's but may have been here longer.

This is an example of a boonie be hive that has been stripped of
its outer paper and only the comb remains, yet it is securely attached
to a twig!  If it had not been abandoned and it was not the dry season,
a hive like this might hold 60 small boonie bees and would have stung me
something awful.  To see a large hive on our blog type in "boonie bees,
Saipan" on a Google search.  The hive I had previously shown may have
 been ahoney bee hive, but I'm not sure either way I have seen much bigger on
Saipan.

This little guy is one that I often see on Saipan.  Saipan is home to a
number of lizard species known as skinks (no, not stinks).  This particular
Skink is not a native species and is causing problems for the local species that
exist. This skink is called the "Curious Skink" or in Chamorro: Guali'ek Halom Tano'.
It is called this name because it often investages disturbances on the forest floor where
other species might run away this one investigates.  It is often confused with adult Blue
Tailed Skinks which are native to Saipan because the adults of the Blue Tailed species lose
their blue tails in adulthood and appear brown like this species.  This picture helps me identify
it as a foreign species because all other skink species in the Marianas have 5 front toes.  This
species only  has 4.  It is as shame that it is causing problems for the young Blue Tailed Skinks because
that species is so beautiful.  In the jungle you see Blue Tails all the time as they are a bright neon blue.

A really cool orb weaving spider that almost looks like a tick
if it weren't for the fact that it was decorating my backpack with its
web skills.  Can you see the web on my backpack?  

Sometimes I forget that even though WWII is over the war among the ant species of Saipan
is always in full swing.  I believe these are fire ants that are taking the dead  body of a large ant to their
nest for eating.  Don't let them get on your feet as they do swarm and bit a little.

One of the most common spiders we have on Saipan... Not sure of their name but they are  just
about everywhere. 

I like the color contrast of this decaying fruit.... I believe it is a Jackfruit that has
become too ripe and is rotting.  

A cool picture of a hollow tree trunk that looks like an upside down
scream face.

The thickness of the jungle on Saipan even during dry season!  You
can barely see my orange flags weaving down the slope.

This may not look like much but all of those white branches are
thorn bushes I had to chop through to make progress up to the top of the hill
I  was trying to scale.

This is a view of the road leading to Suicide cliff from the trail I was blazing on Sunday.
I will maybe try to explore further up suicide and try and find the path that leads to the bottom of  the cliff
from the right side of the road.  We'll see it may be that farm fields are in the way or I may not have time before I leave to explore its dense jungle.