Tropical Depression: oh-pie-ooh'-la Here are some photos of a snail trip I went on in February. It's a place called Opaeula. We were helicoptered in and dropped off at this cabin for 3 days.
It was De-Luxe! Our mission was to hike the fenceline for several miles, drop down to a perennial stream and then search for snails as we followed the stream to it's origin. There are no trails in places like this and often we were separated from eachother for long periods of time. Occasionally you let out a 'hoo-whee' (kind of like a Hawaiian 'woot') to get your bearings and make sure you're not wandering off from the rest of the team. (Team Snail!)
Here is a picture where you can see the fenceline on the right of the picture. Notice how it goes srtraight up.
In that little bowl is a waterfall with a great little pool that is freezing cold. We went for a swim the morning of our last day. Flappin' panties, there ya go.
By the third day we had to abandon the search for the stream origin because we had to meet the helicopter at the landing zone (LZ) and also meet up with a couple of other teams doing other surveys. Plus the weather was getting bad at the summit. We ended up having to sprint hike to another place where we quickly MADE an LZ. The heli pilot is the most kick ass anywhere in the islands. If you ever have to fly in a helicopter hopefully your pilot will be ex-military.They can fly in any conditions and get you there safely and they even know the best way to crash.
But without any further hesitation...here is the gorgeous Achatinella lila.
