Travels with Charlie - The Ghost Forest

Charlie and I arrived at Heathrow about 6:30 AM and were in the heart of Oxford by 11 AM. We had a quick brunch at the Giraffe Cafe before taking a taxi to our hotel. Charlie had a hearty meal of three huge pancakes, divided by thickly sliced bananas and topped with blueberry conserve. He took a photo before devouring the lot.

You almost get a 36 hour day when you cross the International Date Line from West to East. The overwhelming desire to take a long nap on arrival is best suppressed to avoid, or at least recover more quickly, from jet lag. Charlie's energy was flagging, but I coerced him into a walk downtown to explore our surroundings.

The display of massive tree trunks and roots out side the Museum of Natural History caught our eyes right away. Entitled Ghost Forest, the display of tree roots and portions of giant trees were from a commercially logged primary rain forest in Western Africa. Artist, Angela Palmer, brought the display to Europe "as ambassadors for all rain forest trees and to highlight the alarming depletion of the world's natural resources. Today, a tropical rain forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed every 4 seconds. An area the size of Belgium is lost every year."

A nice long walk in the crisp air of Oxford, England and an early bedtime serve to prepare us for the beginning of our program on the next day.