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Entering dryer land, we come across disturbing signs that humans are affecting this forest from afar. Everywhere we see fallen Gilbertiodendron dewevrei trees with no sign of regrowth. Fay says this tree species dominates during wet periods and may be dying out because of the long dry spell that has reduced rainfall more than 10% over the past 30 years. Many scientists believe the shortage of rainfall stems from the widespread deforestation by humans in other parts of Africa, which may have changed the continent's weather , patterns. Already the Ndoki is one of the dryest tropical rain forests on earth, and if rainfall keeps decreasing, the woodland may be doomed no matter what legal protection it receives.
By afternoon I'm all sweated out and parched, but still we see no sign of water -- or of the Pygmies straggling behind us. At one point Fay sees a thick vine and says, "Aha!" He hacks off a section at just the right spot, and pure water spurts into his mouth. I grab his machete and hack away but manage to taste only a few drops.
As the sun sinks and it appears that we will spend a dry and desperate night, we finally hit sandy soil -- a good sign. Soon we find elephant footprints filled with water. It looks pure, and I drink greedily. Fay's hand is so tired from hours of hacking with the machete that he cannot open the water bottle I have just filled.
As soon as we settle down to wait for the rest of the group, Ndokanda comes motoring by us. Not bothering to stop, he yells at Fay in Sango, "You fool, I know this place. Right ahead there is plenty of water." Ndokanda is right, of course, and we are left openmouthed, wondering what enabled him to recall this tiny part of a vast forest from a brief visit years earlier.
That night, with Fay interpreting, I ask the Pygmies how they would feel if a road were built through the Ndoki and led to the destruction of the forest and animals. At first they scoff, saying there is no way anyone can kill off the forest -- it is just too big. Then they get excited. "So that's what you are doing here," says Samory, "building a road. Great! Pay us well, and we'll build it for you." Joachine chimes in, "But you've got to build it in a straight line, not that zigzag path you took today." They then launch into a debate about how much they should be paid and whether they should be allowed to bring their women.
Listening, Fay shakes his head sadly. The forests have always yielded food and wood during the millenniums Pygmies have hunted in central Africa. They cannot conceive of the devastation that roads and logging have wrought upon tropical woodlands beyond their charmed world.
If we are dumbfounded by Ndokanda's photographic memory for terrain, it is soon his turn to be impressed. Using a compass and a battery-operated geopositioning system, we look for the two clearings. The system works by using signals sent from satellites and can pinpoint a position within 100 m. By taking a reading in the middle of a swamp near the camp (trees block the satellite signals), we are able to determine the way to the clearings.
It takes us two days to find and explore them. The excitement of discovery, however, gives way to disappointment that elephants no longer frequent these clearings. Ndokanda seizes on that fact as a face-saving way of explaining why he had not found the spots on the earlier expedition.