6. Leaving Kolombangara

A river with rocks

By CHRIS FILARDI Photo by Fred Oliver We left Kolombangara on our first clear morning. By midday, gushing rain transformed the lower-elevation forests into torrents of braided streams that formed and reticulated as we wandered, obliterating all signs of our passage. What little there was of a trail was gone, turned streambed. So we just went…

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5. Waking in the Clouds to a Chorus of Birds

Mountains full of trees

By CHRIS FILARDI Kolombangara peregrine country. Photo by Patrick Pikacha Friday, Oct. 15 Waking at 1,600 meters in the Solomons is like waking in the clouds. Cloud days begin with a vigil of sorts: a slow and deliberate ascent up a ladderlike trail through the tangles to a perch that hangs out into the gloaming heart…

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4. On the Origins of Island Life

Little birds

By CHRIS FILARDI Kolombangara white-eyes. Photo by Andrew Cox Tuesday, Oct. 12 After 12 hours of walking, climbing and crawling through tangles of huge roots, fern trees and bamboo, our full team has reached and settled into our high camp. We are perched in a small cleft at 1,600 meters elevation on the flanks of Veve,…

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3. Journey to Kolombangara Island

Mountains, trees, and lake

By CHRIS FILARDI Approaching Kolombangara Island. Photo by Chris Filardi Sunday, Oct. 10 I awoke in the Solomon Airlines Twin Otter yesterday afternoon and looked groggily out the window. Below sprawled a bewildering array of islands, reefs and tropical ocean blues. On the short one-hour flight between Guadalcanal and my destination in the New Georgia Islands,…

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2. The Necessity of Conservation, and of Eating Ripe, Green Bananas

Community of people

By CHRIS FILARDI The capital city of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, really ticks to a different clock. For all its hustle and bustle, rattling trucks, scampering feet, laughter and clamor, Honiara is on Solomon time. As hard as you may try to keep a tight schedule, time in the Solomons tends to open up and swallow…

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1. On Guadalcanal, Studying Evolution

Green mountains

By CHRIS FILARDI The highest point in the Solomon Islands, more than 8,000 feet above Henderson Field. The uplands of Guadalcanal are a spectacularly mysterious place that few have ever visited. These forests are part of the largest remaining contiguous tract of wet forest left in the insular tropical Pacific. Photo by Chris Filardi Three short…

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