After several days spent preparing their equipment at CEFE, the French Army’s Equatorial Forest Training Center in French Guiana, Christian Clot and the climatonauts took their first steps into the equatorial forest. They were accompanied by CEFE trainers for a final preparation session before starting their journey.
The objective was to learn more about the basics of life in the forest and the difficulties and risks involved in this type of environment. The group learned how to swim dressed in the current, to spot dangerous animals, to find plants to make fire, to be cautious with wet feet and falling trees, how to set up a camp, to hang up all their equipment, to inflate and handle their rafts, etc. All this without forgetting to continue to carry out all the scientific protocols the study needs. In the example below one of the team members measures his brain activity via electroencephalogram in response to environmental threats.
In short, a very busy schedule for the team members who also spent these first days getting to manage their respective tasks and, for some, getting to know each other better. Christian, for his part, took the opportunity to record the first episode (in French) of the Deep Climate podcast in which he gives his first impressions after their arrival in French Guiana.