Cair Andros Nature Tour
It is early morning, and you, along with a small group of people, are gathered on the island of Cair Andros, in front of Nienna’s house. From that same house comes a man dressed in green robes, and after the introductions, Eldarion (for that is the man’s name) hands out packets of sandwiches, some fruit and flasks of water. He will be your guide for today, as you tour the island and other places, to discover the abundance of nature…
”Cair Andros is a geological wonder – just look at the steep sides! This place is what I classify Zone 1 for its particular features. Therefore, a wide variety of flora can be found just about everywhere, from the cliffs, patches near the river, even in this very garden. To the right over there is the wonderfully star-shaped, creatively named Starflower, or Hoya lanceolata, which, of course, is no relation to our present Captain.” The guide holds up a few flowers for you to see:
”And that over there is the Cannon-ball Tree, scientific name Couroupita guianensis, whose name is very fitting of its appearance. The fruits, although seemingly hard on the outside, have soft flesh and are edible.”
”Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, or the Oliphaunt yam, is famous for the extremely foul smell given out when it is in flower. However, it is known that the flower, when placed in hot water, gives out a strangely pleasant smell. No one knows why. But for now anyway, we had better stand some distance away to prevent being overwhelmed by the rankness.”
Leading you down a long flight of steps down a cliff face to a small space below, next to the River, he says, “Cair Andros has your usual animals – squirrels, the odd eagle, butterflies, but is more well-known because of its flora.” Just at that moment, a beautiful butterfly flutters past, and settles in some leaves sticking out from the limestone cliff.
”Perhaps I spoke too soon,” he says, as everyone’s gaze follows the butterfly. “That is simply named Wilwarin, the Quenya word for butterfly. It’s very rarely seen…” The butterfly soon flutters away into the wide sky, which is now turning a deep shade of blue.
Soon you reach the bottom, and stand on a little patch of very white sand near the Anduin. “This is a very good ecological spot – sometimes, river water covers this place, depositing aquatic creatures. But now, it’s dry. Oh look, there’s a hedgehog over there – another potential pet for Braganil, don’t you think?”
”And that’s a crab over there, the only species to live in freshwater. The eyes look a tad terrible don’t they…they often lay their eggs here, so in the summer, you can see tiny crabs just ‘waddling’ on the sand making their way to the water.”
”Well, I think it’s time to move on. We’ll linger here for a while, before moving on to our next destination. You may wander around to look at the scenery, or talk with Nienna up there, or maybe ask her to cook you some crab…”
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