Sarah's Travel Blog

2009-02-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

In search of the Maca Tobiano

I have decided that in addition to doing the normal trekking circuits that everyone else is doing here in Patagonia, I am going to seek out one of the world´s rarest birds, the Hooded Greebe. Many people have spent a significant amount of time trying to find this bird, and many have failed. Here is an account of my attempt so far:

Day One
I agreed to meet my new friends from France, Switzerland, Canada, and Northern Ireland for breakfast at the hostel. Funny enough, it was raining and the three women solo travelers (including me) were all camping and the two men had wimped out and were staying in the hostel. We went for a luxurious breakfast at the gas station which makes eggs and REAL coffee and we had so much fun chatting, that the morning slipped away from us. By the time we hit the road, it was afternoon and we walked out of town along the highway to try and hitchike. No one wants to pick up hitchikers here, and I don´t think four people with packs stood a chance together. After a few hours, the Swiss girl decided to go on ahead and look for a ride by herself, the French girl decided to go to a different city and the Irish guy and I went to look for a bus. I was informed at the bus station that no bus would dare to drop me off in the middle of nowhere to look for a rare bird because of liability issues with leaving tourists in the middle of nowhere. The Irish guy was told that there were no buses until Tuesday, and the French girl had purchased a ticket for the next morning. The French girl and I headed off to the nature preserve which was flooded but filled with geese and flamingos and ducks. On the way back, we found a tiny museum about the history of Patagonia, and I decided that I wanted to stop there for awhile. The man at the museum had lived in the area for some time, knew of this rare bird, and advised me that I do not dare travel to find it without taking a 3-4 day supply of water, food, and full camping gear. He gave me better directions to get to the exact spot. That night, we met up with the Irish guy and made a pasta dinner in the campground. They both went to bed early, and I decided to go to the free rock concert at the other end of town. I never made it to the rock concert as I was stopped by the ice cream store that has the extra dark chocolate yuminess. As I ate my tiny cone and watched the amazing firework show, I chatted with my campground neighbors the hippy troupe of jewelry vendors who schooled me on the art of hitchking in Argentina. One of them has been hitchiking for almost 20 years here and never takes buses. She takes her daughter with her who is around 4 years old and assures me she has never had any issues. We learn later that the swiss girl has been picked up by a trucker and has arrived safely in Rio Gallegos.

Day Two
I meant to wake up early, pack camp and head out on the road to find a ride, but the weather is awful. The idea of heading out into the middle of nowhere during a giant storm just seems stupid, so I´m hanging out at the internet cafe and spending all my money on coffees. As much as I´m enjoying the camp with the bathroom that I share with 500 people, I was seriously happy to receive an e-mail from my new friend Mario the high school teacher who I met on a fishing trip down south. He lives here in town, and I´m hoping that there might be storm free lodging somehow involved. Tomorrow, I will try and figure out the best way to get to nowhere with the help of a local!

2009-01-23T18:27:00.001-08:00

This trip has been absolutely phenomenal. I cannot describe in words
or pictures or even video the vast wildlife paradise I have been
traversing over the last month. It is a seriously hopeful thing to see
pods of whales swimming around feeding, the whole ocean teeming with
life, and every rock covered in downy baby birds of every variety. I am
heading back into the real world of South America, but I feel there is
nothing that can compare to what I have experienced.

2009-01-02T09:56:00.004-08:00

Tomorrow we are going to land on Steeple Jason and then we're
off to South Georgia for a while. Please feel free to write and send me
messages (to Ben's address) and let me know how everything in the main
world is going. We have a packed itinerary most days, except for days
when if I looked at the computer screen I would barf on the
keyboard...but I will try to post again soon. Maybe if I barf on the
keyboard I won't have to wait for computer access. One computer, 100
people.

2009-01-02T09:56:00.003-08:00

The next day, we went to West Point island and hiked over it to
an even larger albatross colony which was tucked away in the hillside.
This one had all kinds of features...a freshwater stream where penguins
were taking baths, a large colony of Albatross and penguins together,
and big grasses to hide behind to get nice close shots. I tried not to
take 20398476 baby penguin photos, and failed miserably. The caretakers
of the island provided a proper British tea for us at the end, and in
their honeysuckle bush I found a large spider with a big green abdomen
and had to do acrobatics to get a decent photo. Later that day, we went
to Carcass Island, where we landed on a sandy beach full of penguins and
geese. The geese looked like herds of livestock covering the hillsides.
I went out with a group of botanists and found some really cool
probably endemic plants to photograph, then went snipe hunting and shot
two (with a camera of course. When we got to the beach on the far side
of the island, it looked like a typical tourist beach with some playing
in the waves, others swimming, some lying on the beach, and some taking
walks up and down, except there were no people ONLY penguins! It was
like the Cozumel of the penguin world. It was kind of like the opposite
of a nude beach in that it was so formal, there were no swimsuits, but
everyone was wearing a tux. We watched penguins slip and slide down the
sand dunes which was hugely entertaining.

2009-01-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

I can't believe someone would have a war over these
islands...although the penguins ARE cute.

We landed in zodiacs and hiked to a place where there was a canyon that
led down to the sea. Perched on all the rocks were Rockhopper penguins
and a constant flow of penguin groups going down to and coming up from
the sea. All the penguins going down were filthy and muddy, and the
ones coming back up were brilliantly white. It looked like penguins
were taking themselves to be dry cleaned. There is almost nothing cuter
than a baby penguin...except maybe a baby albatross. I was sitting on a
cliff taking the 4690873th photo of baby albatrosses and penguins when I
heard a slap slap slap and looked over to find a huge albatross right
next to me staring me in the face! I froze and it walked around me in
circles checking me out and twisting its head side to side to get a
better view. Then it walked down the hill and annoyed at least 40
penguins before finding its mate and chick and barfing up squid for the
chick.

2009-01-02T09:55:00.002-08:00

All I wanted for Christmas was a decent pair of sea legs/It's
not easy feeling green.

We got on the boat and took off for the Falkland Islands. The sea was
much rougher than expected, and for two days I didn't dare let my eyes
leave the horizon. I have never been sea sick before, but I've also
only been on small boats where you are not enclosed. The boat rocked so
hard that two large men who were not holding on, crashed into each other
and rolled together like a bowling ball into a group of women who fell
like pins. Fortunately, no one got hurt. I half listened to all the
lectures on digital photography, Birds of the Argentine Shelf, and more,
while trying not to barf. In the end, it was fruitless, and I went to
bed after taking sea sickness medication.

2009-01-02T09:55:00.001-08:00

Tierra del Fuego National Park

The next day, we all boarded buses and went to Tierra del Fuego National
Park. I joined the birding group. It was a typical birder bus ride
where every five minutes someone yelled "STOP" or "PARE" because
they had spotted something and all we did was annoy the driver. There
were a few spouses of people that were really annoyed too, and they were
all wishing they had gone with a different group. We saw a lot of birds
in the morning, and I got some nice photos of the Andean Condors. It
made me miss the California Condors that would be flying over my house
right now if people were not such idiots. I spotted the Magellanic
Oystercatcher. In the afternoon, we went to another part of the park to
find a unique woodpecker. It was windy, and I could tell that we were
probably not going to see a woodpecker, so I ventured off into the
forest and took pictures of orchids and bryophytes and fungi. Note: I
am super pleased with the macro setting on my new little point and shoot
digital!

2009-01-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

Ushuaia is the farthest city south in Argentina. We landed there to
catch the boat. The whole town is kind of an Argentinian Whistler, or
giant ski lodge, where you can buy an overpriced fleece, a stuffed
penguin, or have an overpriced steak. Flooded with tourists, this
southern port brings in major cruise ships full of thousands of people
who want to go see a little island with a few penguins on it. Just
outside the town itself reminded me of places in the Alps where the
plants are low-growing and the air is always cold. The first day there
it snowed -- and this is the height of summer! The best part of Ushuaia
was that the hotel had a hot tub, and we got to see a local fire-fighter
get married. At first it looked like a giant accident...horns blaring,
siren wailing...but then we caught up to the front and noticed there was
a bride and groom in the cab, and the firetruck was decorated with
ribbons. The first day, we drove over a gorgeous snowy pass to get to
Tierra del Fuego Island. After an excruciating two hour bus ride with
beautiful scenery, we arrived at Esteban's sheep farm. We saw wild
guanacos along the way (like a llama but not) and ibises and a beaver
lodge. The place where the beaver lived looked EXACTLY like Dagoba
where Luke goes to find Yoda in Star Wars. I was half expecting Esteban
to use the force to raise a giant aircraft out of the murk, but no such
luck. The hillsides were covered with wildflowers and I spotted a few
orchids off in the woods. Esteban's house looked like something out of
the sound of music with flowers all around and cute little lace
curtains. They then gave us a sheep dog herding and sheep shearing
demonstrations. One of the dogs was exactly like the yucky puppy in
Mexico with dirty nasty dreads and long mangy hair. Everyone kept
saying how cute it was and asking me to translate what kind of dog it
was to the owner who only spoke Spanish. I wanted to say, It's a
"Yucky puppy". But instead I kept translating "Mutt" over and over
again. The dog ran down to the river, got all wet, and then rolled in a
giant pile of sheep crap. One of the women on the trip decided this was
a prime chance to get all lovie with it and stuck her face down put her
arms around it. I wanted to suggest to Esteban that we not let her back
onto the bus. Loving dogs is one thing. Making out with a dog that
just rolled in a pile of crap is another.

When we got back to the hotel that night, the whole group had come in,
and we started to get to know all the people that were going to be on
the ship with us. I had dinner with a fantastic Scottish nurse who
lived in Saudi Arabia and went to bed early even though there was no
sleeping later -- apparently I cannot sleep if there is no cat, yet I
criticize dog people.

2008-12-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Tierra del Fuego National Park to go birding. We saw many local birds and also lots of cool looking mosses and fungi. The wildflowers are all in full bloom and it was just beautiful. I'm glad I brought extra clothing, because some people had luggage that didn't arrive and so I had to loan out some clothes. Tierra del Fuego National park is beautiful. It reminds me of Alaska in some ways. This afternoon we're going to get on the ship...I wish I could post photos because our ship is like 1/10 the size of the other two ships on either side of it. It's an icebreaker, and they are monster cruise ships. Once on the ship, communication will be more difficult and all blogs will be going through Ben probably. I bought post cards today to send to everyone who sent me their address. Those who didn't? Too bad. I love my new little digital camera, it took really nice photos of the orchids in the park. I have to go buy chocolate and wine now to take onto the ship for our month at sea. Love to all.

2008-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

If you buy Gucci you can smell like a 7th grade boy...

Lately, I have been running into old classmates a lot. Mostly on Facebook, but also in other ways. Today, I flew from San Francisco to Atlanta to Buenos Aires, and was not expecting to run into anyone. We took an hour bus ride across BA from one airport to the other. We walked into the dinky somewhat shabby looking local airport and who is the first person I see? Teddy Franco on a giant Gucci ad plastered all over the airport. It was like the whole airport was his face. Now, Teddy and I were not exactly best pals, but we sat next to each other in 7th grade History class in Jr. High. Now he's all rich and famous and crap and probably has no idea who I am, but the ad is still funny. "If you buy Gucci, you can smell like this hansome man on the poster." My only frame of reference for how Teddy Franco smells is from Jr. High, so to me the ad read, "If you buy Gucci, you can smell like a 7th grade boy." I'm sure he smells better now, and frankly I shouldn't talk because after flying for 48 hours with no shower, I probably smell worse than a 7th grade boy. It makes me think though, would I rather be rich and famous and have my face plastered all over an airport in Buenos Aires, or go to Antarctica and see penguins? No offense Teddy, penguins win.
--Sarah signing out from Ushuaia, Argentina

2008-12-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

While Sarah is on the boat way down south, I, her cousin Ben, will be periodically posting updates to her blog for her, since she can't really get at it from the boat.

Sarah's current travel status: Sarah is In Buenos Aires on her way down south.

More details as I get them.

Cheers!

Flickr: celesteh's photos tagged with munich

2007-09-16T15:34:00.001-07:00

Flickr: celesteh's photos tagged with munich

Blogged with Flock

Fur Motorcycle

2007-09-16T15:33:00.001-07:00

check out this furry bike

Blogged with Flock

blog test

2007-09-16T15:28:00.001-07:00

will this show up in blogger?

Blogged with Flock

2007-01-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I've decided to include some short works of fiction in my blog. Did you get that TSA? FICTION. WHAT FOLLOWS IS FICTION. THERE IS NO WAY THIS REALLY HAPPENED...IT IS ALL A BUNCH OF LIES! This was a story made up by someone else, this did not happen to me. Got it?! So here goes:

Once upon a time there was a girl who needed to get from one country to another. She happened to be on a boat in a beautiful bay off of Aehaie (our fictional country). Her new found friends had taken her all over the country the night before and shown her a really good time until around 4 am, so when she woke up in the morning she was really tired and hungover. Unfortunately, the sailboat needed to get to another bay, and everyone on that boat woke up late and was groggy, so there was a mad rush to the dingy and everthing was just shoved into bags so this girl could get to the airport. When she got to the airport, she was planning on having a few hours to repack before the flight, but instead, she was early enough that she was able to go standby on an earlier flight, so she had to rush right out to the gate and get on the plane. The people working security in Aehaie were very skilled and talented and made sure that this girl did not DARE bring on board the 1/3 of a latte that she had just purchased in the airport accross from the security entrance. NO, she MUST dump out this small amount of latte before getting on board. So she did. It was a great flight with good views and the girl landed safely and went through customs and immigration in the country of Usahie without any problems. As the girl was looking for change in her purse for the bus, she realized that in her purse were one decent size knife, a book of matches, and more than 3oz of a highly flammable liquid. We should all thank the security agents of Aehaie for saving the lives of the innocent passengers aboard the flight, and this girl, because had she had those last few sips of latte, she might have been caffeinated enough to accidentally pull out the knife on board thereby creating an international disaster and ending up in jail. This was not a podunk airline with a cardboard sign either, this was Usahie Air!

The moral of the story...if you make people dump out their coffee, they will fall asleep and forget to use the 3 inch blade you let them bring on board.

(This is a purely fictional story, any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental and has no basis in reality whatsoever)

2007-01-22T07:39:00.000-08:00

I have been kidnapped by pirates. Fortunately, they have a half a million dollar catamaran and sunny dispositions.

2007-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

Computer dying....can't find outlet...perfect weather here...off to Anegada...won't have phone/e-mail for days. Having a great time. Love to all.

--Sarah

2007-01-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

Oh the craziness! I have to be brief here, because someone is coming to pick me up to go out in a few minutes. Everything has been non-stop. Partying, camping, hiking, swimming, more partying, hitchiking on sailboats...I have certainly been meeting my quota of 5 new people per day, in fact, I think I've been meeting 20 new people per day. We're on our way out right now to a tapas bar followed by god knows what, and hopefully I will get home before 5am. Where is home? I have no idea, home keeps changing, things are all crazy, but everyone here is awesome. I'm on Tortola. There is no water, only beer, so we are all dirty and drunk. So many islands, so little time. I'll try and blog tomorrow if I don't get kiddnapped by yet another group of people. We might go sailing though, to an island, or diving, or god knows what. Love you all.

2007-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Ahhh sun sand surf. I was unable to get out of bed in time for breakfast, so I went walking around town. On my way back, I ran into some guys I met on the beach from New York. We had lunch together -- I had steamed Yuca balls with fish inside and salad. It rocked. We then went to the beach where we met up with a Puerto Rican nutritionist who showed us around. We might go out marengue dancing later. Tomorrow I am heading to isla culebra to camp and maybe dive. While we were at the bar -- I skipped over some of that part...there were the most beautiful rainbows. It soon started to pour and we all headed for cover. We were under the shelter and the wind changed and blew the rain right at us, so we all four jumped onto the bar at the same time. This prompted shouts of "Yeah baby take it off" from the other people seated. We remained on the bar until the rain stopped. While on the bar, we took photos of ourselves hanging from the pole holding up the ceiling that went through the bar. I LOVE being a hag. I often forget that the beginning of the trip is hard. For the first 24 hours, feelings of loneliness, disorientation, and shyness kick in. You cannot be shy and be a solo traveller. It doesn't work. Being a solo traveller however is a way to help get over shyness. I have only made seven friends so far in the 48 hours that I have been here. That's actually a lower count than usual. If you want to be really active while travelling, five a day is a good number. Just like eating fruits and vegetables. I hope I don't have internet access tomorrow. I also hope someone doesn't steal my computer.

Get this. Walgreens here sells coffee granola bars!!!!!!!!!! They have actual beans in them. I was looking for a sleeping bag and settled on large beach towels that were 4 for $10. I suppose I could sew them into a sack if I wanted. I hope there are other people camping that are friendly. I couldn't bring my stove on the plane. Must rent scooter and buy charcoal.

2007-01-06T23:01:00.000-08:00

The Queens of Kings day

Coming to you live from Puerto Rico! I know I missed a few trips along the way... Ghana, Hawaii, etc. There really was limited e-mail access in Ghana though, and Hawaii had wireless everywhere so it was just like being at home.

This just in...I do not have the biggest butt of any white girl! She was wearing string underwear, spandex, and stilleto heals. Someone should have just said NO. I really wanted to walk up and do the train station impression, "You have the biggest ass of any white girl I have ever seen! I can't believe my eyes!" She probably wouldn't have found it as funny as I did. It was a moment that I was wishing I had a camera phone. Had I pulled out the DSLR with the 300mm lens, I think she would have noticed. You'll all just have to trust me.

Anyway, PUERTO RICO.
The plane flight was one of the worst I have ever had. I was in between the screaming baby and the cookie cutter tourist couple on their way to a resort. Half the plane was full of indian medical school students who didn't get into medical school in the US, and therefore are now going to med school in the USVI because that's still technically US soil. Loopholes, loopholes. So out of several hundred medical school students all sleeping quietly, somehow I ended up next to this really irritating couple who talked the whole damn time. They were worse than the screaming baby. "When I get to the hotel, I'm going to put on my bikini right away and order one of those large rum drinks with the umbrella in it...When we get to the hotel we should find a place for lunch and then walk around exploring (the hotel) and then unpack, and then..." For FOUR HOURS! I had to listen to these people talking about their hotel. It was very clear that they did not plan on leaving their hotel at any point.

My luggage was an hour late, and my cell phone did not have reception IN the airport, so in the process of trying to get a hold of Jose, I had the priviledge of going through airport security twice, which raises my total number of airport security experiences to four today.

Enough whining about airports...I finally got a hold of Jose and he showed up exactly one minute after my bags arrived having come from the other side of the island. We could not have planned better timing. J and C took me around San Juan a little and then apologized profusely that this being christmas they really needed to go to a family thing, so they found me an affordable hotel and sped off to "Three kings day" dinner.

The funny part of this is that in spite of the fact that this is "three kings day" I have never seen so many queens. It just so happens that the only affordable hotel in all of San Juan is a gay hotel. I walked out to the beach and lying in front of me were hundreds of good looking men wearing speedos and hot pants tanning and rubbing oils on each other. SO, I chose a chair right in the middle of the fray and instantly felt like I had entered a TV episode of Noah's Ark. When I woke up two hours later, I had a brief conversation with the produce manager from New York lying next to me about lettuce, and went upstairs to change for dinner. Except that I did not change for dinner, I fell asleep immediately and woke up 8 hours later. I wasn't sure when I woke up where I was or what time it was or what planet I was on, so I headed downstairs where the gay bar was in full swing. There I met two drunk airline stewardesses who invited me to go find food with them. We found a 24hour restaurant and ate and chatted about all things vulgar, and airline crew drama gossip.

Tomorrow I am going to explore San Juan and I have no idea if I will end up going camping or hopping over to BVI, so either way I probably won't have internet for awhile. The embarassing thing is that once I hit San Juan all of my phone problems stopped, and I have a faster wireless connection than anywhere in sillicon valley. SO, in the heart of the high tech world, nothing works, but on remote islands, everything works fine. I have had this experience before. People don't believe me. The world is backwards. Speaking of backwards...it was freezing in California today and 70 degrees in New York. In January. The end is near.

2006-11-07T22:09:00.000-08:00

Wow!! Are you all still reading this? It's been awhile! If you work at Sun and you are still tuning in, congratulations! Dana thinks it's weird that I only blog when I travel. SO, I'm in Chicago. Well not really Chicago, but if I told you where I was you wouldn't have any idea where that was so for all practical purposes I'm in Chicago. There is a massive corn field outside the window and that's how I can tell where I am. Apparently in the midwest tuna and chicken are considered to be vegetables. Oh, and potato chips are a vegetable too. I'm sitting with Dana, and trying to get news about who won the elections in California except the only recent election news on the web is from get this -- China! Someplace called Xinxhau or something. The chinese are ahead of us in so many ways! Dana just football punted a beetle across the living room. We are sad that her ex-boyfriend did not win the election. Barack Obama is hot and he should run for vice president under Oprah.

Dana says: There is no corn since it is fall here and it has been harvested. hahahha. And Sarah and I are in agreement that Obama is hot. I have met him and have gone to alot of his events in the cornfields. If Oprah and Obama run then Chicago would rule the world!!!!!!! I did not know that tuna was a veggie either.

There you have it folks, from the lion's mouth -- chicken is a vegetable! It's time to alert all the vegetarians in Berkeley.

This is ltloink coming to you from Frozencornfields, Illinois.

2005-01-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Howdy to all!
I can't remember if I've written in a while or not. The team here has shifted to mostly men from being mostly women. This morning I had a dissappointing mango yogurt for breakfast. Instead of mangoes it tastes like aspartame. I also had a disappointing mango last night that was rotten. Aside from bad mango experiences things are going OK. John and I had a fun trip to the grocery store which is the iguana team's version of “getting out” once in a while. Right now, I am sitting near this baby iguana who is eating. She wanted me to know I was in her territory, so she checked out all my stuff and then left a pile of scat in my direction.
WOW what a day!!! I haven't had time to finish this because I have really been running all around! Now this guy Craig is coming down from the noth zone and I have to train him, so I will have to finish this later. Yesterday I ran all over town in the car, from the post office to DHL to the office supply store etc. Maybe I'll get to go diving before Feb. Love to all.

2005-01-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

Today the much anticipated moment
we have all been waiting for arrived. The boys met the girls. When the girls meet, serious fights occur, so the question was, will they fight or not. Well today some of the boys met the girls, and no fighting happened. They treated each other like old friends. One boy even followed a girl around, and she showed him things to eat. Almost everybody ate today in the southern zone. One girl ate almost all the purple flowers off the plants in her territory. As for the humans, we are all fine, and we had a few laughs last night before we completely passed out around 9:30.

2004-12-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

Last night it rained
today it's cloudy and windy, so the iguanas aren't doing much yet. Yesterday went well. OPP took a long walk, and everyone else stayed in or near. Gooey spent the night with a crab in the retreat, and we have to check today how that went. We also saw a really large snake near RBO's place, but no missing iguanas yet...as for the people, Des is leaving tomorrow, and we are all worried that we are going to starve to death without her fantastic cooking. John has started rumors of making fish tacos though, so we might be OK. As for me, I went to bed much earlier last night, and am feeling much better today. I also did all my laundry and cleaned my room, so I can at least find things. I'll update you all if anything exciting happens today like male/female encounters or fighting.

2004-12-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

We are looking at a loogi-thing
that is alive. It reminds me of when we found the free-living flat worm that looked like angel hair pasta. So it is some kind of animal maybe...chris is talking to it. We are going to name it Lougius carrii after chris.

2004-12-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the short delerious email,
but on days when its cloudy and cold I have all this free time to do stuff like write poems...on hot days, lizards move. A lot. Today it's hotter than hell, and I mean that litterally, because there is a town called “hell” here, and where I am is hotter. I've burned through about a gallon of water already, and we're only at midday. Ran into some spikey bushes and put my hand in a cactus a few minutes ago. As for the reptiles, they're really enjoying the sun. Glad someone is, all I can think about is swimming. I can hear the ocean from here, but I've never been in it. Last night I was on the phone with Fred sitting cross legged on the ground, and I looked down and there was an alsophis snake sitting on my leg! It was about 1 meter long, and I hadn't even noticed it crawling up! Gotta go, there are ants in my pants--litterally.

2004-12-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the Salina, not a creature was stirring, not a single Cyclura.
The stockings were piled by the boots in a heap, in the hopes that some of us might get some sleep!
The trackers were collapsing one by one into beds, while visions of maiden plum danced in their heads.
And iguanas in cages and iguanas in parks, had all settled down, just before dark.
When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I sleepily did go, for dozens of roosters had started to crow.
When first rays of light shone onto the floor, I knew it was time to head for the door.
When what to my half open eyes should appear, but a tall sleepy Fred holding coffee and gear.
With a long curvy drive going out to the park, the post-Ivan Cayman looked roofless and stark.
With a sharp jagged pathway and a long tedious walk, I knew in a moment it must be cliff rock.
Then gradually out of their retreats they came, and we quietly followed and listed by name.
Came Wymp and Yerp, and Burp and Grape,
Then Gypsie and Egypt and Yarrow and Wop, came Rambo and Wribbit and Gewpy and Gop. Out to the rock, to the top of the retreat, the signal receiver went beep beep beep beep.
Through trees that before the wild hurricane stood, we followed iguanas through cliff rock and woods.
So down the trail to find lizards I walked, to retreat 49 twas Oppie I stalked.
As I punched in the code and was turning around, down fell Oppie from a tree to the ground.
She was ridged with spines from head to tail, and patches of skin were turning quite pale.
A piercing with beads orange pale blue and yellow, this young female lizard was surprisingly mellow.
Her tail ringed with spikelets her toes long and slender, at this age it's too difficult to tell them by gender.
Her head was so torquoise it looked like the sea, from her look I could tell she was tempted to flee.
Her belly was plump, and her eyes so dark red, that they looked like squashed berries in the sides of her head.
She blended into the rock as a measure of stealth, and I laughed when I saw her in spite of myself.
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head, soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
She spoke not a word but went on with her eating, and I decided to type you this holiday greeting.
And here once again as the bugs start to bite,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

2004-12-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

As you may know, we had a 6.7 earthquake last night!!!
We were sitting around the computer watching dodo's film when the house started shaking. Fred asked, “what's that??” I immediately said, “it's an earthquake!” As I lept from my chair into the doorway and advised Dodo and Fred to do the same. Fred said, “wow this is a big one it's probably a three or so!”. I responded, “Nope it's got to be at least a five or more.” At this point 6red and Dodo remembered that I was Californian. So as the rest of the island was trying to figure out what was going on, I was saying, “Get away from the windows and into a doorway!!”. The iguanas are unfazed. It is super windy today and everyone is staying close to home. Fred has taken the day off for the first time in ten days to go do film stuff with Dodo. I felt guilty when I had to wake him at 6:30 to ask where the truck keys were. The phone company here has invited me to have drinks with other blackberry users. I think I want to go and ask about Fred's land line service. They are trying to get everyone to go wireless by not installing phone lines that were downed in the hurricane. Oh about the earthquake...there was no damage reported, but that's because any building that wasn't in bedrock, already fell down in the hurricane. When there's nothing left standing to fall down, earthquakes don't do much! --Sarah

2004-12-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

Report from the field
Today I am helping at the captive facility as Sam has errands to run. Chris and I have invented a new expression: “I'm going to pay Slugger a visit.” This comes from the fact that slugger sits in front of the bathroom all day. So it's kind of like saying “I'm going to see a man about a horse”. Or “I'm going to go drop the kids off at the pool”. Yesterday, Fred witnessed a snake/iguana encounter that was quite tense until they parted company. The iguanas that we released are just barely too big to be snake food, which is good because there are a lot of Cayman racers around. I stayed up too late last night entering data... This afternoon, Chris and I are going to spend the afternoon moving rocks to make retreats nicer for the large lizards. Chris says he now deserves a degree in rock moving.

2004-12-13T01:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the quote of the day:
“When cliff rock starts to look comfortable, it's time to go home!” If you're a geologist, “cliff rock” is also known as karst.
Someone ate my scharffenburger chocolate bar. It was nibbled like a rodent, and I suspected rats except that the paper was neatly folded around it and it was in the fridge. Normally I would say that I don't need that kind of thing, but I'm burning like 8,000 calories a day here and I can eat whatever I want and still lose weight!! Now I get to sit and enter data for hours while my boss goes to a dinner party.
P.S. To everyone, I have a sort of blog about my research at www.blueiguana.ky. I think it may be called reports from the field, but I don't know. Anyway you should all check it out!!!

2004-12-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!! The travel blog is back!!
This time, I am in Grand Cayman doing research for the IRCF (Int. Reptile Conservation Foundation). Here's what I do pretty much every day...
I wake up between 5:35 and 5:50, eat oatmeal or cereal for breakfast, get my gear ready, and hop in the car with F- who I work with. We drive to the Salina reserve and we always pass the sun rising over the beach on our way there. We also pass by heaps and heaps of former houses, trees, and cars that have been destroyed by the hurricane. When we get to the reserve, we do a strenuous 1/2 hour hike into two sites where we have released iguanas. By strenuous, I mean that you couldn't even get a donkey down the trail. The trail is essentially sharp stalagmites called “karst” which is like a treacherous honeycomb rock formation. My ankles are miraculously still in tact! Boots however look like they have been chewed by a dog --both pair. After we get in, F- and I go to different sites and I don't have human contact again until the end of the day. At 745 sharp I start my first round of iguana tracking. We have released 13 baby iguanas into the wild for the first time, and each has their own area with a wooden nest box that has been iguana tested and approved. Without the boxes apparently they just run off and die. The first iguanas poke their heads out of their boxes at a little after 8, and then I walk a circut from box to box recording their movements once an hour. Once the females get themselves settled, we will release the males, and hopefully havoc will not break loose. When the last iguana is back in her retreat, or hole, or tree as the case may be, I get to hike out and go home. On the way home, we get to see the sunset, and the destruction. It really looks like the island has been through a blender. When we get back, we crash on the couch to take off our boots and hit the showers. Then we heat up a british caserole that S- has made for us in the freezer and somtimes D- makes a salad. If the casserole has meat then I eat rice and beans which I made and put in the freezer. D- is a filmaker and sometimes she comes with us to film the iguanas. After dinner, we get our gear ready for the next day, and spend a few hours entering the data into the computer before we forget all our little notes. There are also usually other things to do like laundry, dishes, phone calls, and stuff for the project. We try to finish all of this by 10, because we are always exhausted. I am currently sitting in the bushes waiting for my next round of tracking to start. I purchased this blackberry thingy, so even though I'm in the middle of nowhere, I have wireless phone and email. Please email me. I can't promise to write back right away given my busy schedule, but its nice to hear from home. If you don't have my email (hotmail) ask around, I don't want to put it on the blog and get spammed with viagra adds.

2004-12-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

new contributor
Sarah is in the Caribbean now, helping rebuild after the previous fall's devestating series of hurricanes. However, she's not building infrastructure, repairing power lines, fixing roads, buildings, and the like... but she is saving civilization: lizard civilization! Unfortunately the internet access in some 3rd world countries prohibits access to this site, so she's unable to post updates. That's fine, I'll do it for her. I'll be doing that as necessary... when I receive email updates. But first I'd like to share with you a photo that I found absolutely fantastic:

Take care everyone, and happy friday!

2004-09-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Today would have been my dad's 58th birthday! Happy birthday Dad! Anyway, funny story, well in some twisted way I think it's funny...
My neighbor's son just pulled in our driveway with his large brown truck and his large brown dog. He was here three days ago, and his truck was in perfect condition. TODAY, it looks horrible. There isn't a part of the truck that appears to be fine. For those of you who know the "Truchler", this thing is worse. Really, it looks like he drove through a blender. My first question was, "Is this man OK?" So I asked him if he was OK, and he told me the story. He was fine, apparently he was not in the car. Apparently no one was even driving the car. He lives in the Santa Cruz mountains and he has a long steep driveway that goes all the way down the hill and ends in sharp turn where there is a cliff that drops about 100 feet down. He parked at the top of the hill, put the car in gear, and put on the emergency brake. Apparently, the emergency brake wasn't working, the car slipped out of gear, and all they could do was watch as their car went summersaulting down this hill stopping two feet from the cliff. What followed was a long debate about whether or not to just push it over the edge so that they didn't have to try and haul it out of there, but apparently it was decided that the city of Santa Cruz would have a problem with all of the toxic car chemicals draining into the creek, and would probably charge them to have the car hauled back up again, so they figured out something else. Too bad they didn't have a camera rolling, it would have made a nice clip for Ferris Bueller part III. Ferris Buller? This is funny, look up Ferris Bueller/Buller/Beuller on google. Even the fan club has no idea how to spell it!

2004-07-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Howdy, howdy, I have returned from Africa, but I will continue to post africa stories, and US stories (for you Africans now tuning in). This weekend I went to Mammoth for my roomates birthday. Friday was quite possibly the worst day I have had in a long time. It started out fine, I finished packing for the weekend, and ran a few errands. At the last minute, I was called by the people in Mountain View who I had been planning to ride with, and they told me that their car was full. There were only two of them, so I could only assume that their car was full of crap as were they. I really wanted to go to Mammoth and so I investigated public transportation. There is public transportation to Mammoth and Yosemite, if you can get past the idiots who work for Amtrak. I went to the Amtrak station in San Jose to try to get tickets, and the women there were the rudest people I have ever met in my life. After I had asked about the possible routes, the woman said I had asked too many questions, and she refused to answer any more. I only had one more: Are there any Amtrak buses that connect to the train going from Stockton to Merced? She said I had to go to the other window to talk to the other lady. When I got to the other window, the other lady said her window was closed, so I went back to the first window...she refused to help me again and said that I had to go to the other window. So I went back to window number two, and told her that the woman at window number one had insisted that I see her. I asked her my question, and she shouted "I told you this window was closed!" and proceeded to slam the wooden shutter down on my hands. At this point I screamed "Ouch!" and everyone in the train station turned to look at me. I went back to window number one, where I very angrily said to the woman: "Look, I have one question about buses to Stockton, and all I want is a yes or no answer." She said: "In that case, the answer is no." She hadn't even looked in her computer to see the bus schedule. So I asked a very nice lady waiting in line if she would please ask the woman if there were buses that connected to the Stockton Merced train, and the Amtrak woman called the police and told them I was harrasing other passengers when the woman tried to ask the question for me. At that point I left, and gave up on public transportation forever.

According to C-, Michael Dukakis is the head of Amtrak, and I think I'm going to write him a letter.
I am in Berkeley, and we are discussing the disfunctionality of the United States. Somehow, Europe manages to have things that are functional, so why can't we. Even rural Africa is more functional that the US in many ways. The only westernized country I have been to where things are even more disfunctional is South Africa. In South Africa it is clear that their inability to function is directly connected to racism. They are holding on to racism so tightly, that nothing works. I was trying to get my insect nets back from Nelspruit, and they couldn't figure out how to send them from one town to another. Even though the towns were not that far away, and there were a ton of buses and planes and cars going from one to the other on an hourly basis. God forbid they should create an inexpensive courrier service -- black people may use it to get things back and forth!!! Only people who can afford cars should be able to transport things! The US is so much like this, that I can clearly see that our disfunctionality is also connected to racism. Our country spends so much energy on keeping a lower class of people, that it keeps us from having basic services like health care and functional public transportation. Anyway, I could go on here for hours, but I have a hungry kitten waiting for me at home, so I better go and tell you about the rest of the Mammoth trip later. Over and out.

2004-06-12T03:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I have just returned from Maasai Mara national park where despite the interesting vehicular conditions I saw some wildlife. Here are some excerpts from my journal over the past few weeks: "Last night I arrived at Kikuyu town by bus and Richard's brother Achira was there to meet me. We went by matatu to his house -- it was the most uncomfortable matatu ride ever because there was a man who was transporting a windshield for a car sitting next to me, and my legs were crammed up against the engine which was very hot, and I thought it was going to burn me." "I'm riding down a dirt road (not really road) in a 1973 Fiat that looks like it was part of the offensive in World War three. They have fixed the broken windshield with stickers, and tried to put the dashboard back together with silver spray paint. Smoke is coming into the car through the floor which seems like my foot may go through at any moment." "I am sitting around the fire with a bunch of Maasai, and the man sitting next to me has hung his earlobes over his ear which looks like a weaving. The other man is very tall and thin, and he has huge buck teeth, when he coughs he sounds like a little girl. He has only offered me 10 cows to become his second wife, whereas yesterday in the bar I was offered more than 100. But that was to become a sixth wife to a very old man who had a lot of cows." Anyway, my trip to Maasai Mara was, well, adventurous, the Canadians I was with referred to it as the "Safari from hell" but I think that overall it was an interesting life experience.

2004-06-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to see the Independence Day celebration downtown at the stadium. There was music, dancing, a military display, and a parade, and then the president gave a really long speech about how wonderful he is, and then we went home. My favorite part was when a large crane landed in the middle of the field in the middle of the president's speech and just walked around looking at all 30,000 of us. I was one of 6 foreigners there. Did I mention that I live with twins? I think so, anyway, they are very fun, and we play a lot. Their father is a doctor, and I have had a personal tour of every hospital in Nairobi. Two days ago, we went to his hospital and took a tour of where he works in the urology department. We got to see all of these people having dialysis treatment, and I was reminded of Osama sitting somewhere in a cave on dialysis. Anyway it was yuck. In fact, the hospital is way way too crammed full, and some people don't have beds, so they are just on the floor. In one of the hallways there was a trash can overflowing onto the stairs with all kinds of biohazard stuff like dirty needles. Ewwww. One of my friends here is a nurse, and she thinks my bug collection as well as my stories of reptiles are really gross. I would take a large hairy cockroach over watching people have dialysis any day!!! Maybe I'm just weird. You should write to Osmond, he wants e-mails from random americans. He's a nice guy and we need to convince him that he is not right for the priesthood. Yesterday, I went on a tour of the insect collection at the National Museum, and spent the morning socializing with Kenyan entomologists. YAY!! The person who went with me was bored to tears. Thankfully, I think I have now seen all of the hospitals, and I am looking forward to going to the countryside tomorrow. Over and Out, Sarah P.S. Is anyone named Jennifer alive? I have tried to e-mail and SMS both J.D. and J.T. with no response. P.P.S. If you have a cell phone, you can send me text messages for almost nothing at 011 254 735 805379 You can also call this number, but sometimes you have to dial twice or you won't get through. Also, I turn it off at night which is mostly your afternoon. Love to all, Sarah

2004-05-28T01:28:00.000-07:00

sarah has visited the city of nairobi.I am osmond,i have been taking her around. I am a kenyan.I am in university. I hope to visit America one day. My email is:osmondmose@yahoo.com

Hi everyone, at this point, you have probably guessed that i have arrived in Kenya safely. I was sick for some time with flu, but I seem to be recovering well. I am staying with Dr. monda's family, and he lives in a community of doctor housing, so if I were to get sick anywhere it is good to get sick here. Today he is busy though, taking out somebody's spleen. Richard's family is treating me like royalty, although I have managed to help with the dishes a few times... In the mornings at 4 or 5am, a very very loud call to worship wakes me, and I finally opened the curtains to learn that the mosque is about 25 feet away, and the speakers are pointed at the bedroom window. This happens 4 times a day, and the house shakes with sounds of arabic. Actually, the man singing has a very nice voice except the speakers are blaring it so loudly, that you can't really hear it. On Wednesday night, Gladys prepared an enormous feast of rice, ugali, chapati, meat, managu, peas, and pudding (fruit salad). The next day, I went to town to change money and get a cell phone (P.S. You may all feel free to call anytime -- it doesn't cost that much for a few minutes 011 254 735 805 379) I can also accept SMS messages on that number, but I haven't been able to send them. This morning I took a very very hot shower from a jug, and ate some breakfast. Gladys made some donuty things that were yummy and now I'm going to see some more of nairobi with my personal tour guide and nairobi expert and exceptional laundry washer and business student friend Osmond. Talk to you all later Love, sarah

2004-05-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

Dear people that I miss dearly, I am back in Maputo after a wonderful week of beachside living. There are way to many details to tell without paying a bizillion dollars for internet usage, so here's a brief summary. Finished PADI advanced diving course. Went on many really great dives in Indian ocean, saw whale sharks and manta rays up close. Lived on the beach in a tent for one week and made a ton of friends, some very good friends from Italy, and Chile. Bought and cooked lobster, ate tons of really fresh seafood. Started dating someone I went diving with -- a sailor. Well, rather a skipper. Runs large sailboats from Mozambique to Madagascar. Met lots of locals, learned some portugese and MaZulu. Played with cute babies of people who lived in village. Spent night with locals in grass hut with no running water or electricity. Hung out with Irish, Swedes,and people from many other nations. Danced a lot at local bar, swam in warm clear waters, spent evenings around campfire telling stories and singing with friends. Went to see "Ismael lo" live last night in Maputo with friends, and was a great great concert. He's from Senegal. Then went out on the town, with safety escorts of course, and met peace corps worker from San Jose who was lots of fun. She and I told each other all our secrets that we haven't been able to tell anyone else the rest of the trip. Tomorrow, I will be on a bus all day to Johannesburg, on Friday, I fly to Malawi, going bug hunting for the weekend with an entomologist, then off to Kenya. Really wonderful trip so far, really good friends here, miss Ayla and everyone at home. Please take care, I love you all lots. Also, grandma/mom, please please send e-mail updates about Sam and yourselves at least once a week. Also, Mitch, please outfit Havanna as dive boat and meet me in Mozambique. Have skipper. P.S. Meat is pretty much exactly like I remembered it, I don't really like the texture. Goat is much better than beef, but also too chewy and stringy. Was tempted to try Gazelle yesterday, but didn't smell good. Meat never smells good to me. I have been eating it when I have to, but I think I just fundamentally don't like it. Exception for seafood which I can't seem to get enough of. Had pizza with mussels, calamari, extra garlic, and shrimp for dinner last night. mmmmmmmmmmm...Traveling alone is weird, because I think so far, I've only managed to be alone for 20 min or so, and only one meal. Anyway, it's 2:30, and the Swedenator is sitting at the computer next to me asking me to finish so we can go have lunch. Bye!

2004-05-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

P.S. I forgot to add that you can view pictures of Malawi at www.the-compound.org/pictures/malawi I also want to add that I really like getting short e-mails knowing what you are up to. hint hint. sarahdoty@ekit.com hint hint. Also there are a lot of young brits here that are annoying. Found some other solo women travelers though to hang out with. Love, Sarah

2004-05-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Mozambique!!! I decided to come here from Swaziland because everyone recommended it, and it is really nice. I decided that I needed to come here instead of South Africa, because S.A. is really stressful due to racial tensions, and I didn't feel like being around that anymore. SO, I went to a beach resort in Mozambique, and I am going to park my butt on the beach for a few days at $7 a night in a town called Tofo at a place called Fatimas. There is great diving here, so tomorrow, I'm going diving, and I hope to see whale sharks!!!!! p.s. whale sharks have no teeth. Maputo was exactly like I pictured it would be. If the dirtiest part of New York mated with the most run down section of latin america and there was a portugese sailor theme, you would have Maputo. Yesterday, my Aussie bus driver took me to an abandoned 110 room hotel for a tour that he has dreams about fixing up, and the place was like a five star hotel from the 60s that was just left to rot since the war started. There was still beer in the fridge! After that, we had lunch and made our way to tofo. All of the minibuses from town that had left earlier that morning broke down, and we passed them one by one on the road, passengers stranded until morning in the middle of nowhere. This is Mozambique, in the middle of nowhere there are land mine fields. Needless to say, I am glad that I paid the extra $23 to take a private bus. People here are really nice, and I can get around fine using my spanish as it is so similar to Portugese. I have to stay here until Friday when the private bus comes back, so that I won't get stuck in some mine field. Oh darn...I hate getting stuck at the beach for a week. Also, They have the best and freshest seafood here I have ever eaten. Plus they cook everything in butter and lots of garlic. Oh darn again! Anyway, I plan to spend next weekend in Swaziland, home of the nicest people in the world, and some of the most beautiful scenery, then I'm going to Durban, and down the coast of South Africa until I have to return to Johannesburg on the 20th to catch my flight to Malawi on the 21st. I will be in Malawi for the weekend to go bug hunting with an entomolgist that is a friend of Marcs, then off to Nairobi. I hope that you had a wonderful mothers day, and I am quite well, and I miss you all. Love, Sarah

2004-05-04T02:48:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I know that some of you probably think I am dead by now, but I'm fine, it's just hard to get to a computer sometimes. Anyway, my first few days in South Africa have been weird...I arrived in S.A. and was picked up by a youth hostel. The place was very friendly, and there seemed to be a gang of locals who lived there. I first met a group of 3 fun people from Denver, and a young brit doing volunteer work. The first night I got there was Friday night, and I hadn't had much sleep the night before as I was up late talking about moths with Tony the moth man in Malawi, and then drove Christi to the airport at 4am. But none of that seemed to matter, because I went bar hopping with the locals and the Denvers and we stayed out until like 4am. Saturday was relaxed, went to the mall and set up my cell phone, and ran some errands. Then Saturday night out again to go dancing. Johannesburg is weird. All of the white people seem to have BMW's or mercedes and blonde hair and are dressed like britney spears. For the most part, the neighborhoods are still racially segregated. Many of the white neighborhoods look like downtown Palo Alto, only more posh, and with a combination of 10-15 foot walls, barbed wire, electrified razor wire, and security alarms/guards surrounding each house. Most of the black neighborhoods look like the outskirts of Managua. How Nelson Mandela prevented a massive civil war here is completely beyond me!! Most white people in Joburg are terrified and they don't go outside. They travel from gated home to gated work, in secured cars, and basically live like isolated caged animals. Anyway, so on Sunday, I went on a trip to Soweto, and saw the museums and Nelson Mandela's house, and all of the main historical landmarks. I really enjoyed the museum, and I cried almost the whole time walking through it. The end of apartheid seems to have been just as beneficial to white people as to blacks. Anyway, now I am in Hazyview collecting bugs, and I plan to do a trip to Krueger National Park tomorrow. South Africa is really one of the most tourist-friendly countries in the world. There are hostels and buses everywhere, and they are nice, clean and friendly places for the most part. I plan to work my way around the coast by bus all the way to Cape Town. I plan to stop in Durban, Swaziland, and several other port cities, and possibly do some water-related activites. Hope all is well with all of you, Love, Sarah

2004-04-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

We’ve just returned from our exciting trip to Zambia…

I arrived to find a hot peach colored hotel room with puke green bed spreads and cheesy pink and gold framed glamour shots of wildlife. In my bed, there was a scorpion. Now, I am not afraid of bugs, and technically a scorpion is just a big bug thingy, but somehow, scorpions are more terrifying to me than any other animal on the planet – including lions. Keep in mind, I have picked up a scorpion before, but it was one of the ones that stings like a bee. So, I decided as the thing crawled across my hand, that I needed to catch it to identify it. I caught it very carefully using the jar of death, and let it stay in the jar overnight to make sure that it was really really really gone. When I mentioned to the guide that was with us that I had caught a scorpion that had been in my bed, he said, “Oh, most of them are just like a bee sting, they don’t do anything.” When I showed him the scorpion he gasped and said, “Oh no! That’s the really deadly one, it’s just like a poisonous snake!” So the moral of the story is shake out all bedcovers and boots and pants and everything else for that matter before you put it on. – Sarah

Now, my turn to tell my near-death experience. Yes, I too nearly died (Not really, but it was scary – S) , Sarah doesn’t get to have all the fun and near-death experiences here. So, we were wandering around some wildlife park in Zambia, in an open jeep. It’s dark, and we stop and watch something… Impalas, maybe? Some boring animal that we’d seen 27835564231 times before (heck, you seen one elephant, you seen ‘em all) and we’re all on the edge of our seats watching the impalas do something exciting like.. eat, or something. And I twist around and there’s a lion walking up. And she’s like, oh.. maybe two feet away from me. Nothing between her and I besides 2 feet of air. Okay. This is okay. She stops, she looks at me, and she yawns. And she has the largest teeth I have even seen in my entire life. Not Really OK. And she passes by. I have to keep thinking “She’s yawning. She’s bored. She’s not after me. She’s yawning. She will not attack. I am not lion dinner, the impalas are lion dinner, just because there’s a hungry lion 2 feet away from me is no reason to believe that I would be lion dinner.” But she leaves, and that’s okay. I start to breathe again. I turn slowly back to where she has come from and there’s another lion there. But this one isn’t two feet away, this one is rubbing against my shoe. You know, I’d never realized how BIG lions really were. When you’re looking at them in the zoo, your first thought generally isn’t “wow, that thing really could kill me in about a quarter of a second, couldn’t it?” This lion also passes. Thank god. I think if that one had looked at me and yawned, I would have had a heart attack. That’s my near-death experience – I almost had a heart attack in Africa at the tender age of 27. There are 6 of us in the car. All of us on the right hand side of the car have been terrified out of our little skulls (but OF COURSE, I was in the most danger because I was closest) and all the people on the left hand side were relieved that they weren’t going to be the first course.

Then the third lion comes up. This one, kindly enough, walks about a meter away from the car, but she does stop and crouch when she gets to the nearest point to us.

She left too.. at about the same time that we left. This whole thing only lasted about 30 seconds. And 24 hours later my heart is still up in my throat.

Yes, I know that scorpions are a lot more dangerous. – Christi

Well the Zambia trip was lots of fun, but we are very very tired because we sat in the car on a very bumpy terrible road for about 8 hours today. We saw lots of birds, I caught lots of bugs with help, and Christi got to launder money in a home owned by the U.S. government. She laundered at least 700 malawian Kwatcha. (OK that’s only about 7 dollars) While she was laundering money, I was learning how to tie a baby on my back using only fabric and no knots. Somehow it holds a lot of weight, I don’t understand. Anyway, we’ll have to tell you the rest later as eyelids are drooping.

So far we have established a quote of the day system:

4-20-04 “Maybe the luxury buses have brakes?”
4-21-04 “The ability to have bug-free eyebrows is frequently underestimated.”
4-22-04 “The bug light should say: Do not use in tropical areas near water”
4-23-04 “You haven’t really traveled unless you had a chicken riding up your pantleg for at least four hours”
4-25-04 “Deadly scorpions are not my friends.”
4-27-04 “The Malawian hippo dance is a rare art form”
4-28-04 “Accidental money laundering is much more fun in embassy housing”

2004-04-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

Traveling with Sarah is a lot like you would expect it to be. We're always 45 minutes late and covered in bugs. We've unionized the servants, and set up a recycling program for the country.

just kidding. about the recyling program.

let's see. I arrived to see Sarah about a week ago. We headed to Liwonde National Park to look for bugs. and elephants. We decided to take public transit to get from Lilongwe to Liwonde. (don't worry, just to be a little more confusing, there's also a Liwongwa too - headed there tomorrow) This seemed reasonable at the time. Heck, it seems reasonable now, it's just that none of you will agree with us on that small matter. Anyway, we headed for the luxury buses because.. well, okay, we admit it. We couldn't figure out where the non luxury buses were. The bus was supposed to leave some time between 7 and 7:30 am so when we arrived at 6:55 it was pulling out. We run after the bus, with all of our belongings strapped to our backs. All of my belongings consist of a Minidisc recorder, a pack of Minidiscs and a mic. Skip clothes, they just get dirty anyway. 2, maybe 3 lbs of weight. Oh, and my malaria pills. Sarah has brought everything, including the kitchen sink - wading boots, hiking boots, 2 bug nets, a bug light, a camera the size of a honda civic, plus 782354412 jars. Catch the bus. Ride the bus three blocks. Sit at the next stop for an hour and a half. This is so Malawi time. Everything opens at 5, but no one is there at 9. yes. The bus is pretty empty for the first three blocks. Pretty luxurious, I must say. Then at 8:30, 893475732 more people got on the bus. By ON the bus, I mean that the first 25132 got into the bus and the remaining ones got on the bus. But you know, all in all, pretty comfortable. Only 3 chickens on board, people were nice, no one was carrying rotting meat, and I couldn’t personally see any of the goats.

Took lots of pictures – my digital camera was the coolest thing ever because you could look at the pictures after taking them. Everyone wanted to see what they looked like. Bought bananas and shared them and now we have many new best friends. And pen pals in Malawi. Let us know if you want a Malawian pen pal, we have plenty. Some kid borrowed my “Lonely Planet Guide to Malawi” and read the whole thing.. It was all good.

The bus ride took 7 hours.

Arrived at Mvuu resort 3 hours late. They seemed mystified. “you did what? You took public transportation to get here?” and had the servants carry our bags to our rooms.

If you’ve ever seen temptation island (the reality show), which I haven’t, but there’s a point to this story, just wait.. there’s an episode where the guy and the girl or the guy and the girls, or whomever, go off to a resort thingy to spend a weekend in Belize – on the mainland, not the island… and the people are roughing it because they have to live in little cabins around a lake. And I know about this place because I spent the night there one night (it’s a long story), but anyways, the point is that this place is just like that place on Temptation Island. Little bungalows everywhere.. but in this case, you aren’t allowed to leave your little bungalow without an armed guard because there might be marauding hippos lurching through. Hate it when that happens.

(sarah steps in: )

Sorry, at this place in the story I have to interrupt, because Christi slept through the whole thing…What would Christi know about marauding hippos!!! The first night, we went to sleep, or rather some of us went to sleep and then woke up a few hours later to large grunting noises that seemed to be coming from the end of the bed. By loud grunting noises I mean like a tractor with a clogged fuel injector. So I was trying to sleep, but it really sounded like the thing was going to come in, so I sat up terrified in bed (keep in mind, there is no electricity, so I can’t turn on a light, and it’s pitch black) It wasn’t really clear to me that the hippo was not in our room until he/she started rubbing against one of the posts which caused the little bungalow to sway. At this point, I decided to wake Christi. Christi decided that the hippo was not able to get through the plastic screen separating us from him/her, and promptly fell back to sleep. I on the other hand stayed up all night, my eyes peeled to the darkness in the direction of the hippo sounds. At one point, there was also a warthog in the camp, which was a grateful distraction from the hippo. All this time I was thinking, where are the people who are supposed to be patrolling for hippos to keep them from knocking over bungalows. Three hours later at four in the morning, a guard armed with a flashlight, came and scared the hippo away. The next day, I overheard the ladies who were in the bungalow next to us say to the guards, “There was a hippo next our room last night” At this point, I interrupted and said, “Actually, I think the hippo was IN our room last night”, and the guard started laughing, and said, “Oh, so you were the ones in bungalow five!!!!”

Back to Christi:
We got to drive around in a big jeep and a big boat looking for things. You get on the boat and the guide says “what do you want to see?” and the rest of the people say “elephants! Hippos! Rhinos! Crocodiles!” and Sarah says “Bugs!!!” and I say “everyone shut up now so I can record”

I’m not sure we were the most popular of the guests.

Saw lots of things, collected lots of bugs (more about that in a minute) and made lots of recordings. All like you’d expect.

Except the bugs.

We’re in a tropical zone.

In a swamp.

So, there’s no power in our room, but there’s lights that run off batteries, and Sarah, using her wit, charm, and sex appeal has managed to convince the electricians to rewire the bungalow to accomadate her bug light. The bug light says something on it like “leave on from 6pm to midnight for best results” and Sarah, being totally and completely insane, follows the directions. So, we return to our quaint little bungalow at 7pm.

We can’t find it.

No really, it’s gone.

In its place is a giant swarm of squirming insects. Literally millions of insects, surrounding our.. beds. (And this is where I thank Gene once more for letting me take his mosquito net) There’s even a pile of dead insects about a centimeter deep, not because bug lights kill bugs, just because if you get that many bugs around, some of them will die. (I want an elephant light. I’m just saying)

And of course, to turn off the light, we have to get into the bungalow.

Sarah is of course too busy trying to collect the giant praying mantis and .. yes.

I got bugs up my nose, in my ears, in my eyeballs, down my throat… I really can’t claim to be a vegiterian anymore (okay, I guess I couldn’t before either).. get the light off.. there’s bugs all over our room. All over. Decide to head to dinner because.. well, what else can we do? We sit down, and the british couple next to us who’s been having a discussion about whether, when you are at home, should leave your coffee cup for the servants to clean up, or just do it yourself, ask us if we need any bug spray.

And we laughed so hard we cried.

The couple at the table on the other side flips out because there’s a 4 inch long cricket crawling on their table!! Sarah collects it, and sticks it in a water glass with a salt shaker on top.

Our table is generally avoided for the rest of the evening.

I do think that instead of having attack dogs, or buglar alarms, you should just have bugs.

Sarah thinks they ought to put a warning label on bug lights “do not use in tropical swamps”

Headed back to Lilongwe today. We managed to catch the non luxury bus, which for a small second, I thought might be better than the luxury bus… because it was smaller. Of course, there were just as many people on it. And 40 lbs of dried rotting fish (which got placed on top of sarah, for reasons unknown. And many more chickens. And a church choir. And a flat tire. Or two. And then we ran out of gas. But it only took four hours to get home because we traveled at 200 km/h. And I sat partly out the window because it was much more comfortable. Sarah had a chicken trying to climb up her pant leg for the entire trip. But we got some good recordings of the church choir. Spilled a bottle of orange fanta on myself.

Got to Lilongwe and fell down a hill and scratched up most of my right side. At the minibus site a pickup stopped and offered us a ride, so we took it. Got to area 10, and fell out of the truck, scratching up my right side. Am sunburned and exhausted and in pain and so amused by myself that I can’t sleep.

I admit that it is pretty nice to return home to a typical middle class American home after a long trip. Sarah says. I’m thrilled about clean water. Typical except that we’re behind a 10 foot high barbed wire fence, an armed guard, two sets of metal bars and an alarm system that brings a SWAT team, and the furniture is owned by our good friends, the US Government.

Yes.

Sarah’s cousin doesn’t seem quite as amused by all this.

Headed to some other L place tomorrow to look at lions for four days. If we don’t get eaten by a pack of lions, it will probably be a small miracle.

Cheers,
Christi

2004-04-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! My cousins have internet access, so for now, I can update the blog often. This morning I woke up to loud singing of birds in the backyard, this area is just full of birds. I then went to a coffee social at the US embassy, where everyone was very friendly. The place looks like a fortress, and they check your car for car bombs underneath with a mirror before you can go in. From there, I walked to the Ministry of Parks office where I inquired about my insect collecting permit. The man I needed to talk to was completely on the other side of town, so I hitched a ride there with the assistant director of Parks and Wildlife. I then arranged to pick up my permit on Monday, because the minister had still not signed it, and he was out campaigning. After that, I decided to explore downtown and do some shopping. They have strip malls here that are not totally unlike something you might find somewhere in the US. I bought some juice, a broomstick, rubber boots, and some postcards. In the open market areas, people would bombard you trying to sell things. Apparently this happens to all westerners, because they have money. Sorry, WE have money. Anyway, I then used a payphone to call Julia. The payphones here are interesting, because you rent an actual land line from a young girl in a booth. She dials the number, and then she starts a stopwatch when they answer, and then you pay her at the end. A short phone call cost $1.75. I hope the cell phone I have works, because that will be much cheaper. I wonder if you can use the booth phones with a phone card for cheaper. I then ate lunch at the South African portugese style food chain which seemed to serve mostly hunks of chicken in a spicy sauce with fries. I ordered a cheese and pine sandwich hold the meat "hot", and got a pita filled with a slice of american cheese, pineapple chunks, some kind of cooked greens that tasted like spinach but wasn't, all smothered in hot sauce. Actually, it was pretty good. I will consider adding pineapple to sandwiches... Then Julia came to pick me up, and we went to play tennis at the US ambassador's house. One of the women we played with had sent her kids out to find bugs, and they had caught jars and jars full. Among them were a mantid, and a full-size tarantula. I let the tarantula go, because it was cute and fuzzy, and I just didn't have the heart to kill it. They're kinda like bunny rabbits with 8 eyes, I just couldn't. I also found a huge rhinocerous beetle, but It had been partially eaten, and most of the head was missing. Tennis was fun, I was not as bad as I think I am at it, and actually got some points for my team. Need to work on the serve however...Hope all is well at home. Over and out

2004-04-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Apparently the last post did not go through...greetings from Malawi! You can reach me by my new e-mail sarahdoty@ekit.com, do not send photos, forwards, attachments, graphics, or spam to this address, or you will be removed promptly. Malawi is beautiful, great bugging, will post tomorrow, but have not slept in 4 days, and am exhausted. over and out

2004-04-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hello from Africa!!! I arrived in Malawi today, and I have not slept in 4 days, so I will make this short for now. There are some really really great bugs here!!!! and you can contact me!!! I have set up a temporary e-mail account and phone number where anyone can reach me. To leave me a message call 1(800)706-1333, press the star key, then the 2 key, then enter my account number: 1064690053, then press pound and leave your message. I will attempt to retrieve messages every other day or so. Also, I have been receiving so much spam in my hotmail account, that I have set up a temporary e-mail, where I will only receive messages from people I know who are on my list. I will not promise to check my hotmail account. PLEASE NOTE , If you send pictures, graphics, forwards, attachments, or spam to this account, I will immediately block you as a sender. THIS IS NOT A JOKE, I HAVE LIMITED TIME TO CHECK E-MAIL, AND LARGE MESSAGES CAUSE AFRICAN COMPUTERS TO CRASH. That said however, I would love to hear from all of you, so please write short personal messages letting me know what you're up to. The e-mail is: sarahdoty@ekit.com Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about my trip.

2004-04-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I have decided to create a blog that I can update from Africa, so that I don't have to e-mail everyone. To find out what's up just read the blog. I have no idea how often I will have access to e-mail, so it probably will not get updated every day. Ayla was upset that I was gone for the weekend, so she is trying to interfere with typing by sitting on the keyboard and purring loudly. So, I leave next week and I will be gone for around two months. YAY! I am excited and nervous and I have a million things to do! Over and out.