Terra Incognita \"ter-a-in-kag-net-a"\ [L] (1616): unknown territory: an unexplored country.

AMAZING FLYING SQUIRRELS IN CHINA! RSS Feed

May 28 — Tagged , ,

On our China tour, we see the most amazing creatures: the Giant Red and White Flying Squirrel (Petaurista alborufus), about which little is known.

This species is found in China in the provinces of Shaanxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Hubei, Guizhou, and Yunnan, and in Taiwan. It is likely that this species’ southern distribution extends into Myanmar; however, there are no known specimens collected from within that country. It occupies elevations ranging from 800-3,500 m above sea level, most often from 2,000-3,000m (IUCN Red data List).

They live in hollows in large mature trees, and seem to inhabit valleys with multiple large/mature trees, giving them a number of hollows to choose from.  This species has low fecundity, with litter sizes of 1-2. They feed on acorns, other nuts, fruits and leafy vegetation, as well as insects, larvae and perhaps bird eggs (Lee et al. 1993a; Smith and Xie 2008).

There were three characteristics most noticeable to me and everyone who witnessed the remarkable creature:

1. Its striking BLUE eyes – really, really sky blue eyes that do not show up so well in photos.

2. Its size: much bigger than anyone expects, perhaps size of a raccoon….BIG!

3. The incredibly large distance covered in each glide.

They climb whatever tree they are on to the uppermost branches and then glide from there hundreds of yards to next tree where they have a hollow.

One of the participants on our trip, Nancy Miller, considered the Squirrels one of the absolute highlights of the trip and one of the most remarkable wildlife experiences of her lifetime…and she has been to see the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, seen Polar bears in Churchill, visited Antarctica – and she thought this experience one of the most amazing!!

Consider joining one of our next trips to China, in May of 2012.

~Ged

(Source: Smith, A. and Xie, Y. 2008. The Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.)

AN INTERVIEW WITH GED RSS Feed

Mar 02 — Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

by Frances Figart

Nominated for Best Tour Operator in the 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Award, Terra Incognita Ecotours is based in Tampa, Florida, and operates tours to Belize, Borneo, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Galapagos, India, Madagascar, New Zealand, Peru, Rwanda and Tanzania. Gerard “Ged” Caddick founded Terra Incognita Ecotours in 2004 after more than fifteen years of working in expedition travel. Ged worked for Lindblad Expeditions as an expedition leader from 1992 to 2004, and for International Expeditions while living in Belize in the 1980s. He has led trips for the World Wildlife Fund, National Geographic Society and the American Museum of Natural History as well as many College Alumni groups, the National Audubon Society and the Smithsonian Institution. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from the University of Liverpool, and a Master of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. As one can imagine, I had a hard time getting Ged to sit still for this interview as he’s usually on at least three continents each month. We spent a little time together recently when he had just returned from at trip to India setting the foundation for yet another ecotour.

Frances: Where were you in India and what did you see?

Ged: We were in Banhavgarh and Corbett National Parks and had some incredible wildlife experiences. We saw tigers and Asian Elephants on multiple outings, but also the monkeys called Common Langurs, Plum-headed Parakeets, Jungle Cat, Wild Boar, lots of Spotted Deer, Brown Fish Owls, eagles and much more. It was very, very cold in the mornings and hot in the afternoons. We will be offering India in early 2012, probably in February.

Frances: In a nutshell, what is the philosophy behind Terra Incognita Ecotours?

Ged: We are committed to making a difference to our guests and to the places we visit. Our commitment is to provide travelers with opportunities to participate in ecotours that explore the world with a sense of discovery and wonder, and to preserve our environment for future generations. We draw on our legacy of adventure, experience and knowledge to do this. And as we do so, we strive to create ecotours that are as enriching and memorable as they are comfortable and fun.

Frances: How did you decide upon the name Terra Incognita?

Ged: Terra Incognita was chosen as this was the term you saw on the edge of the maps drawn by early explorers to show that the edges of the map were undiscovered, uncharted or unknown land. I love the romance and idea of exploration this invokes.

Frances: How did the experiences and dreams of your formative years foster your leadership skills and shape your interest in travel and animal conservation?

Ged: I grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Liverpool, the oldest of ten children! We had dogs chickens, geese, pigs and various other animals as pets, as well as horses for riding when I was a young teenager. Always being around animals and loving them, I dreamed of being a game park warden in East Africa, Kenya or Tanzania. I even applied for such jobs there as I finished University. I traveled a lot within the UK, to the Lake District every summer with my family and as a teenager all over England, Scotland and Wales, plus a couple of trips to France.

Frances: What was the event that first interested you in environmental conservation?

Ged: During my university days in Liverpool I spent vacations working as a volunteer for the “British Trust for Conservation Volunteers,” doing trail maintenance, cleaning old footpaths, canals and other such tasks.

Frances: Did you have a mentor who directly inspired you in terms of your ultimate career choice in working to protect animals?

Ged: My first job was a zoo-keeper at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, a zoo dedicated to captive breeding and conservation of endangered species. My mentor there was Gerald Durrell, the founder of the zoo.

Frances: How did you first get the inkling you wanted to work in travel or tourism?

Ged: In the mid 1980s, when living in Belize and working at the Belize Zoo, I started doing guiding for International Expeditions as they started tours to Belize. They needed local people who knew the wildlife and culture of Belize. It was then I realized how much I enjoyed sharing my love of conservation and wildlife by showing people natural spaces and species in-the-wild.

Frances: What were the challenges of living in Belize long-term and what did you love about it?

Ged: The biggest challenge to living and working in Belize was the isolation and the fact that simple tasks presented many more logistical challenges; communication, building, even getting supplies takes much more effort there. What I loved was that you could make a difference, that my work at the zoo was helping to change people’s perceptions of wildlife and nature in the country of Belize. You become a big fish in a small pond when working in a small country like Belize; when I was there, the population of the entire country was less than 200,000 people.

Frances: What were the things you most admired about Lindblad Expeditions? What elements of the job did you find challenging? Were there aspects of the travel experience you wanted to emulate when you started your own travel company?

Ged: My time at Lindblad was very enjoyable, and particularly important was the commitment to excellence. Dealing with “difficult” people was always the main challenge! I knew when I started my company it was going to be important that we made a positive impact on the places we visited, that we made a difference, that our presence was a force for good, for improved conservation efforts.

Frances: What are the greatest challenges and the greatest rewards of being a tour operator for you?

Ged: Attracting customers through marketing has been my biggest challenge – and I am still learning. The most rewarding facet of the work is helping the conservation organizations and other partners we work with in each destination.

Frances: Empowering local people is a huge component of ecotourism and sustainable travel. Give an example of seeing local people become empowered as a direct result of your tours.

Ged: On our Rwanda trip last September, many of the group were so moved by their experience they asked what they can do to help the kids we met around the Virunga Lodge where we stayed. Most of these children attend primary or elementary school as that is required by the government. But high school is elective and costs money, so many bright children do not continue their education as they simply cannot afford to. I have been sponsoring three children through high school, covering their fees and uniform costs etc. Well, many in the group wanted to do the same; they asked about each sponsoring a specific child. So on the next trip in December, I personally took over some funds gathered by these clients to sponsor about eight kids through a year of high school. And we’ll continue to do this sort of thing on a yearly basis.

Frances: Can you describe an “aha!” or “wow!” moment where your clients really “got it” in terms of ecotourism?

Ged: Every single time we take people to see the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, people experience an “Aha!” moment, they realize their presence is helping to save the Gorillas. Every single trip, someone is reduced to tears by the moment. I have had similar experiences when we see Pandas in the wild in China.

Frances: And I understand you had your own “aha” moment when you got to meet someone very special last summer while on a tour to Gombe National Park in Tanzania. Can you tell us about that as a closing anecdote?

Ged: We were so fortunate last July to be in Gombe simultaneous to Jane Goodall being in Gombe, simultaneous to the 50th Anniversary of Jane’s pioneering work in Gombe and simultaneous to the visit of Lara Logan and the 60 Minutes film crew as they interviewed Jane and filmed the Chimps. Indeed several times we found ourselves being filmed by the 60 Minutes crew on the trails as we met Jane, and again as we arrived outside Jane’s house on the shores of Lake Tanganyika when we actually joined Jane for sunset cocktails! So we sat glued to the TV one Sunday night in the fall for the airing of 60 Minutes to see if we made the episode! We did not make the final cut, as not surprisingly the focus was on Jane, her research and the Chimps, not on our small tour party that overlapped so fortuitously with this filming! But we are in a behind-the-scenes clip that you can see here. The Jane Goodall segment begins at about the 8:15 mark.

To learn more about Ged Caddick and Terra Incognita Ecotours, please visit us on Facebook.

GIANT ANTEATERS OF THE PANTANAL RSS Feed

Feb 20 — Tagged , , ,

One of the most amazing wildlife tours we do at Terra Incognita Ecotours is the Pantanal tour in Brazil. The size is limited to 12 and we still have space available for both our
2011 departure dates: July 25-Aug. 2 and Aug. 2-10. Among the amazing species we see are the nearly extinct Giant Anteaters.

The name “Pantanal” comes from the Portuguese word pântano, meaning wetland, bog, swamp or marsh. The Pantanal is a tropical wetland and the world’s largest wetland of any kind. It lies mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul but extends into portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing an astonishing biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping support a dense array of animal species.

The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater and the only species in the genus Myrmecophaga. It is found in Central and South America from Honduras to northern Argentina. Its fossil remains have been found as far north as northwestern Sonora, Mexico. It is a solitary animal, found in many habitats, including grasslands, deciduous forests and rainforests. It feeds mainly on ants and termites, sometimes up to 30,000 insects in a single day.

The giant anteater is one of few taxa of mammals without any teeth even in a mature state. An anteater instead crushes insects it consumes using hard growths found on the inside of its mouth, and its flabby stomach. It grows to a size of up to 7 feet (2.1 m) in length, with a 4-foot-long (1.2 m) head and torso, and a 3-foot-long (0.91 m) tail. Generally it weighs from 65 to 140 pounds (29 to 64 kg). These anteaters are have a very keen sense of smell, used to locate ants, but are thought to have poor sight and hearing.

Habitat destruction is the primary threat to giant anteaters. They are listed as Appendix II by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Appendix II is defined as a species not necessarily threatened to extinction but one that should be controlled in trade to avoid overuse. They are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). ‘Vulnerable’ is defined as an estimated population reduction of 20% in the next 10 years. It is estimated that there are only as few as 5,000 left in the wild, and only 90 live in zoos across the United States.

MEET THE RED COLOBUS MONKEY RSS Feed

Jan 16 — Tagged , , , ,

This summer, we’ll be offering a new trip July 2-13 to Tanzania. We’ll be visiting the chimps of Gombe, made famous by the amazing work of Jane Goodall. We’ll also see the incredible wildlife in Selous, the oldest and largest game park in Africa. And at the end of this trip, there is a special treat, a visit to Zanzibar, the famed Spice Island, where we plan to spend a couple of days relaxing, with opportunities to visit the Jozani Forest to see the endemic Red Colobus Monkeys, plus ample time to go snorkeling in the Indian Ocean.

The red colobus are Old World monkeys closely related to the black-and-white colobus monkeys and some species are often found in groups with the Blue Monkey. Most are restricted to humid forests, but the Zanzibar Red Colobus prefers coastal thickets and scrub. Red colobus monkeys are primarily arboreal and are highly sensitive to hunting and habitat destruction, and have been referred to as probably the most threatened taxonomic group of primates in Africa. Consequently, this species is considered Endangered or Critically Endangered.

Groups often establish a dominant hierarchy determined by aggressive behavior. Food, grooming, and sexual partners are distributed amongst higher ranking individuals initially, followed by lower ranking individuals. Research has shown that attacks on red colobus monkeys by chimpanzees indicate that chimpanzee predation may be a major selection factor upon red colobus populations. When under attack, the red colobus males congregate to defend their group while the females gather their infants and try to escape. Larger groups of red colobus have an increased likelihood of attracting chimpanzees, however they also tend to have more defending males which makes it harder for chimpanzees to successfully hunt. Furthermore, while under attack, male colobus shout an alarm call that lets others know if there are chimpanzees or other predators in the area. The frequency of these shouts are increased with the number of females and infants in the group as a way to spread the news of an expected attack.

For every participant on this trip a donation will be made to the Jane Goodall Institute. These funds will help support the valuable work of the Jane Goodall Institute and their Roots and Shoots environmental education outreach programs.

HELPING RWANDA’S CHILDREN RSS Feed

Nov 23 — Tagged , , , ,

On our last Rwanda trip in September, many of the group were so moved by their experience they asked what they can do to help the kids we met around the Virunga Lodge where we stayed. Many of these children attend Primary/Elementary School as that is required by the Government, but High School is elective and costs money, so many bright children do not continue their education as they simply cannot afford to.

Terra Incognita Ecotours / Ged Caddick have been sponsoring three children through High School, covering their fees and uniform costs etc. Well, many in the group wanted to do the same; they asked about each sponsoring a specific child. Long story short, on an upcoming trip, Ged is carrying over some $3,000 to sponsor about 8 kids through a year of High School; each sponsor will be connected to their child and then be responsible for next year’s fees.

The photos show some of the kids dancing for the group; Chad Robertson who was the first sponsor to join Ged in this endeavor, shown with Fabian, whom he supports (Fabien has on the blue sweater and Chad the black sweater); and a “film” poster that Chad made for Terra Incognita. We posted it on Facebook and one of our biggest fans, David Bančić, wrote: “Very appropriately designed; when traveling with Terra Incognita, it’s easy to feel as if you and everyone around you are characters in an exciting adventure film.”

We will give a full report on how things go and have more photos of the children when Ged returns from this Rwanda experience.

Walking for Gorilla wellness RSS Feed

Nov 19 — Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Gorilla lovers in the Seattle area can help raise money for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project by participating in or volunteering for the “One Walk for One Health” fundraiser in Seattle, WA.

One of the participants of our October 2008 Rwanda Gorillas in the Mist trip is Drew Nichol, an animal lover who continues to be moved by the experience of seeing the Gorillas up close and in person. In fact, Drew is so inspired that he has become quite involved as an ambassador for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP), and has organized a really groovy event to help raise funds for the MGVP.

On Saturday, December 4, in Seattle, Washington, hundreds of people will come together for the first-ever “One Walk for One Health,” a fundraiser for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. The walk (or jog or run) will take place at Seattle’s Green Lake Park from 12-5 p.m. and follow a 2.8 mile trail that circles the lake. The goal is to raise $50,000 at the first of what promises to be a great annual event. Drew is still enlisting folks to walk, and so we ask that everyone please spread the word, especially if you are in the Northwest. Each person is asked to set the goal of raising $200 in pledges for their walk. There will be many special Gorilla-related prizes for walkers, including a Gorillas in Our Midst CD/DVD package put together by Drew, and some bonus items donated by Virunga Artisans.

If you are not in Seattle, but still would like to help by supporting this walk, you can donate online. As Drew says, “this is as simple and fun as watching a Silverback strip leaves from a tree branch!” Go to the Gorilla Doctors page and click on Donate. Please make a note in the comments section that your donation is for the “One Walk for One Health” fundraiser. The Gorilla Doctors page is an amazing source of more information about these fascinating animals, with interactive aspects such as puzzles of Gorillas you can adopt – and they have an award-winning blog too!

“This is the first of what promises to be a great annual event that gets better every year, but I know the first one will be the most special,” said Drew. “Whether you want to aid the plight of the great apes, believe in conservation as a whole or simply want to see better health around the globe, please come participate or support this event.”

Contact Drew Nichol for more information, sign up sheets and official registration form at 425-890-2160 or senkwekwe@gmail.com.

LIKE the One Walk for One Health Facebook page

BORNEO AND ME by Bob Lidston RSS Feed

Nov 04 — Tagged , , , ,

The monsoon-like afternoon storm pelted our small, open boat as we hurried down the narrow croc-infested, brown tributary of Borneo’s Kinabatangan River. I thought: “If the wind picks up, this could get pretty choppy.” Just then, Jodi, my bow seat companion said: “I hope the wind doesn’t pick up.” We heard a thump and the boat bounced as it struck another submerged log. Our Malay guide, Mincho, held aloft a piece of our little outboard’s propeller. I looked to my right and saw only a pile of sodden clothes covered by a drenched poncho and topped by a limp jungle hat. From inside the mound, I heard Jodi’s voice: “I am going to my happy place now.” Then, plowing through mid-stream water hyacinths, we were rewarded. Elephants! Bathing twenty feet from us in the rain-pocked river. Elephants! Lumbering parallel to us in the soaked forest. A days old elephant calf sucking from her mother. A tusked bull, flapping his ears and shuffling great gray legs in annoyance just yards from where we had nosed our craft onto the bank. Mentally, I worried: “If he charges, we will be history.” “Maybe they’d better back the boat up,” Jodi whispered in echo while snapping photos for “Nat Geo.” Pigmy Elephants! Fifty or sixty of them all around us! That was my best day in Borneo.

I was eight or nine years old when I struggled to open the big, white paneled door between the A&P and the jewelry store. An aroma of ground coffee beans wafted from the grocery. Inside the door, a dark stairway rose to the second floor. Each brown asphalt tiled step clanked as my Keds disturbed the loose metal edge strips. My climb ended at a hallway whose walls were clad in knotty pine varnished a deep golden brown. I rushed past the acrid smell coming from the beauty parlor and turned right. At the end of that hallway stood a wooden door with a frosted glass window in its upper half. I don’t think I knew even then what the black lettering on the glass said except for the one word: Library. That door, that word, called to me.

On another day in Borneo, I stood with strangers who had become Jodi, Joy, Harmon, and John, fellow participants in the Terra Incognita Ecotour, and gazed down a slender trail which quickly snaked out of sight into the tangled undergrowth. We started down the trail insulated from the alien environment by our lightweight wilderness pants and LL Bean walking boots. Our pants legs were crammed into high white socks to frustrate the leeches. Our movements were cautious for fear of touching leaves which might host the enormous bloodsuckers attached to our minds. We navigated through the vines, roots, and mud underfoot avoiding the elephant dung and huge footprints. A monkey screamed. The hot, humid air was so dense that it seemed you could slice it into cubes and set them wriggling on a plate like clear gelatin.

Then there was word of something overhead. Forty feet above us, indistinct amidst the foliage, we spied an auburn, shaggy mass. A hairy columnar arm emerged from it and grasped a branch. The auburn mass moved not so much slowly as deliberately and in moving revealed a mostly hairless rounded face with flattened nose, wide mouth, and close-set hazel eyes. It was an orangutan (“man of the forest”). More specifically, this was Jenny, a mother of the forest, for behind her came her five-year-old daughter for whom she seemed to maternally indicate the right branch by which to follow. Mother and daughter rustled through the leaves, branch to branch. Forgetting the leeches, we fled the trail in pursuit, climbing between the forks of a fallen tree and brushing against rope-like vines. Then, standing where we once feared to tread, we raised our jostled binoculars and stared up through them and into those eyes, so human yet, at the same time, not so human. Birds screeched in the distance. Other than that, the forest and our group, were reverently silent.

Jenny sat high above us in a tree, but could she in some way understand what she must have been seeing? On the other side of the near-by creek, surely visible from her perch, stood man’s orderly battalions of palm oil trees ready to complete their assault upon her chaotic life-filled Eden. Jenny, her race, sadly could be leaving us. Emily Dickinson wrote: “Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell.” The Malaysian State of Sabah where we met Jenny is cooperating with researchers and setting aside rain forest to try to save the endangered Orangutan. Our brief people-to-primate encounter was a tiny part of that conservation effort which will never leave me.

I opened the library door and entered a world I had never known. Except for The Sun newspaper, the American Legion magazine, and a few Hardy Boys books my older brother had been given by our cousin, the little bungalow on Oakland Road lacked reading matter. Mrs. Williams, the librarian, asked me what I wanted to read about. “Animals,” I answered. I didn’t mean just dogs and cats. I meant wild animals, like my small hard plastic figures of a lion, a tiger, a zebra and others which came with the tan plastic figure of the safari man wearing a pith helmet, and brandishing a whip. That was probably my favorite birthday present ever. Mrs. Williams showed me to some low blonde wooden shelves near a window shaded by a dusty Venetian blind that looked down on East Drive, the main street of the not-at-all exotic Baltimore suburb of Arbutus. I crouched to the floor and found another kind of door: Books. I remember one about monkeys and apes. I remember the drawings in it, including the one of the Orangutan. I recall Zooparade and its color illustration of Judy, the Asian elephant. I lifted my young eyes from the pages and stared out the window toward the too familiar street below, but I didn’t see it. My mental vision was looking elsewhere, seeing dreamscape places and dreamlike creatures I knew I would never really see with my physical eyes.

A perfectly ordinary bus brought us to a perfectly ordinary parking lot. Perfectly ordinary except that we were in Borneo, where Gray Leaf Monkeys watched the lot from the surrounding trees and colorful hornbills flew overhead. A short hike down another jungle trail and over a wooden foot bridge decaying in the equatorial humidity brought our group to a cleared area at the foot of a forested ridge. Well up the steep embankment another Orangutan was only partially hidden by multiple shades of green and brown. Widely scattered on the vegetated hillside, a couple of wood and corrugated metal shacks peeked out from the trees. In the clearing, two large barracks-like buildings constructed of the same materials stood a football field apart, housing the unsavory looking Malays who lived there part of the year. They earned money (some of which they gambled away at a cockfighting ring they maintained) by exploiting a nearby heart of darkness.

Framed by the barracks at the foot of the ridge gaped the stygian, wide mouth of the Gomantong Cave. Inside on its walls, by the tens of thousands, lived Swiftlets, small gray birds whose nests were harvested periodically by the barracks dwellers to be turned into birds nest soup which sells for $30.00 to $40.00 a bowl in China. Just outside the cave’s entrance hung a hangman’s noose, a silent threat to those who would steal the cave’s treasure from its guardians.

We entered the forboding cave single file, flashlights in hand, on a narrow boardwalk following the always helpful Mincho. A sulphurous smell from Swiftlet and bat droppings permeated the air. Under foot, those droppings made the wooden walkway slippery. Its handrail was an uninviting aid because it too was soiled with feces, and, in places, its surface moved. Shining flashlights onto the cave’s gray-black stone walls revealed the same movement. Cockroaches! Large, reddish cockroaches covering the walls, except where the occasional giant centipede had claimed space. Cast toward the cave’s floor, our flashlight beams caught darting rats. Shining those beams upward revealed the Swiftlets, tens of thousands of them, announcing their individual places in a cacophony of chirps which blended into a single unpleasant high-pitched sound like water streaming through a narrow pipe.

As the nightmarish cave widened into a cavern, a shaft of sunlight ahead of us descending from an opening in the roof failed to dispel the darkness spreading inside us. It did, however, draw our eyes toward the ceiling where hung numberless bats. Our flashlights caught them resting upside down with their multi-pointed wings wrapped around their furry, brown bodies. Deep in the cavern we found a ground level recess with two filthy bare mattresses. The interior guards of the cave’s treasure must possess a high tolerance for crawling walls, hideous smells, and gamboling rats. As we drew near again to the cave’s mouth, I looked down from the slimy boardwalk to see in the half-light small crabs scuttling about in the mud. Never had such small animals appeared so sinister.

Outside again, while we stood in the open field between the barracks, evening approached. An eagle sat perched atop a nearby dead tree. A Rhinoceros Hornbill flew overhead. One of the fighting cocks crowed. Flights of Swiflets returned to their dank home. As darkness fell, a nearly full moon rose. From beyond the crest of the forested ridge, probably from where the shaft of light entered the cave, bats began to emerge. These children of the night crossed in front of the moon like an eerie stream of smoke for over two hours. We, one time strangers newly bonded by dreamlike experiences in a nearly unimaginable place, stood in awe. The horror at the heart of the cave’s darkness had been transformed into a spectacle of exotic beauty.

On a clear and almost cool but very dark night, our open boat slipped, nearly without sound, along the Kinabatangan. Insects buzzed their songs. Our lights caught the iridescent blue, gold and orange colors of a Stork-Billed Kingfisher, a half hidden Flat-Headed Cat, and the “fearful symmetry” of the glowing red eyes of a mostly submerged crocodile. I saw these things only physically.

My mental vision was looking elsewhere. It was looking back to where I had been so long ago. My companion in the bow of the boat that night was Joy, a veterinarian from North Carolina. The boy of that long ago library above the A&P knew what a veterinarian was, but he had never met one, nor encountered any other kind of professional, among his neighbors or extended family. I was now sitting next to one, in Borneo, in a boat on a river whose name is hard to pronounce, in the black velvet darkness just feet away from animals I had only known as pictures in books. I told Joy that I had to figuratively pinch myself to make certain it wasn’t all a dream. I could not then, and still cannot, grasp how the old dreams became real. At that moment, however, in that place, the red-haired boy in the library holding his animal books and the gray-haired man reveling in his experiences had become one.

BOB AND HIS NEW FRIENDS ON THE BANKS OF THE KINABATANGAN RIVER

JANE GOODALL ON 60 MINUTES RSS Feed

Oct 29 — Tagged , , , , ,

The recent airing of 60 Minutes episode last Sunday night celebrating the life of Jane Goodall brought back a flood of great memories from our recent trip to Tanzania and specifically to Gombe Forest Reserve.

We were so fortunate last July to be in Gombe simultaneous to Jane Goodall being in Gombe, simultaneous to the 50th Anniversary of Jane’s pioneering work in Gombe and simultaneous to the visit of Lara Logan and the 60 Minutes film crew as they interviewed Jane and filmed the Chimps.

Indeed several times we found ourselves being filmed by the 60 Minutes crew on the trails as we met Jane, and again as we arrived outside Jane’s house on the shores of Lake Tanganyika when we actually joined Jane for sunset cocktails!

So we sat glued to the TV on Sunday night for the airing of 60 Minutes to see if we made the episode! We did not make the final cut, as not surprisingly the focus was on Jane, her research and the Chimps, not on our small tour party that overlapped so fortuitously with this filming! If you missed the episode, please check it out here.

We were, however, featured on a more in-depth behind the scenes episode that can be viewed on-line here.

Responsible Travel: What does it mean? RSS Feed

Oct 21 — Tagged , , , ,

One of the founding principles of Terra Incognita Ecotours is that we are committed to “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” But just exactly what does that mean, and how do we accomplish this lofty goal?

One way we ensure our trips help conserve the local environment and improve the well being of local people is by identifying partners in each of our destinations and providing these partners with financial and technical support. On occasion we can even provide in-kind contributions to these partners. One example of this is our recent donation of a free Gorillas in the Mist Trip for two to the Akilah Institute.

GED DESCRIBING THE GORILLAS IN THE MIST TRIP AT THE EVENT

The Akilah Institute is a dynamic new leadership and hospitality institute for young women based in Kigali, Rwanda. The young women, many of them orphans of the 1994 Genocide, receive financial aid in order to complete their education, which will allow them to lift themselves and their remaining family members out of poverty.

Our donation to their recent Metropolitan Safari event based in Tampa, Florida, was featured in the Live Auction and the winning bid was for $11,500. So Terra Incognita Ecotours brought attention to the tremendous work of the Akilah Institute; we also demonstrated our commitment to raising the living standards of the local people in Rwanda by indirectly providing them with $11,500 for scholarships, and we will now be sharing the magic of Rwanda with two new travelers, Tim and Debbie Bonsack, who were the successful bidders in the Live Auction.

GED, GISELE, ONE OF THE YOUNG RWANDA STUDENTS AT AKILAH, AND DENA LEAVENGOOD AT THE METROPOLITAN SAFARI EVENT

The Metropolitan Safari to benefit the Akilah Institute, which raised a total or $79,840 during that Tampa event a few weeks ago, continues to travel across the USA raising funds for scholarships in Boston, Providence, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Get info about one of their events in your community

Read more about the Akilah Institute