Kiwis and Fun

When you travel as an independent, you often encounter situations that provide very pleasant memories. My wife Sylvie and I have many such memories from our visit to New Zealand, but one stands out.  More on that later.

            Sylvie and I set off for New Zealand in December of 2004.  It was my idea, but Sylvie jumped on it for three reasons-a friend of ours had a sister in Aukland, Sylvie’s brother was married to a Kiwi, but most importantly, we could go on to Australia from there, a place that Sylvie really wanted to see.

            I wanted to go to New Zealand because I am a birding nut.  New Zealand is home to six families of birds that can be seen nowhere else in the world.  The most distinctive of these was the Kiwis (at that time there were three species-present day 4 are recognized).  At that time, I was on a quest to see as many as possible of the now 250 families in the world (in 2004 there were fewer families recognized-I don’t quite remember how many)

            We made lots and lots of plans, but they got a bit scrambled because Sylvie’s Dad died on Veteran’s Day.  But the funeral service was held shortly thereafter, so we were able to stay with our plans.  We had been living in Sylvie’s house, so she rented it while we planned to be away for almost 6 months.  We were living in a short-term rental before our departure and had already given notice of our departure.  Well, it was tight, but everything worked out.

            We flew to Auckland, New Zealand on a direct flight from Los Angeles on Air New Zealand.

Figure 1: Air New Zealand

            It was a more than 12-hour flight.  We arrived in Auckland at 6:00 in the morning on December 1, New Zealand time (2:00 in the afternoon Washington DC time), almost two days from our departure from Washington.  We were exhausted.  We had prebooked a hotel that allowed us to arrive in the morning.  We got to the hotel and crashed.  We were up in the middle of the afternoon and decided to walk around downtown Auckland.  We were amazed to see that although it was the start of the Christmas season, the stores closed at 3:00 PM during both the week and weekend (it was Wednesday). Wow.  The full-blown commercial life had not taken over.

            Back to my goal to see a Kiwi.  Our planned destination for the next day was Tiri-Tiri Matangi-an island in the Gulf of New Zealand (Huaraki Gulf).

Figure 2: Tiri-Tiri Matangi Island

Auckland is situated on the Gulf and ferries go to the island daily.  The special thing about Tiri-Tiri Matangi (Maori word for “Tossed by the Wind”) is that it is an outdoor Aviary.  When New Zealand was first colonized by Polynesians (the Maori) in 1250-1300 AD, they brought with them Polynesian rats.  When European settlers began arriving in the early 19th century, they brought other mammalian  predators-common weasel, house mice, ferrets, and stoats.  Europeans also brought various farm mammals. Prior to the two colonizations, there were no mammals whatsoever on the islands, including of course humans.

The birdlife of New Zealand evolved without the threat of predation, particularly egg and nest predation, so many species were ground nesters.  The introduction of the mammalian predators (Including man) devastated the New Zealand avifauna, including many extinctions.

Figure 3: Hauraki Gulf, Auckland & Tiri-Tiri Matangi

            The island of Tiri-Tiri Matangi has had all the mammalian predators eradicated so that the island habitat is no longer a threat to native birds. And the species on the island include one species of Kiwi.

Figure 4:Ferry Arriving at Tiri-Tiri Matangi

            We caught the ferry to Tiri-Tiri Matangi the next morning, December 2 mid-morning and were on the island by noontime.  We were dragging, but we were directed to our accommodations for the night (remember-Kiwis are nocturnal).  The research station on the island includes a bunkhouse for visitors.

Figure 5:Research Station Bunkhouse

            We had booked twin accommodation (doubles not offered).  We were shown to the quarters and were a bit surprised to learn that twin accommodation meant top and bottom bunk beds.

Figure 6: Our Twin Accommodations

            We did realize that it was a bunkhouse and that we would be sharing it with other people.  Nobody was there when we arrived.  We ate a quick snack and decided to explore the island for a few hours.  Amazingly in the next few hours that we wandered around I saw birds that are in three of New Zealand’s endemic families-out of the 6 families that I came to see.

Figure 7:Stitchbird

Figure 8: Whitehead

Figure 9: North Island Saddleback

            Sorry, too much about birds.  We came back to the bunkhouse in the late afternoon, had a bite to eat, and took a nap.  We were awake about 8:30 as the sun went down, put on some cool weather coverups, grabbed our flashlights and set off in search of the Kiwi.  About an hour later, we were in luck and several birds were right out in the middle of the dirt track we were walking on.

Figure 10: Little Spotted Kiwi

            But we were not yet finished.  In talking to the staff at the research station, Sylvie learned that there were also penguins that came ashore at night.  Off we went to the suggested shoreline, and sure enough, there they were.

Figure 11: Little Blue Penguins

              “Oh my.”, said Sylvie, “Those are the cutest things I have ever seen.  I am so glad I came on this night walk.”

            We headed back to the bunkhouse, put on our night clothes, and climbed into bed, me on the top bunk. No one else was in the bunkhouse.  We were soon fast asleep.

            Sometime later I was awakened by somebody entering the bunkhouse.  I couldn’t see in the dark, but it sounded like two relatively young women.  I dozed off again.  Sometime later I was awakened again.  This time it was by the noises from somewhere down below me.  It did not take me long to understand that these women were having sex.  And they were not quiet about it.  I tried to peek over the bedrail to see if I could see, but no luck-It was pitch dark.  The noises went on for quite a while, and then clearly sounded like orgasm.

            I must say that I did not mind being awakened for that show, unlike my buddy Brian with his sort of similar experience in Costa Rica (read his post titled Strange Bedfellows).

            In the morning, I asked Sylvie if she had heard the show.  She said that he had been sound asleep and heard nothing. When I explained what I had heard, she smiled, gave me a big kiss, and said, “Ian, I am glad you had a fun time.  Sorry I couldn’t join you.” 

            We were up fairly late for us, and we could see that the two young ladies were sharing the same bed. After breakfast we dawdled our way back to the dock to catch the noon ferry back to Auckland.

            The rest of the trip was wonderful.  We got to visit our friend’s sister and her husband in Auckland, visited Sylvie’s sister-in-law’s Maori grandmother in Rotorua, boated with the dolphins, did a sperm whale watch, traveled throughout the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island, and did a week cruise to the Subantarctic Islands with 2 of my birding buddies.  From there we went on to Australia to begin 2005.

            Wow, what a trip.  But we always smile when we remember our bunkhouse experience on Tiri-Tiri Matangi.

Be Prepared

Yes, I was a boy scout in my youth. I took that slogan very seriously and ended up making my living with that mindset.  My job was to tell manufacturers how their hardware/software might fail and suggest ways to prevent those failures.  But there are no absolutes.  The methodology requires that the system keep working even if one thing goes wrong.  If two things go wrong, the system is to degrade gracefully.  But, if three things go wrong, the system will also surely go wrong.

  On top of all that, there was the possibility of the dreaded UNK-UNKS (unknown unknowns).  An example is the destruction of the World Trade towers by the 9-11 events.  The designers of that building never considered such a scenario.

            Enough of that nonsense.  I just wanted to warn you that I am going to tell you about a trip I made by myself to Venezuela.

            I had previously travelled on short excursions to Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica by myself, so I had some idea of what would be required for a two-week trip to Venezuela.  I had to be especially careful because I am not a fluent Spanish speaker.  I have some basic knowledge, but I did not expect to find many English speakers in the out of the way places I planned to visit.  Rather than list what I did I will tell you about each precaution as I go over my planning for the trip.

            My goal for the trip was to see as many new birds as possible in a two-week period.  So, the first items were about birds.  Why Venezuela you ask?  In all of South America at that time, there were only 2 bird guidebooks focused on a single country-Colombia and Venezuela.  Colombia was in political turmoil at the time and Venezuela was calm.  Easy choice.

            Having a guidebook with pictures of all the possible birds is very good, but when and where can you see them.  Venezuela is a large country.  These were the days before the internet.  I needed to find some information about the locations in Venezuela where various birds could be seen.

Figure 1: Venezuela Bird Guide

Fortunately, I was a member of the Audubon Naturalist Society, a Washington DC based chapter of the National Audubon Society.  They maintained a parcel of land together with an historic house in Chevy Chase, Maryland.  In that house they maintained a bookstore that had birding books as well as trip reports that various individuals provided.  Trip reports are written descriptions of actual field trips to specific places at specific times together with lists of the birds seen. 

I went to the bookstore to buy the Venezuela Bird Guide.  Magically, there was a specific trip report that laid out all the major birding locations in Venezuela.  It was written by Mary Lou Godwin.  It turns out that she was the manager of the Audubon Society Chapter in Venezuela with an office in Caracas.  I bought a copy of her guide.  In addition, they had a copy of another guide to birding in Venezuela by Dennis Rogers.  I needed a map which I easily obtained at a bookstore in Chevy Chase. These two publications plus the map were enough for me to plan a detailed itinerary.

Figure 2: Birding in Venezuela

Figure 3:Dennis Rogers Guide to Birding Venezuela

Now came the practicalities. First, I already had a passport.  Living in the Washington, DC area it was easy for me to go downtown and get a tourist visa

at the Venezuelan embassy.  Now came the issues of how to get there, how to get around and where to stay.

            Booking a flight was no problem.  There were regular flights on American Airlines from Washington to Caracas.  I chose one coming home with a stop in Puerto Rico so I could do a little birding there. 

            I know this is boring, but things were not so easy in 1990 before cellphones and the internet.   It really did take a lot of time to get anything done.  And remember, I was going alone with a poor knowledge of Spanish.

            I forget which US rental car agency had an outlet in Venezuela, but I did find one with pickup near the airport. There were no counters at the airport.  I had to be picked up at the airport by the agency and taken to the local office.  It was tricky.

            The big deal was where to stay.  This was the days before there was a Lonely Planet guide to Venezuela.  By searching around bookstores, I was finally able to order a guide in English.

Figure 4: 1989 Venezuela Travel Guide

            Unfortunately, it was clear that I was to be going to places that had no accommodation.  My camping experience to the rescue.  I already had the necessary gear-Tent, air mattress, sleeping sheet (no cold weather), small gas stove, headlamp, water bottles, cook kit, powerful flashlight, etc.  I also packed some basic foodstuffs. I knew I was prepared.

            I next addressed the medical requirements.  Malaria was endemic to the regions I would visit.  I had to get anti-malarial tablets to take while there.  There were also many immunizations required.  I took care of that using the Fairfax County Public Health department.

            Then, I needed a stash of my own emergency medicines.  EpiPen for allergies, Albuterol for Asthma, Lomotil for Diarrhea, Pepto-Bismal & Imodium for stomach upset, as well as usual first aid medicines.  And of course, a First Aid Kit.

            Lastly, money.  I did have an American Express card that had international acceptance, though I suspected that many places would be cash only.  Fortunately, there was not much tourism in Venezuela at that time, so prices were very cheap by US standards.  I knew I could exchange money at the airport.   The currency was the Bolivar, but I do not remember the exchange rate.  Furthermore, the more recent political turmoil in Venezuela has caused several currency collapses with reissue of something still sounding like the Bolivar but really a completely new currency.

            I exchanged a lot of money at the airport.  I also carried lots of American Express travelers checks issued in Bolivars that I understood I could cash in any local bank.  There was also an AMX office in Caracas.  Finally, there was the issue of how to carry all that cash.  First, I had a passport carrier that was hidden under my shirt.  I put a stash of money into that as well as the travelers checks.  Then I also had a money belt that held up my pants.  Of course, I also carried cash in my pocket.  The final safeguard was to carry in stash of cash in my shoes.

            Communication was to be difficult.  While there were cell phones in 1990, they were hardly portable and really had not made it to the third world.  I did not carry a phone.  I did maintain a phone list of emergency numbers that could be reached if I got to a place where international calls could be made.

Figure 5: Hidden Passport Carrier

Figure 6: Money Belt for Pants

Enough.  Let’s go to Venezuela.  Before I departed, I informed the Embassy of my itinerary and made a hotel reservation in Caracas.  I arrived at the Simon Bolivar international airport in Venezuela which is at sea level on the northern coast of Venezuela.  I wandered around a bit after getting my baggage and getting through customs and passport control.  I was able finally to find the pickup point for the rental car.  There was a car waiting. Off to the office where I got the paperwork done, paid with my AMX, got a map and was off to find my hotel.

Caracas is in the mountains at about 3000 feet above the airport and about 15 miles from the airport.  Getting to town was no problem as there was an expressway connecting the two.  Once in town, I followed the specific instructions of the man at the rental car office had given me.  He spoke broken English, better than my broken Spanish. 

I do not remember the name of the hotel that I used but it was a high-rise like the one shown.

Figure 7: Typical Caracas Hotel

            I parked the car, settled in, got something to eat and hit the hay.  In the morning, I found my way to Mary Lou Godwin at the Venezuela Audubon office.  She was super helpful.  We went through the itinerary I had planned in detail.  She made constructive comments for each location and provided me with a number of other trip reports that offered further information.  Thank you Mary Lou.  I spent the afternoon birding at the city park and headed back to the hotel for the night.

            In the morning, I was up and off at the crack of dawn to bird in the mountains around Caracas.  After a great time in the mountains, I headed off to the West on another major highway headed to the city of Maracay that was close to the internationally famous Henri Pittier National Park.  I show a makeshift map of Venezuela to give some idea of my travels.

Figure 8: Venezuela Makeshift Map

            On the way to Maracay, the drivers side window broke and would not close.  I went first to the Hotel Maracay and booked in for 4 days.  They gave me directions to the local rental car service where I was able to exchange cars.  Good luck was running with me.

            I spent 4 wonderful days birding the mountain sanctuary of Henri Pittier.  I then headed off south through the llanos (prairies) of central Venezuela.  I birded the whole way.  After a night in a motel in Calabozo, I headed further South through more llanos and more birding to the town of San Fernando de Apure. I spent a night in another motel there and then headed off first thing in the morning to Santos Luzardo NP still further south,

            I wanted to spend 2 full days at this important park.  There were no close accommodations, so this was to be my first camping in Venezuela.

Figure 9:Santos Luzardo NP Landscape

            After a great day birding, I set up the tent and made a little chow.  I had picked up some easy eats in Santos Luzardo, so meal prep was easy.  I went to sleep as the sun set. 

Figure 10: My Pup Tent in the Grassland.

            I was awakened by the smell of smoke.  It was dawn.  I opened the front of the tent and stuck my head out.  To my horror I could see that the dry grassland that I was camped in was on fire.

Figure 11: Grassland Fire Headed Toward Me

            The fire was headed toward me and my car.  I quickly broke camp, got the tent and stuff into the car, and hit the starter.  Nothing.  There was absolutely no response.  I was not going to get the car and gear out of there.  I jumped out of the car and headed for the dirt track that I had followed to get to this campsite.   I got there.  I would be safe. I could run faster than the fire along the road.

            And then, oh shit.  I had panicked.  I did not take time to get dressed or pick up my passport or money.  That is definitely three strikes.  I am screwed.  First the fire, then no car, and now no resources.  I am truly screwed.  It is 20 miles to the nearest village-here I am practically naked, with no money.

            At this very low point, the powers of the universe (or God if you prefer) decided to change their mind despite the three-failure rule.  Magically, the fire extinguished about 30 yards from the car.  So now at least I could get dressed and get my passport and money.  I returned to the car and set about getting everything organized.

            Having done that, I pondered how I was going to get to town.  Twenty miles is a long walk.  Then what?  How do I get back to this car?  How do I get it fixed or replaced so I can continue my trip?

            As I contemplated the mess I was in, magically, as if I ordered it, a young man on a motorbike appeared. Wow.

Figure 12: My Savior

            He stopped.  We somehow managed the language difficulties.  He came to understand that my car didn’t work (no funcione).  He understood that I needed help (ayuda me por favor).  He indicated that I should get on the back of the motorbike.  I did.  He took me back to town where he took me to a garage.

Figure 13: The Garage that Saved Me

            The proprietor (call him Jose) quickly understood what my problem was-the battery was dead (bateria no funcione).  I thanked my savior and offered to pay him.  He shook that off completely.  From the garage, we jumped in Jose’s truck and sped off to my car.  On arrival, he pulled out his jumper cables, and we soon had my car running.  I followed him back to town.  When we arrived, and I shut off the car, it again had a dead battery.  Jose opened the hood and pointed at the alternator.

            “No funcione. “He said, “Necisito reparar.”  I understood that he was going to fix the alternator.  Amazingly, he did.  We jumped the car again, let it run for a while, turned it off and bingo it started right up.

            I asked Jose what I owed him (Quanto cuesta?).  When I paid him, I doubled what he asked for and thanked him profusely (Mil gracias, Jose).

            I was able to get back to Calabozo that night and sleep in a motel again.  There were other adventures on the rest of the trip as I moved to more Eastern Venezuela, but nothing so hairy.  I saw 258 species of which 219 were new to me (lifers). The entire trip was a resounding success.

            The moral of the story is very simple.  You can prepare all you want, but you still need good luck (or God’s grace), however you want to think about it.

            I am an extremely lucky blessed man in many, many, many, many ways.

Pistoleros

I had previously joined two Ornifolks self-organizing birding trips to both Ecuador and Peru.  I loved them, especially the price as compared to commercial tours.

            I was surprised when I received a call from Matthew Flannery, the founder of Ornifolks.

            “Ian.”, he said, “I want to offer to you the trip of a lifetime.  It is a full month trip to Colombia.  No birders have been to Colombia since 1984 because of the dangerous political troubles there.”

            “Matthew”, I said, “Isn’t it still dangerous?”

            “Yes, there is still some trouble, but the worst has passed, and it tends to be pretty localized.  And we have found the perfect person to lead the tour.   His name is Rod Smith. He knows the birds of Colombia inside out.  He was a student getting his Ph.D. from Oxford in Ornithology.  He spent the last four years of his life here documenting the current state of Colombia avifauna.  He even discovered a new species while doing it. He knows his way around and how to avoid the trouble spots.”

            “Well, why are you calling me?  I am no South American expert.”

            “True, but we have seen you perform on previous trips.  You always come completely prepared, as if you have to ID the birds yourself.  And it won’t be like Peru where we had to assemble most of the information ourselves.  There is a complete field guide to the birds of Colombia that predates the troubles.”

Figure 1:Guide to the Birds of Colombia

            “Sounds interesting.” I said, “But a whole month is going to be tough.  Why so long?”

            “First off, we want to set a new world record for most birds seen in a month in a single country.  Our goal is 1000 species, surpassing the existing record in Kenya.  We want to open up Colombia again.  With more than 1800 species, it is one of the birdiest countries in the world.  Phooey on politics.  We want the birding world to come back to Colombia. So, a month it is.”

            “On the other issue, we have also thought of that Ian.  The trip is divided into two pieces.  The first is 17 days long, the second 15 days.  You can join the first, the second, or both.”

            “Wow Matthew, that is really ambitious.  Yes, I am interested.  I need some time to work my availability.”

            “Great Ian.  Get back as soon as you can.  We can only take 14 people max, and I already have 8 signed up.  This includes myself, my cofounder of Ornifolks, our leader and one local.”

            Somehow I managed to sort out my affairs in a way that allowed me to sign up for the whole trip.  The Berlin Wall had already fallen, and the immediacy of the cold war seemed to have passed.  Government agencies that dealt with such issues were still trying to figure out what their mission was.  Consequently, there wasn’t the same sense of urgency as there was before the fall.  Most of my work was with those same agencies, so there was less urgency passed down to me.

            Before I knew it, it was October 30, and I was on my way to Miami to connect to an Avianca flight to Bogota.

Figure 2: Colombian Airline Avianca

            Late afternoon I arrived at Bogota Airport.

Figure 3: Bogota International Airport

            From there I transferred to the Virrey Park Hotel where I met up with the rest of the party.

Figure 4: Virrey Park Hotel-Bogota

            I had travelled and birded with several folks previously in Ecuador and Peru.  Some were new to me.  All were accomplished international birders.  My roommate for the trip was to be Don from Santa Barbara.  We were told to get a bit to eat and head for bed because our trip would begin the next morning very early.

            We were up very early, had some breakfast, and were off into the Andes towering above Bogota to look for the Cundinamarca Antpitta, a rare and very local endemic.   We did not see the bird that day or any other day in the trip.   Rod was playing a song that he said belonged to this species.  He was getting a response from deep in the undergrowth.  But the bird refused to let itself be seen.  Rod said this was probably the shyest Antpitta, quite a statement for the Antpittas are notorious for their shyness.

            The rest of the day was very successful.  The group was very focused on the Antpitta, but they saw over 125 other birds.  I saw only about 79 of those myself, including 10 lifers (birds that I had never seen before). This ratio of what I saw to what the group saw persisted throughout the trip.  I would see between 40% and 60% of the birds that the group reported.  At night I chatted with Don.  He reported results similar to mine.

Figure 5: Cundinamarca Antpitta

            We ended the day in Villavicencio, a small town at the base of the Eastern slope of the Andes. When I got out of the small bus, I landed wrong, twisted and fell. Ouch.  That twist and fall triggered a pain in my lower back that was excruciating.  Fortunately, I had brought my medicine for back spasms-Flexeril.  That night I slept in a chair.  The pain was too great when I tried to lie down.  The next morning, I felt a bit better.  No long drives and more birding that day did not cause the pain to worsen, and the Flexeril began to have it muscle relaxing effect.

Figure 6: Flexeril-Saved my trip

            That day the trip then went into high gear.  For the next 20 days it was out of bed way before sunup, traveling to the birding sites, and lots of time looking for birds.  It was grueling.   The itinerary was laid out to hit as many habitat types as possible: Coastal Scrub, Costal Rainforest, Eastern and Western slope of the Eastern range of the Andes, Eastern and Western slope of the Central range of the Andes, Eastern and Western slope of the Western range of the Andes, lowland grassland and wetlands, riverine habitat, and so forth.

            What about the supposed dangers in Colombia.  Our leaders were very careful.  We did not go into the cities of Medellin or Cali because of the dominant presence of the drug cartels there. We also did not go into many of the remote places because the locations were suspected campgrounds of the guerilla revolutionary force labelled FARC.

            On the morning of October 20, we were birding the lowland gallery forest around Mitu in the Eastern lowlands close to the Brazilian border.  In the early afternoon we caught a flight to Bogota where we caught a connecting flight to Santa Marta in the far North regions of Colombia.  The makeshift map below can give some sense of the Colombian geography.

We had 5 days to spend in the vicinity of the town of Santa Marta in Northern Colombia.  Here there is a major very high mountain that hosts a large number of the Colombian endemics. At the end of the five days, we were to drive to Barranquilla to catch a flight back to Bogota.  From there we were catch a flight to Leticia, a town on the Amazon River located at the boundary of Colombia, Peru, and Brazil.

For the 5 days around Santa Marta, we were to be our own drivers.  We took turns driving.  We birded the mountain for 3 days and then headed to the coastal lowlands. 

Dave was our driver on the morning leaving for the coast.  He had joined the tour for the second half.  Unfortunately, our car had a flat tire.  Two others decided to hop in other cars.  I decided to stay with Dave.  There was a spare tire with the car, but no jack.  We went to the local garage to get a jack, but it was not yet open.  We waited until 8 when it opened.  Soon we had mounted the spare and were off, but we were several hours behind the others.

Figure 7: Makeshift Map of Colombia

            When we got down to the lowlands, we were able to get on the toll road that the leader had told Dave to use to get to the birding destination.  As we paid our toll, I noticed a group of men beside the road as we exited the toll booth.   Dave just drove on past them.  I kept my eye on them.  They looked suspicious.

            We had hardly pulled out from the toll booth when I saw several of them jump in a car.  I also saw that they had weapons.  Ouch.  The local vigilantes.  These are the guys that fight the FARC when the government seems unable.

            I shouted to Dave, “Dave. Stop the car!!”

            Dave, “What for?”

            “We have an armed carload of guys chasing us.  Stop before they start shooting.”

            Dave pulled over to the side of the road.

            The chase car screeched to a stop behind us.

            A pistol carrying man was soon at Dave’s window demanding that he open it.

Figure 8:Pistolero at our car

            Fortunately for us, Dave was a fluent Spanish speaker who did business in Latin America as his profession.  My Spanish was too poor to understand what was being said, but I could hear its very heated tones.  Dave was holding up our bird guide, and then his binoculars.  Soon the tone calmed down.  In a bit the man waved us on as the other men in the party stood by.

            Dave later explained to me that they were making sure we were not foreigners who were funding the FARC.  The pistolero said that foreign drug money was keeping the FARC alive.  They taxed the drug trade. They said the government was powerless because so much drug money was paying them off.  The drug cartels did not want the government to have power, since it couldn’t distinguish cartels from FARC.

Figure 9: Vigilantes gave us a real scare

            “Thank you Dave.  You really saved our bacon.”

            Dave, “It really was OK.  I have dealt with these guys before.  As long as you are not part of the drug trade, you are OK.”

            The remainder of the trip was uneventful.  The trip satisfied it goal of more than 1000 species.  I was very happy with my 650 total species of which 198 were new to me (lifers) and the fact that I was still in one piece.