ZECO TRAVEL TALK

We are extremely happy to report that the news this morning from France is that the crew of the Le Ponant has been released. “PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) -The 30-strong crew of a luxury French yacht have been freed without incident a week after pirates took them hostage off Somalia, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said in a statement on Friday.” Read the rest of the article here. We hope to only hear more good news of their return and will update you with any more information we receive in the next few days. Again, please check your reliable news source for more information as developments may happen rapidly today.

With the first sighting of the North African coast, anticipation of what lay ahead was palpable—and our dockside welcome of fresh dates and live music was just the beginning of the wonderful interactions we experienced. Throughout our entire visit to this country we were received by broad smiles and shouts of “welcome to Algeria!” from passing motorists and local citizens.

In Oran, our guides were so amazing they just about got a standing ovation after our tour. The local people were stopping us on the street to chat and it was very obvious that there is not a lot of tourism here. Paul Harris gave a great lecture prior to us disembarking about how we have this perfect window of opportunity to come to Algeria before tourism catches on. Our entire lecture team is terrific and everyone is enjoying their diversity. In Djemila, everyone was blown away by the Algerian scenery; nobody expected so much green and the Roman ruins were incredible! In Tipasa, we had the huge complex of ruins at this amazing World Heritage Site entirely to ourselves. Algiers’ Casbah is a maze of small alleyways, leaning buildings with French windows, kids peeping through the doors, whitewashed walls with blue awnings.… We went for mint tea at our guide, Masoud’s, sister in law’s house which was filled with tiles and pottery. Sunlight was streaming down from the roof that overlooks the entire Casbah while we listened to the Mosque minarets calling everyone to prayer… such a magical experience.

On Friday April 4th the French sailing vessel Le Ponant was seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia. Zegrahm Expeditions has chartered this exceptional ship for many years and thus has a close relationship with the ship owner and dedicated crew. We support them in this troubling time and send our thoughts and prayers to all the crew and their families. See in comments below a letter sent on April 7th to the ship owner.

This web site has a good compilation of the daily developments, or for the latest news and updates, please check with your reliable news source. As of Monday April 7th the crew is believed to be safe and unharmed and the French government is in negotiations with the pirates. There were no passengers on board at the time of the seizure.

The year was 1981 and my parents had just bought me a pair of binoculars for my thirteenth birthday, a significant improvement on the minimal magnification, mother-of-pearl-coated opera glasses that had piqued my early interest in all things feathered. The birding bug had bitten hard, my youthful interest had exploded into an obsession, and my personal “life list” of just over 200 local bird species had become a source of great pride to me. One afternoon, while browsing through the natural history section of my municipal library, I happened upon a book written by a birding businessman estimating that a dedicated birder, in a lifetime of travel, could reasonably hope to see a maximum of 5,000 bird species (approximately half of all birds on Earth). Times changed, jet travel improved, new field guides and bird-finding site guides were written and, in the early 1990’s, this 5,000 limit was handily passed by a new generation of world birders.

Having never dreamed that such lofty goals were possible, I found myself passing this magical milestone in 2002, a combination of two decades spent birding in my home continent of Africa and two years working and traveling in the “Bird Continent” of South America. My work with Eco-Expeditions, apart from providing rich birding opportunities on the expeditions themselves, facilitated personal exploration of bird-rich areas in Asia and Australasia, and my global bird tally crept over 6,000 in 2004, approaching the magical figure of 7,000 in mid-2007.

Still a full 50 species short, I pondered where to start hunting. Zegrahm’s “March with the Penguins” expedition made up my mind for me: it would be South America, home to over a third of all bird species on Earth. Read more

Costa Rica: We had a great day in the Tortuguero Canals of Costa Rica! We saw dozens of sloths, lots of green iguanas, a few basilisks (Jesus Christ lizards) and, of course, more and more birds! The holy grail of the day—and Peter Harrison says maybe even for the trip—was the great potoo, usually a noctural predator!

Panama: Rain caused us to change our plans somewhat and we did a Zodiac cruise in Escudo de Veraguas which was a big hit. Though a bit wet, people loved it! The birders had a clean sweep finding all the endemic species, and the zodiac cruise found the real prize of the day—the endemic pygmy sloth. Everyone returned with a smile. We decided to heave anchor and head straight for Bocas del Toro. Read more