ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Bolivia is a country like no other. Our exploration of this highest, poorest, and least known South American nation proved to be that perfect blend of travel and adventure: some of our pre-conceptions enhanced, and others shattered.

Never ones to enjoy “down time” in an exotic locale, on our first day in La Paz we transformed our “morning at leisure” into a dawn excursion along the famous crossing to Coroico, known as “The Most Dangerous Road on Earth.” Climbing out of the high city bowl of La Paz, we were met by a rare scene on El Cumbre pass: llama herds wandering through a snowy wonderland against a dramatic backdrop of rugged peaks. Later, we explored the colorful streets of the city’s Witches’ Market, where traditional remedies of dried armadillos and llama fetuses adorned the exteriors of traders’ stores.

After a scenic journey to the remote village of Uyuni, on the salt flats of the same name, we witnessed the surface of the world’s highest, largest, and surely most spectacular expanse of salt. The dazzling whiteness, brilliant blue sky, and multi-hued volcano was the setting for lunch, with rosy-pink Andean flamingos foraging along the lake shore. Our journey deep into the heart of Potosi’s mountain of silver, Cerro Rico, gave us fascinating and sobering insights into the Colonial history of South America. And the Sunday market in Tarabuco, with its potato-tossing vegetable sellers and piles of magnificent woven fabrics, is surely one of South America’s most traditional and colorful markets. Read more

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

From the urban chaos of our first afternoon in the narrow alleyways of old Delhi to the serenity of our time on the sacred Brahmaputra River… from the timeless elegance of the temples at Khajuraho to gaudy roadside markets, India boasts a cultural and scenic richness second to none. No single trip to India can hope to cover the rich spread of this immense country. But in our case, it was tigers we were after!

The global plight of tigers is among the most publicized of all wildlife conservation stories, for no other animal can match this largest of cats for sheer beauty and charisma. Ironically, the day before we commenced our expedition, the sobering news broke of the latest Bengal Tiger census figures: 1,411 remaining at the end of 2007, Read more