Open Road

Beyond Namibia

Say you can't get to Namibia right now. Or maybe you've been thinking, 'Thank goodness she went, so now I can just read about it.'
But you're still thinking about traveling. Despite "The Economy" in all its nasty permutations, it seems there are a couple of destinations that are sitting up and just begging for your tourism dollars.
One is Mexico, which was pretty well creamed by swine flu concerns (is that still a major scare? a minor scare? hype?) Well, depending on how you view that situation, you might be up for taking advantage of one of the numerous bargains offered as part of the country's we want you back campaign. Mexico Tourism's site on YouTube  has video dealing with the virus fairly, its Web site has a whole slew of good deals.
Then there's Vegas. You'll have to stay inside, in the air conditioning, or commit yourself to a very serious desert experience if you do venture forth, but Sin City is practically giving itself away these days... A recent search found a deal for three nights, July 5-9,  at the over-the-top Venetian hotel, plus nonstop Continental flights r/t to Vegas from Newark, for $537 per person. This deal was on expedia.com, but you may want to start with the official Las Vegas tourism site.

In print/on air

For those of you who've been asking when "the story" is coming out, the first installment has been put to bed, as they say and will be on the stands and in readers' hands in the Travel section of The Record on Sunday. We're doing three parts: the first will be a come-with-me sort of story on how it felt/scratched/scared/challenged to be a volunteer with P.A.W.S. Next installment (July 5) will be on the rewards of  a giving-back vacation. And on July 12 I'll provide resources I found helpful in choosing a volunteer trip, along with some of the questions you'll need to ask yourself -- and prospective project leaders -- to get a clearer picture of what you can handle, and what you  could be getting yourself into.
Also, "The Pet Stop," with  Dr. Brian T. Voynick, on News 12 New Jersey, will be airing an interview with yours truly about my Namibian trip, at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 and 4 p.m. this Saturday, and 12:30 a.m., 5:30  and 7:30 a.m., as well as 12:30 and 4 p.m. Sunday.   I was amazed to see how they managed to turn some of my "Blair Witch" amateur video of wild dogs, Porsche the lovable cheetah and our leopard rescue into usable, entertaining  clips, which they're showing along with some still photos.

In case you missed it

Here's my radio interview with Bob Salter that aired early this morning on WXRK Weekend Magazine (92.3FM - simulcast on www.923now.com):

Big cats, beastly cactus: The interview

So I'm working away at trying to put this whole Namibia/volunteer/wildlife adventure/challenge/reality check into words that can somehow convey the full force of the experience without sounding like I've gone over the edge. The first installment in what will be a three-part series appears June 28 in The Record's Travel section.

But you can get a sneak peek of my experience this Sunday, tuning in to WXRK Weekend Magazine (92.3FM - simulcast on www.923now.com) where my interview with Bob Salter airs from 6:30 to 7 a.m.  During the interview, I explain how  a middle-aged, snake-phobic and somewhat organizationally challenged travel  writer prepared for such a remote, roughing-it experience.  What was I even thinking when I signed up? And, after all those brutally early morning wake-ups, those bizarre bugs, the run-ins with ornery sicklebushes and nights spent pulling thorns from fingers with tweezers, was it worth all the effort (hint: I can’t stop replaying my cheetah videos). Set your alarm; I know it's early, but if I can do it, anyone can. 

America's big cat-aclysms

Africa's cheetahs, leopards, lions and other big cats are in danger for the most part because development has squeezed them out of most of their traditional habitat. It's a phenomenon with which Americans are -- or should be -- well-acquainted. 
It's a problem for all kinds of wildlife, of course. But since we've been focusing on Namibia's beautiful big cats in peril,   let's take a spin back about 7,000 miles to South Florida for a moment, to consider the plight of the Florida panther.

The Florida panther (aka mountain lion, cougar, painter or catamount) is the last subspecies still surviving in the eastern United States; it's one of the most endangered species in North America. Once ranging  from Arkansas and Louisiana eastward to Florida and as far north as Tennessee, today the entire population occupies less than  5 percent of that range. Estimates are there are 80-100  animals extant, all in southern Florida. The panther has been on the endangered species list since 1967, but that  designation only gives the animal protection. No land has ever been designated as "critical habitat" for the panther (you'd think Florida could spare some square footage, since it's the official  state animal),  which would give at least some protection to the remaining land it roams. Although many say the designation doesn't guarantee a ban on development altogether, but is simply a reminder to federal agencies working in these areas to protect the habitat, according to the government's literature.

So the Sierra Club is circulating a petition calling for the Secretary of the Interior  to use his authority under the Endangered Species Act to protect the remaining panther habitat from all future development. Click now, before it's a moot point.

I knew my suitcase felt too heavy...

Finally got brave enough to tackle my suitcases full of mouldering, dusty, stained and -- OK, undoubtedly noisome -- clothing from my two-weeks of hard livin' and, well, what should I find among the folds of fabric but ...
SPIDER!
Trust me, I shook all my clothes to within an inch of unraveling their very threads, visions of "Arachnophobia" in the back of my mind. Stilll, the odds were not in my favor: too many bugs, too many hiding places. And though the flight attendants came through the cabin spraying away with "harmless  pesticides" (is that something like "military intelligence?), they may have killed a few passengers' brain cells  but they would do little use on the spider in my luggage in the belly of the plane.
Oh well, the little guy, though very dead, still managed to provide a brief flashback to that hot and shimmery faraway  African oasis, a place where  supermarkets and television seemed like tales from Jonathan Swift.
No place for him on the souvenir mantel, though. I made my husband escort him/her outside, back to nature. Where he will rest in peace.

Waking up to civilization

This was my first day waking up in my own bed -- with its new and fairly expensive "pillowtop" mattress, a bedroom with four walls and air conditioning and  my own hypoallergenic pillows -- after two weeks wriggling out of  a sleeping bag on a thin mat on a wooden frame in a dusty tent cold with African night,  with a laptop for my pillow.
This was also the first morning in two weeks I woke up with a backache.
Hmmm...

Coming down

Sitting at Gate 2, Terminal 4 at Heathrow, watching a well-labeled  Samsung TV  which is tuned to a service to commemorate D-Day 65 at Bayeux Cathedral.
It is a big world, isn't it? And we make such problems for ourselves. But sometimes, the very worst brings out the very best in human beings, too.

Here is what Clive said, a couple of times during our PAWS stay: You can't live at the top of the mountain all his life. You have to come down eventually. But the art of living is to remember what it felt like on top.
I am going to try to hold onto that  -- and cheetah Porsche's face, so unforgettable, should help.

In transit

I had to close my eyes to just leave PAWS camp. I miss Porsche. And the gang. I'm in Johannesburg, waiting to get on my flight to Heathrow, from there to Newark. Ten hours. Slicing headache. Couldn't get off the South African Airways flight for half an hour because nobody brought over the stairs so we could leave the plane. Always an adventure.
Marissa is on this flight, too, but she's somewhere tracking down the sleeping bag they lost on her way out to Namibia.
I have more I want to write and tell you all, but I probably won't get online again till maybe Heathrow. Check back. Send good vibes to Marissa for her sleeping bag.

The web of life

So I read my last post out loud, in front of Tom and Marissa, watching out the corner of my eye to see if either of them shot up to help me escort the spider from my trunk. Tom volunteered, with a smile. And said he didn't even need the crisps as a motivator.
We pulled the trunk outside, the spider jumped right out, I screamed (not too loud, but every time it scuttled), Sam, from his tent, yelled something like "Could you keep it down out there?" and Tom tried to keep the situation under control.
"He's gone, he's gone," he said, though I was sure the spider was heading right back into my tent.
While the poor thing was hanging onto the side of my trunk,  Tom noticed he only had seven legs.  I know it  was my fault, probably amputating the limb when I first chased him round with my camera monopod.  Obviously the critter didn't want to be there in the first place. Everyone -- and everything -- is just trying to get by, after all. The fuller the set of body parts, the better.
Gotta remember that.