(c) 2009 Erik Gauger http://www.notesfromtheroad.com Rough roads, bottles of rum, sleezy golf course developers, strange animals and funny humans. Should travel writing be anything else? en-us http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/files/monkeys.jpghttp://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/fb_pwrd.gif http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/5lavC6RUB6Q/guana.htm Thu, 02 Oct 2009 13:01:01 GMT The University of Miami Office of Media Relations issued a press release today claiming that Kathleen Sullivan-Sealey, the official 'researcher' working for Baker's Bay, is helping to "create the first sustainable tourist project in the Bahamas." The press release uses colorful language and lavish photos to clearly promote the relationship between Kathleen-Sullivan Sealey, the University of Miami, and Discovery Land Company. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/guana.htm#uofm http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/YDrta-nYfl0/el_valle_01.html Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:01:01 GMT The Chinese have this saying. They say the frog sees only the sky from the bottom of the well. We travelers are like this too, the way we travel two thousand miles to isolate ourselves in museums and preserved antiquity. I sense that what happens now, or is about to happen tomorrow, reveals more about our world than tumbled-down bricks and aged parchment. To travel into today is to climb out of the well. That's why I am writing you from the small town of El Valle de Anton, which sits inside a volcanic caldera, and which is sometimes known as ground zero for global extinction. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/isthmus/el_valle_01.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/KmSGnSlgrBM/index.html Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT The spider mystery has been cracked! http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/index.html#bio http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/r8UNpzaP9y0/mole_elvalle.html Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT SI always compress everything for my trip into a single moleskine journal - itineraries, contacts, airplane tickets and so forth. I also add notes about the places I am going. The process, before and during travel, helps me learn about different subjects. I have already filled a couple journals about the country of Panama. When I visited to El Valle, I had a very specific purpose - to focus on the micro-world, and so this journal reflects that. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/mole_elvalle.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/rv88IOt5ET8/guana.htm Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT Something incredible happened in the past week. Two important environmental made major wins against unrestrained development in the Caribbean. And both issues were directly inspired by Great Guana Cay. A Power Plant under construction without local consultation has been halted after Guana Cay lawyer Fred Smith found out the government was pulling another Baker's Bay. In the British Virgin Islands, locals banded together after consulting members of Save Guana Cay Reef and their attorney, Fred Smith. The locals won on all counts, and have established the Hans Creek area, an important estuary for BVI, a protected fisheries area. These dual wins further support my conviction that the Baker's Bay Club fight would have a resounding impact around the Caribbean Basin. Meanwhile, locals on Great Guana Cay await a ruling on their own case. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/guana.htm#giant http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/--jAcZjEBvE/perpetua_sea_bank_01.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT I like to pass lazy afternoons looking for new places on the Oregon map. I like to believe there are places in this big state of diverse landscapes that hardly anyone knows about. Places just waiting to be discovered. Today, I think I found that undiscovered Oregon. I am on the deck of a boat, in a simple seascape of blue sky and silky aquamarine water. I have joined a group of birders who charter a boat to the Perpetua Sea Bank, thirty miles off the coast of Newport. This Oregon - the Oregon from which you cannot see land - is a surprising, even enchanting place. Where I expected emptiness, I find life. Where I expected an absence of landscape, I find a brilliant ocean seascape of bright sun, brilliant clouds, and water bejeweled with purple and amber jellyfish. Where I expected a day of solitude looking through binoculars for twelve hours, I found unexpected friends. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/pacificnorthwest/perpetua_sea_bank_01.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/czOOm0B8Iek/index.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT I believe in an absolute minimum in photography equipment - stay light and leave the dozens of lenses to the gear junkies. I have the luxury of saying this because for many years, I have traveled with a very heavy camera, whose sheer weight requires me to shave off the extras. In the past 2 years, I've added a digital Canon to my backpack for the sole purpose of shooting telephotos. More recently, I realized Notes from the Road could also benefit from macros. For each type of photography I add, the backpack gets heavier and I learn ways to shave off even more weight. I have been practicing macros in Panama and have over a thousand images of all manner of tropical critters. I want to share this one with you because the mystery is spectacular. Before I start to reveal what it is, and just how amazing this thing is, I want to challenge my readers to attempt an identification. Please note that I have not confirmed the species, but I know enough to know the biology of this organism. Join the discussion at my Facebook page if you know anything about this, or just want to take a wild stab. Tomorrow, I'll reveal more detail. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/index.html#mystery http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/ZW6VCm28deQ/index.html Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT Some new butterflies I photographed in Panama. Want to help me ID them? http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/index.html#owl http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/9pft1qbhPGA/guana.htm Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:01:01 GMT Snippets of news from the Great Guana Cay environmental debate. http://www.notesfromtheroad.com/guana.htm#thegood http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nftr/~3/jXmxc0VwPMQ/erik-gauger-notes-from-the-road.html Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:01:01 GMT GoNomad interviewed me last week. Here's the link. http://www.gonomad.com/features/0908/erik-gauger-notes-from-the-road.html