Strange Bedfellows

Trips abroad without adequate planning can often provide surprises.

         I learned on Wednesday that my wife and children were going to be gone the coming weekend.  I don’t remember what the reason was.

Immediately, I said to myself, “What am I going to do this weekend?”

The very next thought was, “Hey, this is a great opportunity to go to Costa Rica for some quick birding at La Selva Research Station.  I have not been able to get there on my prior trips. I can probably get a day and one half of birding if I leave on Friday afternoon and come back Sunday night.”

I was a very frequent flyer for business reasons, so I had accumulated a large number of frequent flyer miles on American Airlines.  Thus, I was usually able to get free tickets.  I immediately got on the phone with American and soon had arranged a flight leaving Washington to Miami late Friday afternoon.  That flight connected to a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica that got in late Friday night.  Coming home, there was an early afternoon flight on Sunday from San Jose to Miami that connected to a flight back to Washington getting me back early Monday morning. 

“Zowie!!”, I thought, “I can do this.”

Of course, the arrangements didn’t end there, but business needs took over and I did not get back at it until early Friday morning.  I was able to book a cheap room for late Friday night at the Casa Carmen, very near the airport.

Figure 1: Accommodation at Casa Carmen

            It was too late to get a rent-a-car for that night. I was able to book a car for early Saturday morning.  They agreed to deliver the car to Casa Carmen at 7:00 AM Saturday morning. 

            I then wanted to make reservations at La Selva or someplace nearby, but I ran out of time.  I had to get to the airport early because I had to go through passport control as well as check my bags.  I forgot which Washington airport I was leaving from.

            “Well.”, I thought, “I can take care of that when I get there.  There is accommodation at La Selva.”

            All went well.  I was up early Saturday morning and had a bit of breakfast.  My car arrived on time, and I was off to La Selva.  It was only a little more than 50 miles to La Selva.  Up over the mountain past Braulio Carillo NP and down the Atlantic slope into the lowland Atlantic rainforest.  It took almost 2 hours to get there.

            At last, La Selva (the jungle) Biological Station. La Selva Biological Station is a protected area of almost 4000 acres of low-land tropical rain forest in northeastern Costa Rica. It is owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities and research institutions from the United States, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico.

Figure 2: La Selva Biological Station

            It was a little after 9 when I entered the front office and inquired about a room for the night.

            The attendant said, “I am sorry, but we are completely booked for tonight.  We always get a lot of traffic on the weekends.”

            “Is there anywhere else nearby?”, I asked.

            “Oh, yes. There are hotels in town.  Should be no problem.”

            The town of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí was quite nearby.  That sounded good.  My guess was that the  town had 10 to 20 thousand people so there should be plenty of hotels.  This was the days before cellphones, but I had my trusty copy of Lonely Planet for Costa Rica.

            I had my target list of birds that I hoped to see, and it was starting to get hot.  I wanted to get out on the trails while the birds were still active.  So off I went in search of Bare-necked Umbrella Bird, Red-capped Manakin, Great Antshrike, and the Rufous-tailed Jacamar.   

Figure 3: Bare-necked Umbrellabird

            It was a great day birding.  I saw all my targets except Red-Capped Manakin, as well as lots and lots of other birds, many new to me  

Figure 4: Red-capped Manakin

            “Oh, well.”, I thought, “I’ll get it in the morning.”

            Off to town I went with my Lonely Planet.  I am not going to bore you with the details.  No luck.  Nothing was available.

            They told me, “People come down from San Jose for the weekend.  They want to get out of the city.  We are usually booked on the weekend. During the week we have plenty of vacancy.”

            Ouch.  It was getting dark.  I did not fancy driving back to San Jose over mountain roads in the dark.  Maybe I was going to be sleeping in the car, something I did not relish.

            Reluctantly, I headed back to San Jose.  About a half hour later, just as night was falling, I passed a youth hostel on the left side of the road.

Figure 5:Typical Costa Rican Youth Hostel

            “What have I got to lose?”, I thought.  I stopped, backed up,  and pulled in front of the place.

            There was a man in his late thirties sitting on the front porch.  I’ll call him Juan.

            “Sir, any chance I can get a place to sleep tonight?”

            Juan answered, “Well, you are sort of in luck.  I am the owner.  I come down from the city for the weekends.  All the communal bunks are occupied, but I have a bunkbed in my quarters and the top bunk is not spoken for.”

            “I’ll take it.”, I said without hesitation.  “Show me the way.  I am exhausted.”

            He said,” Please pay me first, and then I will take you there.”

            I handed him the cash and we headed inside.

            “Here it is.” he said, “The top bunk is yours.  You can take your gear out of the car and stick it in the corner”

Figure 6: My bed for the night

            I went and got my stuff from the car, took off the clothes that had jungle rot, climbed up into the top bunk, and was soon fast asleep.

            I awoke some time later, very groggy.  The whole bed frame was shaking.  As I became more awake, I began to hear grunting and groaning.  

            “Oh,”, I said to myself, “They are down there doing it.”  And as I said that it dawned on me that there were two men down there doing it.

With that I started to worry that they were going to come up to get at me.  As a generality, other people’s sexuality is their business and none of mine.  But I am not of that persuasion and don’t want to be.

They did not bother me.  They just went about their business and were soon asleep.  I don’t think I slept a wink the rest of the night.

The next morning, I found out that the owner came from San Jose on weekends specifically to meet his lover.  I was happy that he was happy.  It would have been nice if I had been warned.

Even though I was very tired, I went back to La Selva and was lucky enough to observe the Red-capped Manakin.

I then headed back to San Jose, caught my flight and was soon back home, exhausted.

What Is Important Anyway?

My elder son Arlo loved both outdoor adventures and intellectual adventures.

            In his 16th year he and I joined two other men for a fly-in canoeing, camping, and fishing adventure into the roadless wildness of Canada.  The next summer he signed up for an Outward-Bound adventure in Colorado that focused on hiking, mountain climbing, cliff climbing and camping.

            When it came time to go to college, he quickly focused on one and only one college-St. Johns in Annapolis, Maryland.  Most may not have heard of this St. John’s as it is very small Liberal Arts college (freshman class about 100).  However, it is the third oldest college in the USA (after Harvard and William & Mary) having been founded in 1696.

Figure 1: St. Johns College-Annapolis

The reason Arlo chose St. Johns was that it was very small and had only one curriculum-The Great Books Curriculum focused on the important ideas of Western civilization. It also attracted superior students, encouraged student discussion, and had small (about 20 students) intimate classes.  The one and only degree offered was a BA in Philosophy.  His mother and I thought it was an excellent choice.  He spent his freshmen year there and stayed for the summer.

I got a call from Arlo.  “Dad, I want to transfer to the Santa Fe, New Mexico campus of St. Johns.”

St. Johns opened a second campus in Santa Fe in 1964 to take the enrollment pressure off of Annapolis.  The curriculum had become popular, and they were getting way too many qualified candidates.   The same curriculum was taught in Santa Fe.

“Why do you want to transfer to Santa Fe, Arlo?” I asked.

“They have the same great curriculum there, but they also encourage a lot of outdoors activity.  In particular, the on-foot portion of the New Mexico search and rescue team is run out of the college.”

Santa Fe is located at the Southern terminus of the Rocky Mountains and is at an altitude of 7,000 feet.

Figure 2: Santa Fe, New Mexico

“Yes, dad.”, he said. “I can get a great education and also get into the mountains for climbing and supporting search and rescue.  I really like that idea.”

His mother and I could see no reason he couldn’t follow his dream.  The tuition was the same.  The issue was getting him there.  We did a road trip from Virginia to Santa Fe, all four of us.  It was great.

I also liked the idea of Santa Fe.  I did a lot of business in Albuquerque and sometimes Los Alamos.  On the freeway (I-25) the 65 miles only took about an hour. It actually took a bit longer to get to Annapolis from Northern Virginia. The trip to Los Alamos required passage through Santa Fe.

His sophomore year went well. He loved the great outdoors of New Mexico.

At the beginning of November of his Junior year, I had some business in Albuquerque.   I had convinced 3 different government agencies that it would be in their mutual interest to have a program to develop and test a special type of space hardware.  They were all convinced that this was a good idea, but bureaucratic prudence demanded that they have an independent technical review of the proposal.

The government brought together independent experts from the Army, Air Force, and the Tri-Service agencies.   The review was to take place at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory located at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

`Figure 3: Air Force Weapons Laboratory

The meeting was scheduled for 10:00.  I arrived at the gate at Kirtland with my compatriot Kenny from our Las Vegas office where the testing was to be done.  We were the two-man briefing team.  It happened to be the day of my birthday.  “Gotta fly with that.”, I thought.

We got to the briefing room in short order.  There was Sam representing the Army, and Jake from the Air Force.  We knew them well and were sure they were on our side.

“Hey Sam. Hey Jake.  How are you guys doing?”

“All is well, Ian.  I see you brought your buddy Kenny from Las Vegas.”, said Sam.

“That must mean you want to do some serious testing.”, said Jake.

“Yes indeed.”, said Kenny.  “Ian has laid out an end-to-end program.”

“Can’t wait to see it.” chimed in both Sam and Jake.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a look at somebody else entering the room.  “Oh, shit.”, I thought.  “It is my arch-enemy Gus.”

The Tri-Services Agency used Gus as a technical consultant.  He was a former staff officer in the agency.  He now worked for a company that was a direct competitor to my company.  We were always butting heads.

Gus laughingly said, “Hello Sam and Jake.  Glad to see you again.  Are you ready to roast these guys.”

Both Sam and Jake nodded deferentially to Gus.

“Well, then.  Let’s get started.  What do you have for us Ian?”, Gus commanded.

These were the days before laptop computers.  My briefing was on viewgraphs.  Kenny went and took a seat, and I walked up to the viewgraph projector and put my title viewgraph up on the machine and turned it on.

As soon as I did that, Gus started. “That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard.  The data is not available to be able to perform anything like what you propose.”

I responded, “Yes, but collecting that data is the first task in this end-to-end plan.”

“Yes, Ian, but your company is not qualified enough to collect that data.  There are other companies better suited for that job.”

We never got further than my title slide.

Gus announced, “The Tri-Services Agency has let a contract to capture the data needed to do the program Ian wants to do.  There is no point going any further with this briefing.  It needs to wait until this data has been collected and that will be about 2 years from now.”

Sam and Jake both agreed, “Come back later.  Sorry.”

Gus got up and triumphantly sauntered out of the room.

The bastard was obviously talking about his own company.  The government had shared our plan with him, and his company had stolen the idea and convinced somebody back at the agency he used to work for to give them a contract to gather the data.  My sources in the agency later confirmed that his company had the contract.

I was devastated.  Some birthday present this was.  I had been working on selling this idea for almost a year.  It was a five-year program and was supposed to be a major source of support for my people.  Shit.

Kenny and I headed out.  Kenny said, “That son-of-a-bitch has done it again.  He has screwed me more than once as well.  Let’s go get a drink.”

“Sorry Kenny.  I don’t do that anymore.  Let’s get an early lunch.”

“Sorry, I forgot.  Yes, lunch.”

We went and had some lunch, and then Kenny took off.  I was left alone in my misery.  My management was going to chew my ass.

I had my binoculars in my briefcase.  I headed to the road leading to the tramway leading up to the Sandia Mountain that towers over Albuquerque.

Figure 4: Sandia Mountain in Albuquerque

            I parked, got out of my car, and wandered around the chaparral, but I just couldn't get into it.   I just couldn't stop feeling sorry for myself.  Even though it was a bit earlier than he and I had discussed, I decided to head to Santa Fe to see Arlo.

            I got on I-25 and headed North.  I was in Santa Fe in about an hour.  I eased into the foothills where the college is located.

Figure 5; St, Johns college Santa Fe

            I parked and headed to his dorm room, but nobody was there.  I wandered around the small campus a bit hoping I would run into him or his roommate.  No luck.  I headed to the cafeteria.  No luck.

            I was feeling pretty depressed at this point.  First a shit birthday present and now I can’t find Arlo.  But I finally got my head out of my nether regions and headed to the administration office.

            The lady at the front desk said, “Oh yes, I know where Arlo is.  He and his team just got back from a search and rescue mission.  They are going to have a post-mission debriefing in about 15 minutes.  Let me show you to the conference room.”

            She led me down the hall to a small conference room.  There were seats along the wall and a small table on the other side of the room.  On the other  side there also was a window facing the foothills.  I took a seat and waited.  A few other adults joined me.

            A short time later Arlo entered the room from the window side along with four other students and an older man who was obviously their leader.  The look on their faces was sober.

            The leader said, “The team had a very emotional day today.  They are here to talk about how they are feeling.  Please do not ask questions.  When all have had their time, you can get together with them one-on-one.”

            He continued, “The team went out early this morning in search of a man who did not return last night from climbing in the mountains.  His wife called us in.  The helicopter team thought they spotted him, but there was nowhere to land.  The team followed instructions from the helicopter team using walky-talkies.  They found the man at the bottom of a small cliff dead.  They fashioned a stretcher from small trees and jackets and brought him back to town.”

Figure 6: Makeshift stretcher

            Arlo was the first member of the team to speak.

            He said, “I now know why I transferred to Santa Fe.  I am humbled by being part of a team carrying out such important work.  My heart goes out to this man’s friends and family.”

            As he said this he began to cry.  And I began to cry.

            I was immediately out of my own woes.  Mine could be fixed.  This man’s couldn’t.  I am off doing work that is far less important than the work Arlo is doing.  It is an honor and privilege to be here.

            I hardly heard the offerings of the other team members.  Being self-centered again and thinking how lucky I am.

            When the debriefing was over, Arlo came over and we hugged and cried again.  We spent the rest of the day together in a way that felt very, very close to me.

            What is important anyway?

Postscript

            After a year of work, Gus’s company had made little progress with getting the important data.  The government came back to me and funded my original proposal.  You can read about that in the blog post named Last Tango in Nevada.

You Can't Get to Sulawesi from Here

Adventuring frequently involves strange twists and turns.

            “Where the devil is Sulawesi Ian?”, you may ask.

            It is an island in the Eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago that used to be called The Celebes.  The unique shape of Sulawesi is shown in figure 1.  Its location in Indonesia is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: The Island of Sulawesi   

                                       Figure 2: Indonesia   

            I really wanted to go to Sulawesi.

            “Why would you want to go to Sulawesi Ian?”, you ask again.

            Well.  I was a workaholic and had a mid-life crisis because of that.  I had to find something to do that was fun.  I finally found that in birdwatching (birding).  There are more than 10,000 species of birds in the world.   Goofy guys like me try to see as many as possible.

            But then, there are the even goofier guys.  These guys find out that all the species are classified into only 249 families.  And so, they go off on a quest to see at least one member of as many families as they can.  That’s me.

            Sulawesi is home to a bird that is so unique genetically that it is in its own family and of course can only be seen on Sulawesi.   I wanted to see this bird as part of my quest.  The name of the bird is Hylocitrea and is shown in figure 3.

Figure 3: Hylocitrea

            I can tell you that I have been to a lot of locations by myself, but Sulawesi just seemed too challenging.  So, I signed up for a birding tour to Sulawesi with Birdtour Asia.  Then I looked at the list of folks who also signed up for the tour.  Wow, none other than Delbert.  Delbert was a man who maintained a website devoted to the families of birds of the world.

            I called him immediately and said, “Hey Delbert, I am also going on that tour to Sulawesi.  I am pretty sure that the only easy way to get through there is through Singapore.“

            Delbert replied, “Indeed.  And I bet you are thinking the same thing I am thinking.  Get to Singapore a little bit early and use the time to go into Southern Malaysia to see the Malaysian Rail-Babbler.”

            “You read my mind”, I said.  “I tried my luck at Panti forest a few years back but was not successful.  My understanding is that it is still the best place to find that bird.”

            Delbert concurred, “Yes if get into Singapore Friday early enough, we can drive into Malaysia, get a hotel on the Northern outskirts of Johor Bahru and have most of the day Saturday to look for that beauty. We can then get back to Singapore early enough to get a hotel near the airport.  Then we won’t have any trouble catching that early morning flight to Sulawesi.”

            I replied, “Sounds good. Let me know what flight you are on out of San Francisco, and I will book my passage to get me on that same flight. I am coming from Washington, DC.”

            It seemed like time flew by, and we were both in Singapore.  We rented car and headed to Malaysia.   We were in our hotel ready for a good night’s sleep within a couple of hours.

            The Malaysian Rail-Babbler is also so genetically unique that it is the only member in its family.  It is found in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, but one of the easiest places to see it is in Panti Forest because of the proximity to Singapore.

            We were off at the crack of dawn and at the entrance to a major trail leading into the park.

Figure 4: Entrance to Panti Forest-Malaysia

            I said, “I hope we do better than I did before.  I spent two days with a local guide from Singapore and never got on it.”

            Delbert replied, “I hope I have something that will help.  Did you use a recording of its song?”

            Me. “No.  I was here on business and didn’t have time to prepare.”

            Delbert.  “I brought a tape player and a recording of its rather unique whistle.”

            “Listen.”       

            Me.  “Wow.  That ought to get it.”

            Off we went, slowly walking down the trail, playing the recording every 50 yards or so.

Figure 5:Panti Rainforest Trail

            We had a wonderful day birding.  The day was hot as expected and there was no rain.  We walked and walked and saw and heard lots and lots of different species of birds.  Quite a few were new for me.  But no Rail-Babbler.

            Toward the end of the day, Delbert said, “We need to head back so we don’t lose our hotel room.   Can’t be certain about traffic between here and town.”

            Me, “Yes, I agree.  But I am kind of bummed that I didn’t see the Rail-Babbler again.”

            Delbert, “Don’t give up hope.  Maybe we will see it on the way back.”

            Me, “Yeah, sure.”

            We headed back at a much quicker pace compared to our walk into the forest.  Delbert continued to play the tape from time to time.

            By late afternoon, we were within 50 yards of the entrance.

            I said, “Do you hear that funny clicking noise over there?”

            Delbert replied, "Yes, I do.  I have no idea what it is.  Let’s check it out.”

            We walked a short distance into the undergrowth.  Lo, and behold, it was the Rail-Babbler clicking away.  We stayed very quiet and watched it foraging.

Figure 6: Malaysian Rail-Babbler

            Me,” Thank you Delbert.  You are my good luck charm.”

            Delbert, “Well, maybe.  I was always playing its song.  I think what we heard was its call. That’s what I should have been playing.”

            We basked in the victory of finally seeing the bird on the way back to Singapore.

            We got rid of the rental car, found our hotel, ate and went to bed.

Early Sunday morning,  we were at the check-in counter.  Delbert went first, checked his bag, got his boarding pass and headed for the boarding gate.

            I handed my ticket and passport to the boarding agent.

            The boarding agent looked at my ticket and then at my passport and said, “I’m afraid you can’t get to Sulawesi from here, as least not today.”

            Me, “What?  I must be on that plane.  We are meeting up with our tour group in Sulawesi.  I will be left behind.  I paid big money to be on that tour and now you are telling me that I can’t join it.”

            Boarding agent, “I am sorry sir, but there is a problem with your passport.  You have travelled so much that all the pages are already stamped up.  There is no room left for the Indonesians to be able to stamp you with your entry visa.”

            I was in disbelief.  How could this be happening.

            I asked, “Is there no way around this?”

            The agent replied, “I am afraid not.  The only way is for you to come back with some blank pages in your passport.  If I let you on the flight, I could be fired.”

            Me, “How do I do that?”

            Agent, “You have to go your embassy and get them to add pages.”

            I couldn’t believe it.  I had no faith in bureaucracy.   I was sure this was going to take forever.  There goes my Sulawesi trip.

            Thank God, this was the era of international cellphones.

            The gate agent gave me the number for the embassy, and I was on the phone.

            A man’s voice answered, “Hello.  This is the US Embassy in Singapore.  The Embassy is closed now but will reopen tomorrow morning at 8:30. How can I help you?”

            I explained the situation to the man in detail.

            He was unbelievably helpful.  He said, “My name is Jake, and I am one of the Marine Security Guards at the embassy, making sure nothing bad happens here.  Normally, you need to make an appointment to get your passport fixed.  I get off duty at 6 tomorrow morning, but I will hang around until you arrive at 8:30.  I will also talk to the person responsible for fixing the passport and see if they can squeeze you.”

            Me, “Thank you very very much sir.  That is above and beyond.  I will see you at 8:30.”

            Jake, “By the way, there is no parking at the embassy.   It is just across the street from the Singapore Botanical Gardens.  There is plenty of parking there.”

            I then got on the phone with Fang, the travel agent that I had found to book our earlier night in Malaysia.  I explained my situation.

            Fang explained, “I am afraid there is bad news for getting a hotel reservation.  The Singapore Grand Prix is in town this week.  Everything is booked. You will be lucky to find anywhere to stay.  And you will also pay an arm and a leg for whatever we find.”

            Me, “Please find me a place to stay for tonight and tomorrow.  Price can’t be an issue.  Also, see if you can find me a flight to Makassar in Sulawesi as early in the day as possible on Tuesday morning.”

            Fang, “I’m on it.”

            I then texted my predicament to both Delbert and the tour leader who was already in Sulawesi.

            Then I asked the tour leader, “Please tell me where you will be on Tuesday, so I know where to go to catch up.  He texted that they would be lodging at Lore Lindu National Park in the north of Sulawesi.”

            He complied.  I now had a plan.

            Fang got back to me with lodging she had booked.

            I had to let her know I had further requirements.  “Please get me a flight from the city nearest to Lore Lindu from Makassar.  I will also need a cab ride from the city to Lore Lindu.

            Fang, “I will do what I can.  There may be another day’s delay.  Sorry.”

            I jumped in a cab and got to my lodging in short order.  It was a flea-bag place at an outrageous price, but at least I wasn’t on the street. The room with a bed was barely big enough to turn around in, and the bathroom was down the hall.  Oh well, I have done worse.

            I was at the gate to the embassy first thing in the morning.

Figure 7: US Embassy Singapore

            When the external gate opened and got to the front door, Jake was waiting with his hand extended, “Hello Ian.  Wait here. I will go get Norma who takes care of passport issues.”

            Within a short period of time, he was back with Norma.

            Norma said, “Hello Ian.  Jake has explained your predicament.  Please give me your passport.  I will do my best to sneak into the queue.  Be back here about 2:00.  We close at 3:00, so try to be on time.  If I have been able to pull it off, I will have your passport returned with lots of blank pages.”

            I thanked them both profusely.

            I left the embassy and called Fang.

            She said, “I have performed the requested miracle.  You have a morning flight that gets you to Makassar at about 11:00.  There is a connecting flight that gets you into Palau by 4:00.  I have booked a taxi that should have you to Lore Lindu by 7:00.”

            Me, “Thank you.  You really are a miracle worker. I will only miss three days of my tour.”

            I was back at the embassy at 2:00.  Sure enough, the front desk had my repaired passport.

            Back to my flea-trap, off to bed, up in the morning. By the end of the day, I had caught up with my tour group at Lore Lindu.

            The rest of the tour was wonderful and uneventful by the last few days standards.  Delbert and I went on to see Hylocitrea with the rest of the group as well as many other birds found only in Sulawesi.

            Thank you, Jake and Norma.  I will do my best to not badmouth bureaucracy again.  Wonder dedicated public servants like you are plentiful.

            Thank you, Fang.  Dedicated travel agents like you across the globe make the world a smaller place.