April 21-27
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La Guira to
Fort Lauderdale
Fred Hansen, Winter, 2005
|
FRED Home
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Just when I got through with the Ancient Mariner's song flap, something
new. Late in last night's variety show, one of the acts did an
apparently-tasteless song all about me. Probably they were upset
because I am the only one enforcing the rule about no students in the
Faculty-Staff lounge. And I blew my top the other day. I was already
asleep and didn't hear it, but
apparently it is so nasty that no one will tell me what it was. I am
trying to get a copy for this log. Offensive as it may be, it is part
of my voyage and needs to be in this log.
The song thing made for an emotional morning; once again I have walked
into a situation
where I an unpleasant guy instead of the nice guy I should like to have
been.
My day was scheduled to be a tour originally called "Grand
Introduction to Cararcas," but security concerns had rerouted it so it
is now better called "Grand Introduction to Caracas's Suburbs." I
didn't really want to go on any more tours, but I thought I might as
well get a llok at Caracas. At the bus, however, Diana (oldest
passenger) was waiting to get a ticket,
so I gave her mine.
Returning to the ship, I hit the treadmill, which wasn't busy for a
change. I had forgotten its drawback: blisters. One on each big toe.
{They went away soon enough.)
Exercise: treadmill, 4 km in
60 mi.
I played computer games till 4:00 and am about to really start on
Cambodia/Vietnam. There are twenty-four pages of written notes.
Ouch. Six PM: One page done. (This page was notes. Most of the other
pages are full text.)
More insect bites. Dr. Mike says there are over a dozen passengers with
this problem from Brazil. I knew I wanted to fly from Cape Town.
Of the three tours I had bought for Venezuela, today's sounded the most
interesting and I decided to go:
LAG12 RANCHO GRANDE CLOUD FOREST
EXCURSION – GROUP A (0800-1800 Friday, 22 April) Minimum 30/Maximum 46
(PRICE: $59.00)
Travel from La Guaira to the valleys for Aragua. During the
ride, the mountains surrounding the capital, sugar cane plantation and
sites that have played an important part in the Venezuelan independence
epic will be seen. After a three-hour ride, arrive at the city of
Maracay and then begin the ascent to Rancho Grande Cloud Forest which
was renamed Henri Pittier National Park in 1953 to honor the Swiss
botanist who classified 30,000 Venezuelan plants and promoted that
national park system. The park’s astonishing biodiversity results from
varied topography which nurtures a variety of ecosystems ranging from
mangrove swamps to cloud forest. It is one of the tropical sites most
visited by scientists due to its great variety of plant and animal
life. The drive takes you from the sunlit savanna into the dark, moist
forest. Once in the cool environment of the cloud forest, you arrive at
the 50-year-old building used by naturalists in their studies. This is
the beginning of the interpretive visit to the park. During the walk on
the jungle path, you will closely examine the dominant tree species,
the Gyranthera caribensis, with its buttresses and long trunks that
reach up to 60 meters. The myriad of plants and insects, combined with
the lights and colors of the rain forest, will make an unforgettable
impression. After your walk, lunch will be served in an open air
section. Lunch will consist of typical Venezuelan food, including a lot
of tropical fruit. During your stay
at the station, scientists from the nearby natural science and
veterinary schools of the university in Maracay will explain in detail
the workings of this ecosystem. {Italics added.}
The return to the ship is via the same road. Please note: The tour agent
strongly suggests comfortable hiking shoes, insect repellent and rain
gear. This location is not equipped to welcome physically challenged
guests.
The correct description is:
Sit six boring hours on a bus, eat
lunch, and take a short nature hike.
The rest of the unitalicized palaver isn't really wrong, it just wildly
overstates the merits. The "typical Venezuelan food" was chicken. The
italic sentence is a flat-out lie. It was the one factor that attracted
me to this tour. And yet, my guide was only a well-meaning
amateur ornithologist who was ill-prepared to discuss plants, let alone
the "workings of the ecosystem." Moreover, he announced a policy of
refusing to talk about religion and politics, which pretty much
eliminated any chance of interesting information. More bad news, the
"walk on the jungle path" turned out to be pretty much a repeat of my
Manaus trip.
The park is 266,000 acres and has 578 species of birds, about the same
number as all of North America. There are indeed big trees, as
advertised. We were on the Andrew Fielding trail, named for a guy who
was studying the big trees when his platform broke, dropping him into
an early grave. Another tree appeared similar, but was not. It was a
fig tree that had parasitized a cedar. It starts at the top and eats
down. When it reaches ground it spreads roots and enfolds its
host/victim. Both the fig and the gyranthera trees had the big knees.
One explanation was that they catch water and nutrients that run
downhill after a rain. We saw one howler monkey on the road and heard a
bunch of them hooting as the rain started. (Yeah, it rained. It's a
rain forest. My rain gear was effective at separating the outside rain
from my sweat-drenched t-shirt.) Saw russet-backed oropendula birds.
Their nests hang down almost a meter from the tree branch. Pretty bird.
There were a couple of interesting bits on the trip. Most exciting to
our guide was when he found a scytlopus caracae. One more tick mark in
his bird list. Not really a very pretty bird, though it had a nice
call. Then on the ride home traffic came to a standstill. Our bus
driver maneuvered us forward until we were right behind the blockage
and could see the underside of the chicken truck that spanned all three
lanes. Passersby were assisting in off-loading the crates of chickens.
Eventually two trucks came and tried three or four stabs at righting
the truck. The frame twisted, rather than righting. At one point, the
crowd got some sort of signal. They all dived in, grabbed chickens, and
lit out for the hills. Jerry (voyage videographer) got video of the
escapade, including some posing for us with booty in hand. Eventually
they just dragged one end of the truck to clear a lane of traffic and
we slogged on to La Guira and the ship.
More insect bites. Karl (physicians assistant) says they look like
fleas. This would explain the new bites. The seemed to be concentrated
where my socks were tight, so I took off my socks. I fear, however,
that fleas are somewhere in our room.
Got a nice letter of apology from the guys who wrote/sang the song
about me.
Exercise: 3.27 mi in 45 min.
Mostly played computer games. Did some reading of a Dean Koontz book.
Watched a bit of Die Another Day, a Bond flick. I had remembered it as
not as much fun as the earlier Bond flicks and had blamed Brosnan. But
the whole opening credits are played over Bond getting tortured. Not
your usual fun escapist stuff.
Wrote a note asking the song-writers to give me the lyrics.
Lots of computer games in the morning. Wrote the above two entries.
We are in a water shortage. A pipe has broken so we cannot on-load
water. And we are being asked to conserve water. This is a clear signal
of the wrong sort. When people hear this, they figure that water is
going away so they should take a shower immediately, before it runs
out. In the two hours between the first and second announcement, we
used seven tons of water. It might help if we had a greater sense of
community. The alcohol policy and smoking areas are other places where
greater community-unity is needed.
The prevailing executive philosophy is to achieve unity by
demanding that everyone attend global studies. This does a poor job of
building unity since it sets the enforcers against the enforced. I
wonder: Could we build community by having a student policy committee?
This group would be elected and would have the power to set policy in
several areas: Global Studies attendance, alcohol policy, smoking
policy, water rationing, and whatever else might arise.The
administration would have to have veto powers, but if the plan is
to be effective, these powers would have to be exercised
sparingly.
Now to finish another page of notes.
3:10 PM - Air circulation fans have cut out. Water shortage?
Anyway, it is really nice to have the quiet.
3:12 - Fans on again. Cooler, but noisy.
3:41 -Finished entering the bridge tour notes page.
8 AM - 80 hours to go (assuming we don't get off until 4PM)
Many annoying announcements last evening. Early on it was the
persistent calls for saving water. We apparently did not run out; there
was water at breakfast. Later on the announcements were for varous
people to get their paperwork done so we could clear port and sail; and
start making water again.
S had a good trip, but a lot of hard traveling. After plane and bus
there was two hours in an open motorboat to get to the camp. Her
sunblock performed spectacularly; she isn't red at all.
8:06 - Announcement: Water usage can go back to normal.
I did do some writing on the Cambodia trip.
11 AM - meeting with Mary Bardone and the two guys who did the song
about me. They let me scan in their journal page with the song. It is somewhat offensive, but
not really terrible. I have seen a video clip of the performance and it
was more offensive in its presentation than on paper. Thye apologized.
They invited me to appear on stage with them in some upcoming event. If
I could trust them, I might go. Trust is not ever something I am good
at.
The Ambassador's Ball was this evening. Atg lunch time some of the RDs
were discussing the event and the fact that they interacted little with
the RD in charge of the Ball. They wondered how it would come off. The
dinner was good; I had the roast beef. S had a good time despite having
been sick in the afternoon. After dinner there were supposed to be
various events. That's when things fell apart. Champagne toast and
dessert were scheduled for 9:30. At 9:30 Kenn announced both would
defer to 10:30. Apparently people didn't finish dinner fast enough on
the second seating. The kitchen staff were pretty upset and allowed no
one into the Garden Lounge for the desserts. Students just milled about
the vessel. S went down for dessert while I stayed in bed and read.
Various paper sheets have been posted with questions at the top and
blank below for graffiti. The first I saw was "What will you miss?"
After some thought it seemed the most incongruous remark I could write
was, "homesickness." Another asked what I had learned. Nothing seemed
appropriate. On reflection, I surprised myself by drawing lessons.
What I have learned more thoroughly is the futility of improving the
world. When young I was idealistic. Then a realist. Now a pessimist. In
country after country there are desperately poor people and enormously
rich ones in power. The rich will do whatever it takes to remain rich
and in power. This especially includes cynical support of religious
movements that can help people through the pain being inflicted upon
them. Marx was right, religion is the opiate of the people. Even the
Communists in Russia recognized this, so they created religious
services based on Communist doctrine. What they failed to do was to
invent life-after-death, AKA reincarnation. This is the ultimate
deferral of gratification and salve for the downtrodden. Curiously, I
find myself thinking that Pol Pot was not too bad on this dimension. He
seemed not to be after riches but to have a plan for his people. An
evil plan, exclusionary and murderous, but not a greedy plan.
8 AM - 56 hours to go
Weighed myself this morning. Amazingly, I have lost ten pounds (now
243). So why aren't my clothes looser? Perhaps I've lost overall muscle
mass and gained in the belly. I went to the climic since my insect
bites are not better. The physicians asst. says to just wait. They will
go away. Some look like scabies and could have been gotten from the bed
in the Lake Salvador Lodge. The PA supposes that the insect will not
last too long in the Pittsburgh climate.
This morning I finally made progress in entering Cambodia notes. Only
two pages more of Cambodia notes. Then there are twelve pages of notes
from one day in Vietnam. Egad.
departure arrangements:
Luggage to be readied by two PM
Wednesday, with purple tags.
Thursday around 3PM we get off and go through customs with admin team
(last
off).
Clear our luggage and take it to a "trailer."
Reboard the ship. Disembark. Dinner at 6:30, Bimini Boatyard Restaurant.
Reboard ship. Sleep.
Friday: Arise. Breakfast.
At an unknown time we disembark yet again.
At some later time, pick up luggage from "trailer."
Schlep luggage to airport.
Friday flight 6:15 PM
5:30 I am ready to send everything to the web:
selectedPictures
512s and thumbs for Africa (1306-1418)
and South
America (1423-1495)
{SouthAmerica,Africa,captions,index}.html
recent files from images/
all files in log/
all top level files except GoDemo.ppt
8 AM 32 hours to go