Our representative in Egypt reports that American travelers are returning to fully restored services in Egypt’s tourist areas. All archaeological sites have reopened and Nile boats, hotels and ground services have resumed full operation. The first travelers to return are reporting extremely hospitable welcomes with higher than normal levels of service. Most boats and hotels are operating as previously, though with relatively fewer tourists. No facilities suffered any damage during the government overthrow. The U.S. State Department downgraded its travel warning to Egypt this week, urging U.S. citizens to consider the risks rather than avoid all nonessential travel. Most employees of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo have returned, the State Department reported, and the embassy is resuming normal operations.  The Department of State indicated that popular tourism destinations in the country, such as Luxor, Aswan and the Red Sea resorts, are calm. If you are prepared to visit Egypt on short notice to take advantage of an extraordinarily joyous and uncrowded experience, call for suggestions.  If you are considering re-instating a postponed or long-anticipated trip now is the time to make your reservations.

Like many travel companies JOURNEYS, was forced to make alternative plans for our travelers who had planned to visit Egypt in the past two weeks. We are happy to report that while every Egypt-bound traveler was required to change plans we were able to negotiate alternative itineraries in Jordan, Israel, Morocco and Turkey. We were able change and re-route everyone’s plane tickets without penalties.  JOURNEYS and our operators made all land payments for Egypt fully applicable to alternative arrangements in other countries.  No clients were stranded in Egypt. No travelers who had planned to travel were denied the opportunity to utilize their vacations for an interesting, professionally -arranged trip.  For those clients who purchased travel insurance there will not be any extra out of pocket expenses associated with changes.

We have no special insight into the duration of the present leadership crisis in Egypt, but we are confident that our local guides, operators and representatives will again be hosting clients as soon as it is safe and attractive to do so.  When you are comfortable and ready to visit Egypt, please give us a call we have a great and honorable staff ready to offer a spectacular experience.

Our programs in Morocco, Jordan and Israel continue to operate as planned and we anticipate that Tunisia will be safe and attractive very soon. Those of us who have traveled to destinations in the wake of dramatic events or shortly after shocks to local tourism, know that this is often a special opportunity.   The first foreign travelers back are always given a special welcome.  There are bargains in the markets and restaurants, no lines or hassles at immigration and tourist sites and  your choice of flights in and out.  We look forward to offering you that opportunity in Egypt soon. ww

It was wonderful to be back in Myanmar. This was my fourth visit to Burma so I had some sense of what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by what we found upon arrival in Yangon.  There is a new airport with efficient immigration and customs. Changing money was easy. Everyone was predictably courteous. Nothing about this government encounter seems evil or authoritarian.  Surely, the Burmese are among the friendliest people in Asia.

We made a quick visit to the markets and monuments of Yangon and everyone in our group of five was especially impressed by the great golden Buddhist  pagoda of Shwedagon which was especially impressive at sunset. Our primary destination was the northernmost tip of Myanmar accessible by a long, two-stop flight via Mandalay .  The ATR-72 turboprop aircraft of Air Bagan was smooth and comfortable.  The farther north we flew the more extensive the forest became.    There are only about four flights per week to Putao and the good weather season is from October to April. Road access is possible in the dry season but the roads are rough and tortuous. The lack of traffic and modern buildings gave Putao a friendly village feeling.The Putao Trekking House where we stayed for three nights was an especially comfortable and hospitable base. Built according to local architectural style, but from beautiful local hardwoods, it offfers a rich, yet simple ambiance.

Our main objective was a trek to Ziyadam, the last village at the end of a trail that leads to the base of the Burmese Himalayas. Although we had to cross numerous streams on improvised stone and stick bridges, this was the dry season and there was no real  problem.,  One day required a 3,000 foot climb over Mt. Shangaung, but it felt like a privilege to hike through beautiful sub-tropical primary forest that separated friendly villages.  Our group of five Westerners encountered no other foreigners on the trail, but lots of interesting local travelers like the fellow at right.

This is a trip we plan to offer again next January  as the Trails of Himalayan Burma. I have created a Photo Gallery of the trip, and a visit to the Ngapali Beach area of coastal Myanmar. If you might be interested in this trip give us a call.

There is currently a United Nations Climate Change conference taking place in Cancun, Mexico.   Notables like Ted Turner, founder of CNN and UN benefactor; and Richard Branson, entrepeneur and founder of many enterprises including Virgin Airways, and others are urging prompt and dramatic action. The biggest unanswered questions are not whether the globe is warming or to what extent human activity is the cause, but rather why the United States seems to be so uninterested and uninvolved in contributing to solutions. As travelers we have seen the melting glaciers and observed the effects of droughts and unseasonable storms. We have spoken with guides, farmers and villagers who observe that what were once predictable seasonal patterns. Shannon Stowell of the Adventure Travel Trade Association addressed the conference with ideas about how adventure travel can contribute to awareness of climate change and how our interests as travelers align with those most concerned about finding solutions and climate stability. His suggestions center more on the value of awareness than on actual reduction of the global temperature, which is the most enormous common property resource management problem ever faced by humanity.

We, as travelers still have this fundamental problem of the carbon profligacy of mechanized travel.  Ted Turner does not bicycle between and around his many far flung ranches.  Richard Branson,  is not yet running his commercial jet fleets on biofuel or hydrogen.  I guess they justify their outsized personal  carbon footprints by  the compensatory effects of their political advocacy that other people (families, cultures, nations) not create such large carbon footprints. It is kind of like using a megaphone to urge a crowd to keep the peace by turning down the volume on their ipod headphones.
Everyone  I have ever met in the nature-eco-adventure travel industry is aware of the problem of global warming and would like to participate in an effective solution, if they can afford it and if it is presented convincingly.  At least we are beyond denial and open to ideas.  As far as I can tell we are still lacking in truly effective good ideas and especially lacking in an estimate of the cost.   Adventure travel may be less damaging to the global climate than some other types of travel, but we should be cautious in suggesting we are more a part of the solution than part of the problem.

This week international leaders and environmental ministers gathered in St. Petersburg, Russia, to discuss dramatic declines in wild tiger populations across Asia. Tigers have been exterminated from most of their range which once stretched from the Mediterranean to Siberia, Korea and Bali. Now your best chance to see a tiger in the wild is in one of the nature reserves or national parks of India or Nepal. Even here the animals are still under threat from illegal hunters seeking their skins, reputed medicinal body parts, or as illegal pets.  According to the NY Times report or the meeeting, saving the tiger, an animal associated with royalty, fierceness and solitary has a special appeal for leaders like Vladmir Putin who is front and center in the political imagery of tiger conservation. Even the much disparaged military junta of Myanmar is behind the effort and has created the largest tiger reserve on earth. We visit this sanctuary on the JOURNEYS Tiger Trails of Northern Burma, a trip I will be leading next January. It is exceptionally rare to actually see a wild tiger in Burma, Siberia, Sumatra, Bhutan or China where diminishing, secretive populations still exist.  Preserving tiger habitat is critical to the thousands of smaller, less-politically or esthetically charismatic species which are equally endangered by expanding human populations and natural habitat destruction.  We hope this international effort, supported even by the World Bank, will result in a reversal of the tiger trend toward extinction.  In the mean time, if you are eager to see or photograph a tiger in the wild while you still can, we suggest our Great India Tiger Safari or our India Great Cats Safari as the closest to a certain opportunity.

Bhutan has long been that idealized Kingdom where life changed little and people liked it that way.  That romanticized notion may be a fading mirage. A recent feature in the Wall Street Journal suggests that some officials would like to see more foreign investment and conventional development.  Two new airports, another airline, more hotels and local branches of foreign universities all seem to be in the plans for this decade and possibly the next two years. Those of us who find the existing simple hotels quite adequate and the absence of extensive roads and air services part of the charm are concerned. Especially, since the inevitable impacts of climate change, glacial melting  and disruptive weather are making it a challenge to maintain Gross National Happiness under the present simplified  infrastructure. Recent floods wiped out extensive wetland habitat utilized by the rare Black-necked Cranes contributing to a continuing population decline of this object of local and tourist veneration.

It may not be fair for residents of over developed nations to make judgments about how other countries should shun modern technologies and conveniences. If nothing else the message you might take from these events is that if you have not seen and experienced the wonders of Bhutan personally, you should visit soon. We can help.

Reports from Nepal this morning indicate about 2000 foreign trekkers  are stranded at Lukla, the airstrip closest to Mt. Everest National Park due to unceasing bad weather.   Normally, in mid-November more than 50 flights per day ferry travelers between Kathmandu and this tarmac strip at 9,000′ elevation. This year unseasonable weather including high winds, clouds and rain have lingered long after the monsoon normally relents in early October.  In the absence of airplane service some helicopters have  been able to arrive and some trekkers who are tired of waiting are walking out  to the vehicle road about 6 days walk away.  The Nepal Army has been approached for assistance in evacuating trekkers.   While Everest is the most popular trekking destination in Nepal, we are recommending to our clients that they consider lesser known trekking routes in the Arun Valley, Gorkha and Annapurna regions where air access is not problematic and  delays have not been reported. No doubt lots of people now in Lukla are wondering if global climate change is the cause of their dismay.  While American politicians may dispute the reality of climate change the farmers and herders of the Himalayas are extremely concerned that  unprecedented weather patterns of the past decade have changed the calculus of their subsistence existence. Rains are unpredictable, streams dry up, reservoirs fail to fill, storms of extreme intensity damage crops and steeply terraced fields.  None of the traveler’s are likely to die of waiting for a flight, but this may be just another example of climate change becoming ever more perceptible and problematic. Click here for more information on JOURNEYS Nepal trips.

I visited Point Mouillee from about 6-11 am Thursday, August 6 and recorded thefollowing list of 77 Read the rest of this entry »

I returned this month from a spectacular experience in Rwanda and Uganda tracking gorillas, chimps and other primates.

See my photos at http://gallery.me.com/weberwill#100069

The images below were taken with an iPhone through a Kowa TSN 883 scope at 30X.  This bird at first presented as a Common Goldeneye, but then I noticed white markings behind the eye rather than in front of the eye, a black, merganser-like bill and a slight crest, though it was closer to a goldeneye size.  The bird was in the open water of Ford Lake where the Huron River enters the lake under – I-94.  I took the pictures about 3PM Friday, Feruary 20, 2009 from the boardwalk/path accessible from North Bay Park, Ypsilanti. The closest trail entrance is off of S. Grove Street.  The bird was still there on Sunday morning, Feb 22.  I saw it flying with three Common Goldeneyes, but I could not get close enough to get a better picture. One person who has seen the picture suggests it could be a Common Goldeneye x AmericanMerganser cross.  This is possible, but the bird is goldeneye size and has a black bill.