AK elephant crew days

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of course you overstay your visa when the damn thing says '4 weeks' and you forget there are 31 days in July. I'm filling up custom agent's pockets faster than Barry Bonds can hit h*meruns these days...

a month can be an eternity or an instant depending on your mood. this visa exp. approached much too quickly and we found ourselves with over 700 miles to cover in two days without a direct route. but this is all a result of having too much fun in the forest living with a crew of government sponsored anti-poaching crew members.

A pocket of forest on the far Eastern border of Burma, Sagaing division has been protected in the form of a national park- known as Alaungdaw Kathapa, this area comprises roughly 620 square core miles of uninterupted forest with an encroaching buffer region.

20 years ago this park was famous for it's tiger population, now there only exists a corridor farther north to Bengladesh. Still active in the area (of the mammals) are wild asian elephants, sun bear, himalyan bear, malaysian bear, civit, barking deer, montjack, bauntang, several different monkey species, razorback, wild dog, and guar.

Without infrastructure for ecotourism, the forest department concentrates it's efforts on research, conservation, and education. They do this with several different teams who live off and on in the forest relaying data and other communications. Local villages on the fringe of the park are also visited frequently where workshops attempt to educate locals on the importance of biodiversity and sustainable forestry. They have a budget from the government along with a small bit of funding from outside conservation orgs which enables them to maintain a staff of around 20 people depending on sickness and other costs- evidence of such costs, one of our last nights in the forest I lay awake listening to one of the crew members vomit his lungs out all night long. He ended up sleeping out next to the latrine with fits of malarial fever. the next day he sat atop an elephant next to me wrapped in a poncho to calm his chills. He wasn't a happy elephant crew camper.

The warden relates this information with both pride and anxiety, not sure what the future holds for the park. While ecotourism might prove beneficial to the area, the research and education necessary for the immediate health of the local environment is going on unhampered and in his mind, quite successfully.

-b

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Photos

local bus-top transportation
pay and get on quick before the motorbike drivers can protest.

load up and move out
Captain Austin making last minute preparations..

ready for a rest
we'll stop for lunch, have a respite from the flies, drink boiling tea and enjoy a few cheroots (seligs!)

trail marking
important for the various crews who patrol the dense forest, some areas are seldom travelled and so our guides would mark their names and the date by a series of marks on prominent tree trunks. Despite living and working in the forest for 25 years, I still saw this tree three times over three hours, our guides a bit confused regarding our location.

gathering sustenance
a staple of our diet, 'mee-ay', young bamboo shoots are peeled to expose their tender and delicious core.

fun with fungus
the nutritious kind.

"i'm hungry brettski!"
I know buddy. we might both be sick of bamboo

still life with mr. Hawking
a summation of daily activities. sling shots, quantum theory, chinese tea, garlic, and an obscene amount of tiger balm.

suppertime
bird getting wicked with her machette.

elephant crew
a lively bunch. these guys spend most of their time in the forest. During our visit a truck load of illegally harvested timber was apprehended putting these guys in a good mood. They took to our presence kindly, sharing their space and resources-(they turned the generator on twice, which generally only happens a few times a month) they are also big fans of whiskey, as you could imagine living away from their families in a malaria infested forest for months at a time. They laughed at just about everything we did, bathing, cooking, eating, but serious 'conversation' ensued in the evening. No one spoke english, but with patience and animated gestures both sides would get their point across.

on the trek out...
hauling timber on the agricultural timberland of the park. plus the most sunshine we'd seen in weeks.

getting stuck
it's slow going in the rainy season..

Comments

[Mary Flood Nugent]

Amazing!
To see Lee McCormick with you and Austin...in Burma! To see Francis on the rickety dock! To literally stumble on your blog...how amazing is that? Paul and I are off to Chicago (he has a hearing) on the 20th...can I do anything for you there? We're heading to Madison for the Iowa-Wisc. game at Camp Randall with Nick... you guys are the luckiest people I know right now--you are thanking Your Creator for His Creation and your opportunities--right?! Tell my beloved first born to stay in touch with his mother. Love to all of you. Spread Peace. Mom Nugent