 |
Jim and Linda in front of a Baobob Tree in Namibia
Another Year living in Amerongen's Neighborhood
As has become our habit, we start the year with two Ballard Street offerings that seemed particularly apt during the year. The captions have been modified slightly. If your paper doesn't offer this —the Austin American-Statesman dropped it for some reason — you can read it at http://www.gocomics.com/ballardstreet/.
Linda finally retired at the end of 2009, and we devoted the entire year to traveling, managing trips to four different continents (well, one was North America).
Our photo of the two of us is from the African Safari.
Below is the story of the year in chronological order.
Antarctica Trip
 |
The infamous plastic bag, with assorted cast off clothing
 |
Female Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus)
We began the year of traveling in Argentina, where we had some brief time to bird, managing to get a good photo of the Magellenic Woodpecker, a specialty of the area, before boarding the
Plancius for a cruise of the Southern Ocean.
This photo, taken on South Georgia Island, is part of Jim's favorite story of 2010, told so many times that Linda forced him to write it up. Our frequent traveling companions, Jenny and Terry Cloudman, joined the chorus of "No" whenever Jim tried to sieze the opportunity to introduce the story to a new audience. Ironically, it was Jenny's uncontrolled laughter that alerted Jim to the possibility of humor in what could have been a serious problem.
You can read about his amazing near death experience in The Incident at Cooper Bay.
Pico Bonito in Honduras
 |
Honduran Emerald (Amazilia luciae)
Together with the Cloudmans, Granny, and Flo, we spent a week at the Lodge at Pico Bonito in Honduras. Not only did we see the Honduran Emerald, the only endemic in Honduras, but we finally had a look at the Agami Heron that had eluded us on many previous trips. Jim used to joke, “No trip to the neotropics is complete until we have failed to see the Agami Heron.”
Here is a more complete write-up.
TOS Meeting in Rockport
The Texas Ornithological Society held its Spring Meeting in Rockport this year. We love the coast in April, so we headed down for the meeting. The weather was a bit uncooperative on the first day, but rewarded us with a mini fallout over the weekend. The highlight of the trip was a photographers dream at the Birding Center — better known to birders as the sewage ponds— in Port Aransas.
Mexican Road Trip
Our planned trip to Mexico last year fell victim to the Swine Flu scare. We were able to re-schedule it for this year. We saw many Mexican Endemics, and a country devastated by the economic downturn.
Read more?
The Wedding Trip
 |
Grand Canyon Panorama
We drove to California again this year, doing a bit of birding along the way and staying with some friends. We managed a lifer in New Mexico, Juniper Titmouse, a little gray bird of interest only to birders. We spent a couple of days in the Tucson area, staying with Laurel, whom we met on the Antarctica cruise, and the Bikels, also from the cruise. We drove up to the Bikel's cabin in the mountains, a pleasant change from the heat of the city, and accompanied Laurel to the Sonora Desert Museum, where she served as a docent.
After the wedding, we meandered back to Austin by way of Colorado, stopping to visit friends and our former foster daughter, Rosalind. The photo is from a visit to the Grand Canyon, which neither of has seen in decades. It was quite different in some ways; unchanged in others. The canyon itself is timeless, but the tourist accomodations were modernized.
Six Weeks Safari in Africa
This was our Big Trip™ for the year. Jim kept a daily blog of the trip with lots of photos sprinkled in. The highlights included several sightings of leopards, including a mating pair on August 18, and a mother cheetah with cubs on September 9. The online blog is here. You can also read a PDF file, if you prefer.
Thanksgiving in Panama
We took the entire week of Thanksgiving to celebrate Jim's birthday, as usual, and traveled to Panama with Granny and Flo. As for Pico Bonito, this was not really a birding trip, but we did manage to work in a some.
The canal, which is undergoing a major enhancement now to allow bigger ships to pass, is very interesting. We boned up on the history of the canal in preparation, and tried to imagine what it mush have been like before the advent of air conditioning and insect repellent.
We didn't need much of either on the trip. We spent two days in the Chiriqui highlands, where we neede extra clothing, and another two days in the laid back resort area of Bocas del Toro. The former, especially the town of Boquete, is a popular destination for retired ex-pats from the USA. The latter reminded us of Cay Caulker in Belize.
Check out our pictures?
On to 2011
Best wishes for 2011, or to use an African phrase, "Peace, rain (just the right amount), and prosperity." In Botswana, this takes on new meaning as the word “pula,” which means “rain,” is also the unit of the currency.
Stay in touch. You can always reach us using the contact form on this website. You can also find Jim, but not Linda, on facebook.
