You may recall that an advertisement appeared on this list in January 2000
for a trip to Nepal to
be lead by David Siems of Sydney. We were already booked on that trip and
were somewhat
surprised that participants were being sought at that late date for a trip
scheduled to depart on 4
February. Because the trip was promoted via this medium we believe we are
not out of place in
making our post-trip comments through the same forum.
As background, there were 12 participants including David. As far as we
know we were the only 2
people who had not travelled with David before and certainly the only ones
who were not well
acquainted with him. We had met him only twice before, once on a pelagic
and once when he
visited us when we were in Sydney.
We had his assurances that he had lead many successful overseas trips and
that we should be
prepared for an active and demanding time in Nepal. He even recommended we
take vitamin
tablets to ensure we had sufficient energy for the demands of the trip.
It is true to say the first 16 days went fairly smoothly although there were
some "chinks in the
plaster" and these grew bigger as the trip progressed. For example, David
did not say hello to us
at Sydney airport and did not introduce us to the other members of the
group. this got everyone off to a bad start. Nevertheless, he seemed happy
to assume the role of leader; ie accepting responsibility for the bird call
each evening,informing us of the plans for the next day and taking up the
leaders position at the head of the group (along with the guide) when we
were on walks. But we did notice that the level of activity gradually
declined as each day passed.
>From the beginning, bird call involved only the new birds seen that day and
birds were rarely
mentioned a second time so that if you were not lucky enough to see a bird
the first time you may
not have it marked on your own list. The number of birds seen on the trip
was paramount to
David and during the first 16 days the tally was given daily. (We are not
sure what happened after
day 16 as there were no further bird calls for the remaining 12 or so days).
One thing we voiced our objection to was when he and others rushed forward
to photograph birds
before we had sufficient time to look at them. This was particularly
annoying when we travelled for
3 hours to a site to see Indian Coursers. Everyone lined up to look at them
through our telescope
but before we could have that valuable second look without being pressured
into hurrying, the birds
were frightened away. The 3 hour return journey was a very quiet one. From
then on the group
really was divided.
On the 16th day when asked about the schedule for the next day, David
declared that "he was not
our bloody leader and if we wanted to know anything to ask the guide". That
was the last time he
spoke to us. He then separated himself and his four favoured Sydney-siders
from the group and
for the most part, they went their separate way while the remaining seven
walked with the guide.
On the 22nd day one woman questioned David about his behaviour and in a
"stand-'em-up and
knock-'em down" yelling match with her he declared that he had modified his
activities because of
the condition of one woman's legs. Yes, they were the legs of one of the
"favoured" few.
Although David had abdicated his position as leader, Bharat, our guide still
referred to him for
direction and this put us at a disadvantage, particularly when the return
flights home where
disrupted. We heard of this "on the grape-vine" and although we were told
in an off-hand manner
that our flights from Sydney to Canberra were rescheduled this was not true.
When we arrived at
Mascot at 8.30pm on 4 March our 8.10am flight had not been changed. We had
to reschedule
our flight for Sunday morning and arrange accommodation in Sydney for the
night.
We went to Nepal to see the birds, to enjoy the country, the people and
their culture. We did not
go to put up with such unprofessional behaviour on the part of the "leader"
and some members of
the group and we certainly did not want to hear Bharat being instructed
about "trash birds". These
people did nothing to promote the reputation of Australians in general or
birdwatchers in particular
and we were embarrassed to be associated with them.
Allan and Hazel Wright
Canberra ACT
The Nation's Capital
To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus"
in the message body (without the quotes)
|
