Travels with George Bhutan: In their own words
Early morning in Bhutan. The alarm goes off at 5:30. Darn birders get up early. Like usual, it is cold. How many layers to put on today? I’m retired, I only get up this early for golf. A little coffee and biscuits and we are out walking along a road with field glasses at the ready. The sun rises and sunlight glances off mountainsides. Beautiful colors. We branch off onto a path through farm fields surrounded by forests. We hear the subtle sounds of birds. Some birds hide in the brush, while others perch high on tree tops. I have trouble finding them, but my skills improve throughout the trip. Perched on high limbs in the rain forrest these elusive birds become a metaphor for the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan.
November 7-21, 2011, I was joined by 12 fellow-travelers on an expedition to Bhutan, a tiny and charming kingdom in the eastern Himalayas sandwiched between China and India. Bhutan’s national slogan is “Gross National Happiness,” an aspiration supported by the protection of culture and nature, backed by sound administration and carefully planned development. In winter Bhutan is a sanctuary for about 500 Black-necked Cranes.
Since my first visit in 1976 to what I consider to be the world’s most beautiful bird park, Weltvogelpark, it has always been my favorite destination in Europe. It’s located in the countryside not far from Hanover in northwest Germany. It’s former owners, Wolf and Uschi Brehm, became close friends, provided financial support to ICF during those early lean years, and loaned two elderly male Siberian Cranes to ICF. 
A long flight from Seoul to Moscow landed me in Russia October 5, 2011 to spend 12 days with nearly 90 colleagues from 15 nations. Eight nations were former republics of the USSR. We had gathered in Volgograd just north of the Caspian Sea for an international conference “Cranes of the Palearctic: Biology, Conservation, Management (in Memory of P. S. Pallas).”
September 26 through October 5, I had the pleasure of visiting the Republic of Korea (South Korea) as a guest of social scientist and conservationist from Kyunghee University, Ms. Sunyoung Bak, with whom ICF has collaborated for the past decade. Through lectures, meetings, field trips, and the media, with Sunyoung as my gifted interpreter, we shared with many – from farmers to leaders – the importance of the conservation of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the bordering Civilian Controlled Zone (CCZ)…