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.
CeCe Carter Sieffert, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and her husband Mark Sieffert are in Guizhou Province, China this fall as part of a new UW/ICF partnership at Cao Hai, a critical wintering area for over 400 Black-necked cranes in southwestern China. Following is a summary of their experiences at Cao Hai.
ICF colleague Jigme Tshering of the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature in Bhutan participated in a three-week training program this summer with Crane Conservation Germany.