BY MELISSA V. PINARD
William and Mary Alumni Magazine | Spring/Summer 2006, Vol. 71, No. 3/4
Photo courtesy of the Rowlands
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Four alumni stand in front of the Moai statues on Easter Island. The society on the island forced itself into extinction.
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Most people don't get the opportunity to blow a poisonous dart at a target in the Amazon. "I hit the target on the second try," said Sharon Hall McBay '63, who used a 4-foot bamboo tube to aim and shoot the dart.
This thrill was just one of many on the Natural Wonders Around the World excursion she went on through the Alumni Journeys program at the William and Mary Alumni Association, from Jan. 22 to Feb. 13.
McBay says she felt completely at ease as a single traveler as soon as she got on the plane, although she had trepidations at first. She, along with fellow William and Mary travelers Sharon Spooner Gray '65 and Dr. Robert "Bob" '67 and Christine Rowland '67, had the adventure of a lifetime along with 80 other travelers, who ranged in ages from 16 to 83.
After the group left the States, their adventure began in the Peruvian Amazon and then moved to the Galapagos Islands and Easter Island before the travelers made their way to Samoa, the Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, the Serengeti Plain and finally Madeira Island before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
For many William and Mary alumni, learning is a lifelong activity that goes beyond the classroom's four walls. Educational travel offers people a unique glimpse at history, geology, sociology, zoology and many other areas of interest.
Charles Darwin may not have used a private jet when he went to the Galapagos, but on the TCS Expeditions Natural Wonders trip it offered a convenient and comfortable way to travel -- not to mention the overviews of Mt. Kilimanjaro. "We flew around Kilimanjaro in several different directions," says Dr. Rowland. "You'd never get that type of service if you planned the trip on your own."
"When I flew economy class recently on another trip, I fondly remembered the private jet," says McBay. "It spoiled me."
From the size of the Amazon River to the tame nature of animals on the Galapagos Islands, Gray said that the trip was full of surprises. "Everywhere we were had something different to offer for us to enjoy," says Gray. "The seals on the Galapagos didn't even move when they saw us. They couldn't have cared less that we were splashing in the water right next to them."
Some of the surprises were not planned, such as the time Dr. Rowland tried to help save the life of a native Huli tribesman, after the tribe had come out to dance for the travelers. "One of the main chieftains collapsed," says Dr. Rowland, a radiologist by trade. "Evidentally he had a massive heart attack." Rowland, along with a fellow traveler who was an anesthesiologist, assisted the TCS Expeditions staff physician in administering CPR, but they were not able to revive the tribesman.
And then there was the wildlife. Most of the animals the travelers may never see again. "The orangutans were probably my favorite animal on the trip," says Christine Rowland. "They are so expressive and entertaining, very funny and also capable of emotions, such as maternal love."
The travelers got up close and personal with the orangutans at the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center in Borneo, a special treat as part of the trip. TCS makes contributions to this and other programs on the tour, which help preserve these natural wonders.
