Number 30 - South American Explorers

Crossing the border into New York, having
symbolically reenacted the history of the
United States in reverse, we will steer our
motorized "prairie schooner" on to Ithaca at
the southern tip of Lake Cayuga.
Yes, Ithaca. Of the infinite possible
places we might have moved the Club,
across the length and breadth of the United
States, we chose Ithaca, New York.
"Why?" you might ask. Why did we
DEBUNK DEBUT
choose this particular moment after twelve
happy years in Denver to hack at the roots
that have nurtured the South American Explorers
Club from a small sapling into a notinsignificant
oak? Why have we determined
to turn our backs on valued friends, a climate
unequalled anywhere for glorious blue
skies, the splendid and unrivaled Rocky
Mountains—a skier's paradise, and much,
much more?
Natural History magazine has Stephen J. Gould, the New York Times, William
Safire, the Bible, Paul. The South American Explorer has long suffered the lack of a
stable of knowledgeable contributors, writing authoritative columns on this and that
weighty matter.
We are pleased therefore to announce that henceforth, future issues will feature
regular columns by Kevin Healey on little-known South American cities, Teddy Dewalt
on pre-Colombian art and archeology, and Loren Mclntyre's "Magnum Bunkum,"
correcting popular misconceptions concerning all things South American.
We lead off with Mclntyre in this issue, who at 74, armed and emboldened by forty
years of exploration and study of South America, has become increasingly outspoken,
not to say irascibly impatient with social and scientific sacred cows. Pointedly controversial
and opinionated, we fondly expect Loren to antagonize no mean segment of our
volatile Membership, who will not dally in promptly advising the Editors of, as they see
it, Mclntyre's "grievous omissions," "lamentable distortions," and "generally crackpot
views." Write on.
You have seen it in print a hundred times:
"...the Amazon carries one-fifth of the world's fresh water."
Well, don't swallow it.
OF ALL THE WATER ON EARTH
97.41% is oceanic, 2.59% is fresh.
OF ALL THE EARTH'S FRESH WATER
99.6% is in ice caps and glaciers, ground water, and soil moisture.
Nearly 3/4 of the total fresh water is frozen.
0.38% exists in lakes.
0.02%, or 1/5,000 of the total, is carried in the atmosphere, the biota,
and all the world's rivers, including the Amazon, combined.
Even assuming that the Amazon's volume at extreme high water
equals that of all other rivers on earth (omitting atmosphere and
biota), the Amazon would still contain less than 1/10,000 (0.01%)
of the total fresh water on earth.
—Loren Mclntyre
Interpolated from Scientific American, September, 1989
50 SOUTH AMERICAN EXPLORER
Well, it's all true, but Ithaca has its points,
too. For one thing, the South American Explorers
Club can afford to live there. Then,
too, its beautiful, especially in the Fall when
the leaves change and its not raining. Cornell
University is there... "high above Cayuga's
waters," as the song says. Also, with a population
of a mere 50,000 or so, Ithaca is the
small bucolic town needed to revitalize the
energies of a jaded staff and tap new sources
of creativity as the Club girds its loins to take
on the crushing responsibilities of the
twenty-first century. Have you ever waited
an unpardonable period before the Club answered
your letter, sent your trip reports,
processed your order? Quite so. This is less
likely to occur when the Club is housed in
the woodsy serenity of Ithaca with nothing to
do but attend to Club business and the urgent
needs of the worthy Membership. Furthermore,
we can dispense with at least one
car since we won't be going anywhere, and
the Ithaca climate is, for lengthy periods,
ill-suited to outsy-doorsy activities. When
you call, we'll be there. And, if that's not
enough, the Club's Founder grew up in New
York and wants to go home.
And there's more. True, the move may
disappoint Members in Colorado and surrounding
states but is certain to gladden the
hearts of members in New York, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, too long
deprived of the Club's proximity. Aid, anyway,
other organizations move, so what's the
problem? Finally, it's too late. We've bought
a house, and the penalties for ratting out at
this late date are horrendous.
Come April, please note on your calendar
to address all correspondence to 126
Indian Creek Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.
TRIP REPORTS
Not so long ago, maybe three or four
years, the Club had four or five hundred trip
reports. When a Member wanted trip reports,
we ambled over to the copier and
xeroxed up a swatch. No big deal.
But times are changing. The Club has
more members these days. Since we opened
the new Clubhouse in Quito, we've received
a raging flood of trip reports on the Napo,
Cuenca, the Galapagos—from all over Ecuador.
And trip reports have mysteriously
caught on. We even get trip reports today