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Re: Global travel collecting
by wollastoni » Tue Apr 16, 2024 6:24 am
The good practice is to have a guide who will ask before entering a "land" the cost and negotiate it. Usually a pack of cigarettes + few dollars will make the job. If you don't negotiate "before", then they will ask you to pay "to leave the land"... and here the cost can be huge as you are seen as a very rude man that should be punished for his rudeness.
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Re: Global travel collecting
by adamcotton » Mon Apr 15, 2024 7:56 pm
Adam.
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Re: Global travel collecting
by adamcotton » Mon Apr 15, 2024 7:54 pm
Smoking is bad for the health.
Just in case anyone reading this thinks that Insectnet promotes unhealthy habits.
Mind you, the smoke helps protect specimens from pest infestations!
Adam.
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Re: Global travel collecting
by bobw » Mon Apr 15, 2024 6:25 pm
I know the feeling. I used to import them from Switzerland and sometimes got away with it. Then they started picking them up at customs and charging duty, but it was still a lot cheaper. Now, the duty's so much that it's cheaper to buy them here. But I can go to Spain for a long weekend, buy my duty free allowance, have a great weekend away and still save a fair amount!Jshuey wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 5:34 pmYou can get anything you want here in the US - but it takes a bit of work. But the irony - was the stolen cigars were a mix of Nicaraguan and Honduran. So, I replaced them with Dominican sticks, which thanks to a hefty VAT - cost about twice as much there as I can buy them in the US...
j
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Re: Global travel collecting
by Jshuey » Mon Apr 15, 2024 5:34 pm
You can get anything you want here in the US - but it takes a bit of work. But the irony - was the stolen cigars were a mix of Nicaraguan and Honduran. So, I replaced them with Dominican sticks, which thanks to a hefty VAT - cost about twice as much there as I can buy them in the US...
j
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Re: Global travel collecting
by bobw » Mon Apr 15, 2024 4:22 pm
I beg to disagree John. Much as I like Dominican cigars, they're not a patch on Cuban, but I guess, as an American, you can't go there.
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Re: Global travel collecting
by papiliotheona » Mon Apr 15, 2024 3:54 pm
One common one is an irate landowner claiming (very dubiously) that they own ALL the property, on both sides of the road, within 360 degrees of the edge of their little tiny lot that you got a bit too close to. You know they are full of crap, and don't have a leg to stand on (what methed-out old hermit has the $$$ to own acres and acres of prime forest real estate?), but they are willing to call the police to settle the score (and are quite possibly armed) and it's not like you can just whip out a county map of property boundaries then and there to shove in their face.
Another one is property owners whose land you accidentally fudged on not being convinced by you showing them the specimens, larvae, etc. that you found and *insisting* you must be there to rob them and this is all an elaborate ruse. I get that they didn't like that I was there without permission but this is just pathetic, folks. (On the flipside, one such ranch manager was in fact won-over by my specimens during a recent "oopsie" moment, and let me carry on.)
Yet another is when there is public or checkerboard land, but private property owners block the entire access road, and refuse to provide an easement for public access to land. I don't know how this is legal, but it is. It's a bigger thing in places like Texas than California or Arizona, but happens everywhere.
I haven't had kit stolen in the field yet, save for one stupid self-inflicted wound in the Huachucas of SE Arizona summer of 2009 when I stupidly left my car windows open (it was a scorching hot day) in the woods with my phone, digital camera, etc. in plain sight.
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Wanted Butterflies of the World vols 49 and 50
by Jshuey » Mon Apr 15, 2024 2:12 pm
Butterflies of the World 49 Hesperiidae II. New World Pyrrhopyginae (Text) by Mielke, O.H.H.; Brockmann, E.; Mielke, C.G.C
Butterflies of the World 50: Hesperiidae III. New World Pyrrhopyginae (short text and plates). Brockmann, E.; Mielke, C.G.C.; Mielke, O.H.H.
John
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Re: Global travel collecting
by wollastoni » Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:32 pm
- we had to leave a village in the Baliem Valley (New Guinea) because we were "not welcome". But our guide understood fastly it was safer to leave the village.
- my backpack with all butterflies and a net were stolen in my car in Greece (I was on the beach swimming).
- I have been blackmailed few dollars by Indonesian authorities (but that's part of the tourist fee).
Then of course, from time to time, you will be charged more than locals... but well, in the tropics, life is not expensive at all and you won't notice it.
This said, except West Papua, I have never been to "dangerous" countries where civil war is close but it's another topic.
Of course, I won't recommend a trip to North Kivu or Iran as a first collecting trip abroad !
But I am sure that when I will be old, my collecting trips abroad will be in the top list of my great souvenirs.
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Re: Global travel collecting
by Jshuey » Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:02 pm
In my travels, I've had exactly two "petty" experiences. In one case, I guy pumping gas in Merida Mexico, took my 200 pesos, and then pulled out 20 pesos and claimed that's what I gave him. I simply reached into his pocket and pulled my two one hundred peso notes out, and told him what for. That pretty much settled that! (note that they wear lab-coat like jackets at some service stations - so easy to reach in in a retrieve my money).
More impactful, I left a zip lock bag full of cigars too close to a cabin window once in the Dominican Republic. Someone reached in and swiped 5 of the cigars (leaving about 10 probably thinking I wouldn't notice). In the frigg'in cigar capital of the world!
Compare that to life in a small Indiana town, where once every couple of years people swipe something or other off the back patio - most recently a butane lighter my son gave me as a gift. But more typically, those little solar-powered lights you stick in flower pots.
Petty crime is everywhere,
John
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Re: Global travel collecting
by wollastoni » Mon Apr 15, 2024 7:57 am
The Agrias topic is here : viewtopic.php?p=9851#p9851
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Re: Global travel collecting
by papiliotheona » Sun Apr 14, 2024 4:17 pm
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Re: Bad Trading Report - Francisco Javier Castillo Garcia
by TomVD879 » Sun Apr 14, 2024 10:40 am
I can share in a DM though.
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Re: Moths of North America (MONA) Catocala
by bobw » Sun Apr 14, 2024 7:28 am
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Re: Moths of North America (MONA) Catocala
by ColoradEO » Sat Apr 13, 2024 11:23 pm
http://www.wedgefoundation.org/order.asp
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Re: Collecting in Peninsular Malaysia
by wollastoni » Sat Apr 13, 2024 4:43 pm
If you are not, I can give you his email in private message.
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Re: Bad Trading Report - Francisco Javier Castillo Garcia
by wollastoni » Sat Apr 13, 2024 4:37 pm
Thank you
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Re: Global travel collecting
by Chuck » Sat Apr 13, 2024 12:53 pm
Ah yes, the opportunistic petty thieves. Overall, I would say that petty theft (particularly from foreigners) has a level of cultural acceptance in many places. Certainly in parts of, or most of, Latin America.
Sometimes it's not viewed as theft, at least culturally. In Polynesia, there exists a cultural concept of communal property. It's a constant problem for some, as if your brother needs a chainsaw and you have one he'll just come and take it. There is no real "bring it back when you're done" you have to first figure out who has your chainsaw, and then go get it. Same goes for food- if your cousin is hungry and you're not home, he just helps himself. This is not theft.
It's worse in Melanesia because what we might call theft or even graft is culturally enforced. Typically, an extended family might have one working professional. If a brother or cousin asks for money, they have to give them money! If the money earner is sitting at the pub, a family member can "demand" that he buy him a few beers too. This is very strongly culturally enforced, despite being a huge divide between Melanesian and western culture. The "victims" shrug their shoulders and say there's nothing they can do but fork over the money or goods- the only way to avoid it is to physically avoid certain family members...they would NEVER EVER dare to refuse even the worst family members.
In Solomon Islands, a bunch of American Habitat for Humanity guys arrived to build houses. Free, of course. Like any good people who had been culturally briefed, they knew you NEVER wear shoes into a house. So after their first day at work building a house for the community, they returned to the guest house and removed their work boots, leaving them on the porch. The next morning all of their boots were gone. In a similar conundrum, you cannot wear shoes inside the Hagia Sofia mosque in Istanbul...but if you put them in the rack outside, they're likely to be stolen.
In a large part of the world, if an item is unattended it's fair game.
The next level up is threats and demands. For example, claiming to be the chief and demanding that the foreigner pay money for being on his land. This is so common it's laughable. The real problem is that the pansies pay up, creating a problem for everyone else.
One cannot avoid being a tourist, per se. It's not uncommon that I've been the only white guy for 200 miles- it's pretty hard to hide that I'm Palagi. I prefer foreigner over tourist, because that is what one is- foreign. As such, opportunists and criminals have a head start because they've readily identified someone who might be an easy target. But what they're really hoping for is a fool, a pushover. Being a foreigner doesn't mean one has to be a victim, but some are just inclined to be that way.
In most of the world, although petty crime is rampant, violent crime is not. This is particularly true for rural areas, just like USA. The people are friendly and kind. If the foreigner is also kind, and expresses interest in the locals and their culture, it opens a whole new world of opportunities. People will come out in droves to be your guide, to find things you need, to bring you food. And over time, once integrated into these societies you can leave your boots outside at night.
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Re: Bad Trading Report - Francisco Javier Castillo Garcia
by TomVD879 » Sat Apr 13, 2024 8:51 am
The reason his ebay account is gone is in his last rounds of auctions (in my case, I bid in the december 2022 auctions) he took the money and ran. I lost only 60 euros in butterflies which were never sent, but there were more victims I've come across in FaceBook groups where entomology scammers and scams are discussed.
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Re: RIP Chuck Kondor
by Trehopr1 » Sat Apr 13, 2024 4:15 am
Chuck was a long time friend of mine for 27 years.
I have much to admire, appreciate, and forever treasure (in my lifetime) through his efforts. He was a purveyor of Natural History artifacts for at least 43 years !
In my prepared eulogy at his funeral I remarked at its end that: "I will miss my friend but, his kindness, generosity, and genuine Goodwill towards others will always follow me ---- wherever I go".