Castaways in Brando's Paradise

Our last night in Bora Bora we went to Bloody Mary's, once the Mecca of the tiki craze, still an irresistible magnet of coconut, rum and fish. Outside the long plank wall was decorated by the names of a galaxy of celebrity — Charlton Heston, Connie Selleca, Keanu Reeves — making it all but certain you will place your seat where, say, Marlon Brando placed his.

An old poster of Bloody Mary hung by the door — derived from Leeteg's black velvet painting of a bare-breasted Tahitian maiden, though this Mary was decorously be-lei'd. The bar was long but probably not long enough late on a Thursday night, and wood shavings and peanut shells sprayed across the floor. The Eagles came over the sound system —"Tequila Sunrise," I'm almost sure of it. If this were paradise, I might need another drink.

The bar was populated by most of the United Nations of distilled beverages, and a fair sub-committee of its drunkards. We chose our entrees (from tuna, mahi-mahi, or parrotfish) and were escorted across the sawdust-strewn floor to a table beneath a potted palm. "The Eagles Greatest Hits" played too loudly on the sound system, "Desperado" followed by "Take It Easy" and "Lying Eyes" in agonizing succession. Keanu was nowhere to be seen.

Marlon Brando, however, might have been in the neighborhood, at least back in those days. Certainly he owned an island a few day's sail east; possibly he rented a villa near the airport. You can have your Tahitian Black Pearls, your James Michener, your Bounty: some of us came for Brando. Over coconut calamari and cocktails, we discussed our plans to visit Tetiaroa, Brando's private island, after we left Bora Bora.

Finally I had enough, before the mahi-mahi was gone. "Hotel California" came on, and I called over the floor manager. "Isn't there something else you can play but the Eagles? Is there anything else in the music library?"

She looked at me without expression. Americans love the Eagles, she told me. Everybody does. They sell drinks. And the more drinks you have, she didn't have to say, the better they sound.

"Bring me another mai-tai," I said.


What happens next? Visit Castaways in Brando's Paradise for the full 5-part story, at desktopadventure.com.

Friends of the River Awards Night

SAN FRANCISCO –Last night (October 12) river lovers, water activists, young idealists and hoary old guides gathered at the Officers Club of Fort Mason Center for the 2007 California River Awards, a benefit and celebration by Friends of the River. Known as FOR (friendsoftheriver.org), the organization is one of the first national river conservation groups in the nation, founded in 1973 in response to the efforts to dam the Stanislaus River by the Army Corps of Engineers. On hand was FOR founder Mark Dubois, who famously chained himself to a rock in the Stanislaus River Canyon in 1979 to call attention to the imminent loss of the riverine habitat and popular whitewater run.

Dubois’ six-eight frame loomed over most of the attendees during the pre-ceremony gathering, in spite of his life-long predilection for no shoes, or flip-flops at best. Of especial interest was his lengthy conversation with surprise guest Col. Donald O’Shei, the former Corps of Engineers commander and Dubois’ adversary in the 1979 stand-off. The two spoke for many minutes, oblivious to the party swirling about them, as if the long-ago event had made them allies in life’s challenges. Dubois introduced Col. O’Shei from the stage, and both men received a strong and appreciative ovation.

Doug McConnell of Bay Area Backroads acted as host, with FOR president Peter Ferenbach as cheerleader, for the event was organized by co-chairs Harriet Moss and Dave Shore. FOR's own North Fork Award went to Ron Stork, a tireless and valuable advocate for California's wild rivers.

Receiving the Mark Dubois Award for 2007 was Richard Bangs, one of the guiding lights of international river running whose company Sobek Expeditions led the development of adventure travel in the 1970s and beyond.

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Other links:
Flash slideshow- Launch an image gallery of the event
Cry Me a River – Audio documentary by The Kitchen Sisters (scroll down)
Adventures with Purpose – Richard Bangs on local PBS stations
Rivergods – Book by Bangs and Kallen about early days of Sobek

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Now conjoined with a former rival as Mountain Travel Sobek (MTS), the organization continues to offer commercial adventure trips around the world from the Bay Area offices. Bangs, however, has gone on to other things, spearheading media projects in books (he’s written over a dozen books), video, the Internet, and now broadcast TV with the new program “Adventures with Purpose.” The day following the FOR event, by chance, Bangs was off to Switzerland to film the latest episode of this American Public Television show.

Introducing Bangs was his old friend and colleague, and co-founder of Sobek Expeditions, John Yost. In a sharply observed and moving remarks, Yost recalled that Bangs’ famous “Bangsian hyperbole” more than once created high expectations that he and other employees of Sobek had to fulfill, qualify, or regretfully deny. (Overdue fair disclosure: I too am a former Sobek employee and friend and colleague of Bangs, partner in many of his media endeavors, and co-author with him of four books.) Yost continues to work as a travel guide for MTS, and was admittedly (and characteristically) restless after just returning from five months overseas.

Bangs’ own remarks called attention to the importance of having people visit endangered places so a constituency can be built to preserve them. He pointed to the Grand Canyon of the Euphrates in Turkey (which he traveled in 1978 with Yost and fellow attendee Jim Slade on an early Sobek exploration) as a wondrous natural location that was lost to hydroelectric projects because of its relative obscurity. The opposite example was set by the Tatshenshini in BC/Alaska, another Sobek destination that was saved from desecration by an open copper mine due to its visibility in the travel community. (The full text of his remarks will be available soon on his web site.)

Richard concluded his speech by introducing his motivation for staying committed to river conservation and other environmental causes by introducing Laura Hubber and their two-month old son, Jasper. Then the program was turned over to a fund-raising auction to benefit Friends of the River and their continuing efforts to campaign for the preservation of California’s rivers and streams.

Authorial aside: In a sense the event harked back to some point of origin, the common source for both the domestic river movement and international adventure travel. That germinating element was the spring run-off of the Stanislaus, flushed through the limestone canyons of California Sierra's western slope. FOR owes its existence to the Stan; Dubois made his name here; Sobek found its first home in nearby Angels Camp, under the tolerant mentoring of George Wendt and OARS. Forty years later the effort continues, the fight goes on to save rivers in California and around the world. And time is running out.