Tempus fugit

I seem to be missing the whole point of this blog thing! It's all about rapid updates, about sharing thoughts and snippits of information that might not otherwise be particularly newsworthy - a glimpse into my psyche, I suppose.

So it doesn't really work when it's been two months since the last update! How am I supposed to create an audience? Ok, let's try this again. This time I promise to regale you with all kinds of bits of useless information, and hopefully a little bit of useful information too.

I recently came back from Bolivia, where I attended the 19th Working Meeting of the Crocodile Specialist Group. The CSG is an IUCN-SSC (ie. Species Specialist Commission) group, essentially made up of volunteers who are invited into the group because they are significantly involved in crocodiles: conservation, education, research, management, farming, that kind of thing. Every two years there's a working meeting where the steering committee meet and we have several days of spoken and poster presentations. Of course, the main value of these meetings is really meeting people, catching up with friends and colleagues, sharing ideas, and hatching plans for collaborations. Before I'd finished I'd been invited to just about every country in Latin America, and it must be said I can think of few better places to visit. Bolivia was my first visit to South America and it was a great experience, and not just because it was just so completely spectacular. Even coming into Santa Cruz from La Paz ensured that I was glued to the aeroplane's window totally gobsmacked by the spectacular views of snow-clad mountains with clouds spilling down their flanks.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll write more about this later. I have to keep these short and sweet so that I have incentive (and time!) to keep writing them. Sometimes you get so busy that you completely forget where the time has gone.