Ba Ria Vung Tau - with bad links removed

Wed Feb 5 19:44:36 EST 2003

A very enjoyable story of your Vietnam travels, Mark.  Glad that you could 
make it to one of the tropical ASEAN countries where leps abound.

Most of the species that you encountered are the more common ones which are 
considered abundant in Southeast Asia.  You should be able to find most of 
those that you mentioned in my website, or Chin Fah Shin's Malaysian 
Butterflies Gallery.

Pity that you could not swing over to either Malaysia or Singapore after 
your trip.  Would've been glad to entertain you over here with a lep outing 
or two.  :-)

Cheers!

P/S : Peacock Royal is Tajuria cippus maxentius

<br><br><br><html><DIV><STRONG>Butterflies of Singapore : </STRONG><A 
href="http://www.geocities.com/hexaglider">http://www.geocities.com/hexaglider</A>&nbsp; 
<IMG height=12 src="http://graphics.hotmail.com/emwink.gif" 
width=12></DIV></html>

>From: Mark Walker <MWalker at gensym.com>
>Reply-To: MWalker at gensym.com
>To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu, "'lepstalk'" <TILS-leps-talk at yahoogroups.com>
>CC: William J Walker <wjw57 at hotmail.com>, Kay Walker <kwalker at tcsn.net>,   
>"David Fine (vladnuts at aol.com)" <vladnuts at aol.com>
>Subject: Ba Ria Vung Tau - with bad links removed
>Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 05:52:55 -0500
>
>I was 16 when the U.S. war in Vietnam finally came to an end.  The 
>following
>year, at 17, I found myself enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  At 20, I was
>floating in the South China Sea - at watch on the wheel of the steam
>throttle for engine #2, onboard the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Long Beach, CGN-9.
>Our captain was sending down the navigational commands as we maneuvered the
>nuclear cruiser towards a tiny, dilapidated, and sinking wooden boat.  We
>pulled 137 desperate people off of that boat - just one of several "Boat
>People" vessels we encountered that spring.  It would be the closest to
>mainland Vietnam I would get for the next 23 years.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On January 24th, 2003, my wife Maria and I had the outrageous pleasure of
>joining a medical ministry team to Ba Ria Vung Tau Province, some 100 km
>southeast of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  We were representing "His Healing
>Hands", a Christian partnering ministry that provides medical diagnosis and
>medications to impoverished peoples throughout the world.  In Vietnam, we
>were partnering with the Vietnamese Red Cross, Campus Crusade for Christ,
>the Christian Missionary Alliance, generous hospitals and pharmacies,
>numerous friends, and our local churches.  The all volunteer team consisted
>of doctors, pharmacists (that would include my brother), nurses (that would
>include my wife and niece), and support persons (that would include me), 
>who
>spent the week visiting small villages and churches throughout the 
>province.
>It was truly an incredible and humbling experience.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>January weather in southern Vietnam is hot, humid, and quite tropical.  I
>knew as soon as I walked off the plane from Taipei that I would be
>encountering Lepidoptera.  I also knew that I was in Vietnam for reasons
>that surpassed my passion for butterflies.  It was altogether possible that
>I would only get to enjoy them as they blew past the moving passenger van. 
>I
>had to reconcile this internally before ever checking any baggage at Los
>Angeles International Airport.  Besides my wife and brother, none of the
>team members had a clue that I was a closet entomologist.  It wouldn't be a
>secret for long.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>I saw my first butterfly just minutes after arriving.  It was difficult to
>contain myself.  During the long three hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City, I
>sat glued to the window of the van - gazing off into the lush green 
>tropical
>countryside.  It's dry season in Vietnam, and the leps are enjoying the
>luscious growth from last years monsoon rains.  The heavy air brought back
>vivid memories of my prior visits to other Southeast Asian countries some 
>25
>years before.  Some of these memories I had long forgotten - others I had
>not.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>And then on Monday, January 27, 2003 - we hit a minor snag.  The Vietnamese
>Red Cross at Vungtau called for an executive meeting with our team leaders
>to discuss the requirements for obtaining permission to treat patients in 
>Ba
>Ria Vung Tau Province.  The meeting would run until 3:00 p.m. - and I found
>myself with time on my hands.  While the other team members ventured out
>into the marketplace, I headed to the rugged hills overlooking the gorgeous
>Bai Tam Duong Harbor.  Somehow, I hadn't forgotten to bring my net.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Obtaining access to the highlands turned out to be somewhat of a problem.  
>A
>band of residences and small businesses formed a barrier between the
>mountains and the waterfront roads.  With few options, I made my way along 
>a
>small concrete drive that headed back into the private realm of village
>residents and in the general direction of the rising hilltops.  Before I
>knew it, I was deep in the heart of a place where I could no longer be
>invisible.  And right on cue, the children came.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>All of the children came.  One and two at first - and then three, four,
>five, six, seven, and eight.  I brought them all with me to a small,
>open-air, village bar, where we enjoyed cool refreshments and shared in a
>derived sign language of our own making.  Somehow I managed to communicate
>to the proprietors that I desired to venture into the woodland habitat
>behind the bar.  Their hand gestures indicated that while I had their
>blessing, they wondered about my sanity.  The hillsides were steep and 
>tough
>to traverse, but I was in good hands - about 16 of them to be exact.  Each
>child took turns taking my hands, guiding me through tight spots, and
>warning me concerning holes and hidden barbed wire.  The trail headed up
>through the scrubby woodland in gradient ascent.  Various Pierids floated 
>by
>as I panted for air, already heating up in the midday sun (most of these
>were the Striped Albatross, Apias libythea -
>http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20220001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20220001.html>
>
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20220001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20220001.html> > ).  When we reached a level
>road, the whole entourage fanned out in search for flying insects.  The
>first one I netted was the showy little Athyma perius (Common Sergeant).  
>At
>first my companions marveled at the sight of the large bearded stranger
>scurrying after bugs, half-hazardly with net in hand.  It wasn't long,
>however, that they insisted on showing me how to do it properly.  I guess 
>it
>was unbearable for them to see such bad acrobatics and lack of technique.
>Not surprisingly, a few of them turned out to be real gifted with the net.
>I watched in amazement as one little guy bagged a spectacular specimen of
>the Plain Tiger, Danaus chrysippus (http://yutaka.it-n.jp/dan/30010001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/dan/30010001.html>
>
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/dan/30010001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/dan/30010001.html> > ) in strong flight.  Another 
>boy
>managed to net an Elymnias hypermnestra (Common Palmfly with one quick
>swing.  Other roadside catches included Phalanta phalanta (Common Leopard),
>Zizina otis (Common Grass Blue), and the Peacock Royal (latin name?).  We
>saw, but did not net, a number of other incredible butterflies, including
>Catopsilia scylla (http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20470010.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20470010.html>
>
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20470010.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20470010.html> > ).  There were also lots of
>Papilio demoleus (http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pap/10250010.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pap/10250010.html> ) in flight.  Perhaps the
>highlight for me, though, was a pretty common leafwing butterfly which
>favored the shade of the trees and sported a dorsal sheen of purplish-blue.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>In the deeper woodland, we spotted many Leptosia nina
>(http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20010001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20010001.html>
>
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20010001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20010001.html> > ), also known as The Psyche,
>flopping low to the ground.  Other butterflies preferring the deepest 
>forest
>included the rapid flying and spectacular turquoise colored Pareronia anais
>(http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20450001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20450001.html>
>
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20450001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20450001.html> > ).   Among the bamboo thickets
>we
>
>found Loxura atymnus (The Yamfly).  In the grasses we found an yet-to-be
>identified Ypthima (multi-spotted Satyrinae), which proved to be difficult
>to net.  Along roadside flowering weeds we found Acraea violae (Towny
>Coster), Eurema hecabe (Common Grass Yellow)
>http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20560001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20560001.html>
>
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20560001.html
><http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20560001.html> > , Precis lemonias (the Yellow
>
>Pansy), and various unidentified blues and hairstreaks. Attracted to coffee
>blossoms was an unidentified green species of Graphium and a stunning 
>silver
>dollar-sized, powder blue hairstreak that reminded me of our own Atlides.  
>I
>missed it by that much....
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>We spent two hours together on that mountainside, the children and I,
>laughing and running and making faces at each other.  I can only imagine
>what they were really saying about me, but we were a real unit 
>nevertheless.
>As for the butterflies, well - I have managed to identify only a handful of
>them so far.  The rest of the week was busy and rigorous, with only a few
>moments for gawking at passing leps.  But no matter - the people turned out
>to be just as colorful and diverse.  While the thrill of experiencing
>Vietnamese Lepidoptera was once-in-a-lifetime, it seemed pale and shallow
>when compared to the rewards that came from the faces of the villagers of 
>Ba
>Ria Vung Tau.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Mark Walker
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>check out photos of my butterflying friends and Ba Ria Vung Tau in the 
>photo
>section of  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TILS-leps-talk/messages
><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TILS-leps-talk/messages>
>
><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TILS-leps-talk/messages
><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TILS-leps-talk/messages> >
>
>
>

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