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bajalera
Super Nomad
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Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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Graham Mackintosh's Marooned [Book Review]
When it was revealed on the Nomad board that Graham Mackintosh was going to write a book about being marooned for two months on Isla Angel de la
Guarda, my first thought was, "Yeah, right. Self-stranded on an island within sight of the peninsula. And he'll probably convince some sponsors to
equip him with a dozen different kinds of radios, laptops, flashlights, searchlights, cell phones, generators, ice-making machines, a Boston Whaler
and maybe a desalination plant or two."
I was totally in accord with the thoughtful and perceptive Nomad who said that "the concept of 'preparing' to be 'marooned' escapes me."
It turns out, though, that the concept wasn't a bad one after all. And while the list of equipment included in the Mackintosh Maroonization Project as
listed in the book is fairly extensive, it's not extravagant.
Marooned is an entertaining read, largely because Graham avoids the usual descriptions of the peninsula ("The pink sunsets were just awesome!!!"),
providing some fresh new views. For example, although I had noticed long ago that certain schools of fish ripple the surface of a calm sea, it had
never occurred to me that this looked like raindrops until Graham pointed that out.
He tops off a brief geological description of an island's cliffs with " . . . and there was the inevitable cap of a reddish brown basalt, which from a
distance looked as if some mighty Mexican Vulcan had smeared the island with great swathes of refried pinto beans."
Ernest Hemingway Graham is not. But he provides more substance, a more sophisticated writing style, and more real adventure than Uncle Erle Stanley
(whose Baja books focus not on the peninsula but on his life and his friends).
Books about Baja are expected to include a few horror stories, and Marooned has some heart-rending accounts of how the Gulf of California's
unpredictable weather can do in even experienced visitors, along with some descriptions of Humboldt squid and other potential hazards.
In addition to giving a lot of attention to Angel de la Guarda's environment and its wildlife, Graham takes readers on some interesting side-trips:
Emperor Hirohito of Japan as a marine biologist, how the Shell Oil Company got its emblem, and similar excursions.
Like all of us who have spent quiet nights in Baja looking up at all those stars, Graham wonders about what we're all doing here, how God is variously
interpreted, and that sort of thing, but his thoughts are expressed clearly and at no great length, so they didn't bore me.
He admits to some moments of paranoia (who ARE those people in the panga that's about to pull in here?). Actually, this is not paranoia. It is
justifiable concern. Baja California is not the place it once was, a reality that is sometimes voiced in terms too simplistic to have meaning: "Bad
road, good people. Good road, bad people."
A less succinct but more accurate assessment night be "Bad road, few people. Good road, more people. More people, more bad ones."
Camping out along that old ruts-and-rocks road used to be safe, because the people traveling it had some reason to be there. Truckers, guys ferrying
cars to La Paz for resale and fayuqueros [traveling salesmen] passed slowly by with a wave unless you seemed to need help. Other travelers included
Gringos investigating plants or geological formations or archaeological sites, who were outnumbered by those investigating various types of adventure.
Bad things occurred in the past, but were rare on a road that didn't see much traffic. The increase in criminal activity during recent years has come
about because a better road attracts more travelers, including an expectable percentage of bad apples or nut cases. (There's probably a law of
averages covering this sort of thing but I don't dabble in Math.)
A new element has also been introduced into the peninsular landscape: drugs.
Narcotraficantes are known to use boats, and I'd say that deliberately setting up camp alone on a relatively accessible island takes some huevos
(although I saw no indications in the book that Graham shared this view).
Fortunately, all of his visitors turned out to be Mexican fishermen. He got along well with them, of course, just as he got along in the random
encounters of his previous books. (It's a safe bet that Graham's first-grade report card said, "Plays well with others.")
Marooned gives considerable space to the argumentive posts entered on two Nomad threads--one concerned with whether the maroon project was a good
idea, the other with whether Graham should have killed a rattlesnake. No IDs are included (although David K in the role of cheerleader is easy to
spot). The posts are distinguiched from one another by being set in different type styles (italic, Roman, sanserif), which sort of clutters up the
pages.
The Nomad sections would have had more visial appeal (to me, at least) had user names been included, giving the posts some identity and doing away
with the need for varying the type (assuming that entering stuff on the Internet puts it in the public domain so this would be legal).
The only serious criticism I have of Marooned is that the author set out for two months in an isolated spot with only 30 cans of beer and a bottle of
vodka.
What kind of planning is that!
POSTSCRIPT :
Advice that should have been added: Skip the first chapter, which dumps on the Bush administration and will probably irritate some Democrats as well
as all Republicans. As a newly naturalized U.S. citizen, Graham is apparently unaware of the Gringo attitude toward the criticism of politicians:
"Sure, he's a dunderhead. But he's OUR dunderhead."
[Edited on 6-10-2008 by bajalera]
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Very nice review Lee!
Available from http://grahammackintosh.com
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Roberto
Banned
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajalera
A less succinct but more accurate assessment night be "Bad road, few people. Good road, more people. More people, more bad ones."
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Exactly -- something I've thought for a long time.
Great review, and very well written, Lera, but I'm not surprised. 
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Paula
Super Nomad
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You've persuaded me, Lera. I'll read the book after all, if you can say it is as enjoyable as your review.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
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I thought I saw a considerable amount of paranoia in Graham's first book. I thought he often overreacted and often saw danger where little seemed to
exist. I attributed this to his personality. The endless rattlesnake beheadings on that trip seemed needless and paranoid in nature.
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David K
Honored Nomad
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"endless rattlesnake beheadings"?
How many??
He was living off the land and sea... the rattlesnakes were dinner.
Also, maybe just maybe he reacted the way he did because this was his first adventure after leaving England and he had read all he could find on
desert survival... just doing what the 'experts' had instructed.
Into a Desert Place (his first book) is an absolute must read, before any of his others... Meeting Graham and hearing him at one of his slide shows is
worth the effort and he will be doing another show at Discover Baja Travel Club soon. http://www.discoverbaja.com
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
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Location: Southern California
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I can attest that rattlesnake is delicious. I have killed and cooked a few in my time over the coals. I did the same with Jack Rabbits. All good
protein when you are out and about living off the land.
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bajalera
Super Nomad
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While living in La Paz we once shot a rattler, which I cut up after it was skinned, dipped in an egg wash and cracker crumbs, and fried in butter. My
sons, then aged around 10 and 12, gave some to two Mexican boys of similar ages they had been playing with--I told them it was "pollo de desierto."
The Mexican kids were at first not too pleased to learn they had eaten rattlesnake. Then they laughed, and both of them asked me for a piece of pollo
de desierto to take home for their fathers.
Sigmund Freud would probably have made something out of this, but I don't know what.
[Edited on 6-11-2008 by bajalera]
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Roberto
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajalera
Sigmund Freud would probably have made something out of this, but I don't know what |
 You're on a
roll, Lera, keep it up. Just stay away from the off-topic, and you'll be fine.
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Skipjack Joe
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No, I'm afraid it was more than just protein behind all this. After all he was releasing fish right and left. There was plenty of protein around.
Besides, why risk danger for that specific type of protein. No, to me it seemed that there was a sense of evil about these snakes and their
destruction was 'good' in some way. Much like sharks are viewed by many.
David, I'm not detracting from Graham's book. I am merely stating that there was a fair amount of paranoia on his part about the desert on that first
trip. An exaggerated sense of danger from spiders, scorpions, and snakes. I believe even he himself mentioned several times that he was a city boy
from England who found himself in a land that was nothing he was accustomed to.
Yes, rattlesnakes are fine eating ....
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
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Yes they have a right to live. I like em dead too, sorry. It goes waaaay back.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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wasn't there a lot of snake tales in Scottish lore? or is it just the emerald isle?
maybe there is a cultural link driving such intent.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Byron
Junior Nomad
Posts: 38
Registered: 6-11-2008
Location: San Diego
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After reading graham's book I am convinced he also killed two of those three cats!
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Martyman
Super Nomad
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I'm going to Italy next week and am hoping to eat some horse.
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Graham
Senior Nomad
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Thanks Bajalera for a thoughtful and thought-provoking review of Marooned. And thanks David for your good points. And you’re right Skipjack, there is
definitely an element of “paranoia” in Into a Desert Place… especially in the first few months of the journey.
As David suggests, that is central to the story. I’m fresh over from England knowing little firsthand about the desert, but having read and researched
all the hazards I’m likely to confront.
Mercifully the tale doesn’t end with that mindset. Much of the rest of Into a Desert Place is about dealing with my fears, transcending them and
becoming one with the desert and the wonderful hospitable folks I met along the way. Judging by the tone of the many positive reviews I’ve had for the
book, it’s precisely that transformation, timid couch potato to competent confident wilderness explorer, that captures the imagination.
And remember that journey around the coast took the best part of two years. Off the top of my head, I recall I might have killed and dined on a dozen
or so rattlesnakes over that time… considerably less than one a month.
In Marooned, I spend a good part of the early chapters describing boating and kayaking tragedies and the amount of drug trafficking rampant around the
Midriff islands. A necessary process for me to learn the lessons… and as a writer to set the scene for what I’m likely to confront on the island in
the months ahead. I definitely went out to Guardian Angel deeply respectful if not paranoid about the wind and currents and other hazards of the
region.
In the chapter on “The Nuts and Humboldts of Safe Baja Kayaking,” the final of my 29 points to consider states: “Be paranoid. Come home safe.”
I keep returning to Baja not because I’m scared to death of the place but because on each of my long lonely introspective journeys, in spite of some
pretty profound initial doubts, I always find strength in a descending sense of peace and revel in the process of spiritual discovery and developing
compassion.
Each of my books recounts that transformation… which is hard to convey in a few paragraphs… and I’d like to think there has been considerable
evolution over the years. I’m definitely not the same person that set out walking south from San Felipe in 1983.
I wasn’t the same person one month into that journey.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8088
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Ophidiophobia
I have to admit I'm not very fond of them myself. My best friend kept them in his room and would try to have me touch them. There was something about
that cold smooth skin slithering across my forearm that just freaked me out. It was just soooo creepy. I've also had schoolmates who, upon seeing a
snake, immediately pick up rocks and hurl them at the thing. It's almost an instinctive reaction. It looks as though something just takes over.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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my kind of guy
| Quote: | Originally posted by Byron
After reading graham's book I am convinced he also killed two of those three cats! |
gato tacos.........it's what's for dinner!!
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Byron
Junior Nomad
Posts: 38
Registered: 6-11-2008
Location: San Diego
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Poor George and Dick the two felines truly "marooned" on Guardian Angel Island, turned into tacos by Graham Gulliver Mackintosh. Hopefully he didn't
torture them in the manner he fanastasizes about in his book!
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Graham
Senior Nomad
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Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Hi Byron,
I’ve tortured a few audiences with my slide shows over the years but I wasn’t aware that I was “fanastasizing” about torturing the feral cats of
Guardian Angel Island. Forgive me if I’m missing a joke here, of if I'm missing a more obscure reference, but if you’re serious I’d be interested to
know what led you to that conclusion?
To help you in your search you can go to Amazon.com, bring up “Marooned With Very Little Beer,” and click on the “Search Inside the book” feature.
Type in “cat” and you’ll bring up every reference to cat in the book. Let me know which one bothers you.
Graham
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Graham
Senior Nomad
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By the way here's a picture of an island feral cat after a little friendly waterboarding session went too far... But as we all know that ain't
torture.
For some reason the Mexican poachers I ran into called them Dracula cats... can't imagine why!
There are probably many thousands of them on the island. And they are seriously impacting the native species out there. An ecological calamity. The
once ubiquitous endemic angel island deer mouse is now likely extinct. Some tough choices are going have to be made.
Amazing how they can survive on a practically waterless island where not even coyotes can make it. A fascinating research project.
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