The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, May 6, 1997 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Local man fascinated with trekking the jungles of Peru By Heather McCrae Port Perry Star When most people get away for a holiday, they like to enjoy some well- deserved rest and relaxation. When holiday time comes for James Kamstra, however, the Utica man just keeps on working. But it's a different type of occupation from his eight-year career as- a biologist with Gartner Lee, an environmental consulting firm in Markham. For several years now Mr. Kamstra has been conducting tours to Belize, Portugal, Spain, and Costa Rica, to name a few. The country he's most fascinated further eight months to study the Central American tapir. "A fan of nature shows, he says the jungle gave him everything he loved. "I fell in love with the place; it's so diverse with its crocodiles, the tropics, Jaguars and macaws. In 1986, as part of his masters thesis for studies at York University, he returned for four months to conduct an ecological and holistic study of the Cockscomb Basin, a 400 square kilometre area in the jungle. Finding himself in an abandoned logging camp, off the beaten track in a vast valley of tropical rainforest and armed with a $ 7 ! # . ~ 4 , 2 Foal, men Rugged, remote landscape with is the Latin-American country of Belize; Peru in South America comes in a close second. He made his first journey to Belize in 1979, when he and his roommate from university went to the Central American country for a month to study the animals and plants. Three years later, as part of his undergraduate thesis at Trent University, he returned to Belize for a s -- like this setti are a highlight of Mr. Kamstra's journeys. compass, a map, and a machete to slash the vines in the dense jungle, was "one of my richest experiences," he said. In 1987 Mr. Kamstra returned as an instructor 1n a workshop where he assisted in WC training fu -- Belizians to transform the Cockscomb Basin into a park. At the same time, he was approached by the Belize Audubon Society, a conservation group, to help co-author a guide book. This book -- The Cockscomb Basin, a Wildlife Sanctuary -- is filled with the history, flora and fauna of the country. Used a guide book for visitors and a tool for teachers and scientists, it was hot off the press the day he arrived in February LF 2 ed Asia 0h ng in Pe to conduct another tour of the country. Several chapters have been written by Mr. Kamstra, the sole Canadian to partake in this endeavor. In March he took a leave of absence from work for two- | *® and-a-half weeks and, at his | own expense, scouted out the South American country of Peru. As a part-time guide with Quest Nature Tours for the past nine years, he scoured out the countryside to familiarize himself with the country and its people before signing up to take a tour this fall. To help defray expenses many of the pictures ke took be sold to nature magazines. He began taking pills two James Kamstra of Utica enjoys his vacation weeks in advance of his time by leading tours in exotic parts of the world. departure for Peru to prevent malaria, and received immunization shots for yellow fever and hepatitis from a doctor in Thornhill who specializes in tropical diseases. "Peru is very diverse," Mr. Kamstra said. With a fascinating culture and history, Peru is separated into three main geographical regions: the Amazon rainforest, the Inca ruins high in the Andes, and the coastal desert, where it never rains. There is also an incredibly high diversity of plants and birds, he said: "Peru is one of two countries in the world that has the most bird species." During his most recent visit he mapped out a trip for Quest Nature Tours. He'll be conducting his first 15-day trip this October. The trip takes you on a flight over the Andes to the headwaters of the Amazon jungle, where early morning excursions will discover beautiful scarlet macaws, and monkeys swinging in tree tops. the fertile Sacred Valley, with its ruins of pre-Columbian civilizations. Travelling by train up the narrow gorges of the Urubamba River, visitors will visit Machu Picchu, the famous Lost City of the Incas. "This is the biggest tourist site in South America," Mr. Kamstra said. Bartering with the natives in the Indian markets of Cuzco is an experience, too. "The people are very warm towards you. A third world country, Peru is a poor country and the people are always trying to sell you things." Despite the recent hostage taking crisis at the Japanese embassy in the capitol Lima, Mr. Kamstra said he felt safe in the city. "You wouldn't even know they had a problem." He's looking forward to this fall, when he takes a break from his day job and heads for the wilds of Peru. "I work during my holidays, but it - In the Andes adventurers will explore doesn't feel like work," he said. 4 any pillows, app ALL WRAPPED UP: Both Station One and Two of the Scu will be accepting bedding donations next Saturday (May p.m. Scugog has been designated to collect as much be plilow cases, sheets and blankets that ca reclated. Here, Clint Walker, right, and Blake R donations from the public. All donations received Manitoba to help flood victims. CHRIS HALL / PORT PERRY STAR gog Fire Department 10) from 10 a.m. to 2 dding as possible so n be spared would be eid get set to accept will be passed on to McArthur sentence date pushed back four weeks The sentencing hearing for convicted Since the guilty convictions were bank robber Mitchiel "Micky" McArthur registered, McArthur has been spending has been put off four to six weeks. his time in Kingston Penitentiary while The hearing had been scheduled for waiting for the sentencing hearing to Wednesday "May 7) in front of Justice get underway. a oo Harry LaForme in Ontario court, gen- The Crown has indicated it will seek eral division at the Whitby courthouse. the maximum prison terms on all 17 One of the reasons for the delay is charges along with having him declared that necessary paperwork for the appli- a dangerous offender. That designation cation to have McArthur declared a would see him facing an indeterminate dangerous offender has not been com- sentence. pleted by the provincial attorney gener- The courts have declared about 180 al's office. persons in Canada dangerous offenders. McArthur, 43, was convicted early in On average they are not eligible for April on all 17 charges stemming from even a parole hearing for 16 to 18 years. the Oct. 20, 1994 robbery at the Bank McArthur is also facing a murder of Montreal in Port Perry in which five: charge (not related to the Port Perry people were wounded by gunfire. The incidents) in his home town of Kingston convictions include charges of armed for the 1982 death of a Kingston man robbery and attempted murder. whose body has never been found. McArthur's half-brother Angus, 31, A preliminary hearing into the charge was found not guilty on identical charges was slated to start in Kingston early by the same jury after a six-week trial this month but an adjournment until in Whitby. the fall has been requested.