Journeys in the Hinterlands of Afghanistan

Golden Years of Nature Conversation

This book is a narrative of our trips into the mountains and plains of the country in search of its elusive wildlife. It is a testament of our encounters with the people of the land, their culture, folklore and how they cope with the rigors of life.

It describes our experiences in Afghanistan during the 1970s as we were engaged in the starting of a natural resources conservation program and the setting up of national parks and reserves. We traveled to different parts of the country, met and mingled with people of the high country of the Wakhan and the Pamir mountains in northern Afghanistan and the central regions, and leaned about their lifestyles and how they coped with the rigors of harsh climate in the Hindu Kush highlands.

Our journeys took us from the towering peaks of the Wakhan corridor to wetlands where we encountered thousands of waterfowl and waders during their seasonal migrations using the wetlands of Afghanistan as a resting location before crossing the high mountain country.

It is a tribute to a time when the ravages of war had not torn the country apart along ethnic fault lines. A time when one could travel freely without the fear of being maimed by mines.