Indonesia - March 2000... To protect the swamp land, and to gain access to it, Grant Geophysical Co., a Houston seismic contractor, built this amazing 1,200-mile-long wooden trail snaking through the Sumatran jungle, to gather seismic data for Santa Fe Energy Resources. Photographer Lowell Georgia and I decided not to walk too far on the precariously slim trail because it was nearly 100Þ F and 100% humidity. What impressed me was that the local Muslim workers, who were employed by Grant to drill the shot holes for 3-D seismic work, refused all food and water during the daylight hours, despite that heat, as part of their fast in the month of Ramadan. Santa Fe maintained a large base camp on Sumatra for its offices and workers. I'll never forget the cultural dislocation of watching an Asian version of MTV, with singers I'd never seen nor heard, in the day room at the camp, smack in the middle of the Indonesian jungle, where only the day before, we had seen wild monkeys in the trees. Sahara Desert, Algeria May 1998 The Sahara Desert is impressive for what it is-millions of square miles of sand in an omnipresent state of sculpture by wind-and for what it is not: diverse. Like the open ocean, its beauty is monotonous. While in southern Algeria with Anadarko Petroleum Corp., visiting the company's Hassi Berkine oil development, sand dunes stretched everywhere as far as one could see, and scale was sometimes provided by masterless camels that wandered freely. In mid-afternoon, a wind storm swept across the sand, reducing visibility to some 500 feet for hours, forcing our Twin Otter to land. As a native of the Gulf Coast, thus a lifelong witness to hurricanes' undeniable power, it was extraordinary to be in the midst of a meteorological event that is a chief contributor to the birth of hurricanes-hot, dry air sweeping westerly across the North African desert that finds rich fuel from the warm waters off the West African coast. It was the last week of May, just days from the beginning of the 1998 hurricane season back home in Houston. Would I meet this same powerful wind again in another part of the globe? Leaving the desert at sunset that day to return to London, the sand storm had abated and a full moon was rising across a clear sky outside the Gulfstream window, tossing light across the newly re-minted dunes. -Nissa Darbonne U.K. North Sea December 1997 Castle Dunnottar looms behind me. The site, on the rugged cliffs overlooking the North Sea near Stonehaven, Scotland, has been fortified for at least 2,000 years. The stone keep was constructed in the late 1300s. Lowell and I were fascinated with its colorful and bloody history: William Wallace and Mary Queen of Scots spent time there, and in 1652 a small group in the castle held out against Cromwell's army for eight months. Schlumberger helped arrange our trip to Aberdeen, which included the Offshore Europe oil show and a visit to a field-rejuvenation project at Northwest Hutton Field in the North Sea. -Peggy Williams South Africa February 2001 Here I'm taking a photo of a tortoise in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. We went to the very tip of Cape Point, the windy headland that is the southwestern-most point of the African continent. It was thrilling to stand at the majestic cliffs above the southern ocean. South Africa is blessed with a magnificent wildlife population, and I had a wonderful time photographing penguins, ostrich, wildebeest, zebra and baboons. Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. put together the trip, and arranged visits to its offshore Block 2 concession in the Orange River Basin, the Mossgas gas-to-liquids plant near Mossel Bay, and Sasol's operations near Johannesburg. -Peggy Williams Ladyfern, British Columbia, June 2002 Our trip to Ladyfern Field in northeastern British Columbia was memorable because the helicopter was not heated. The flight to the location from Fort St. John was quite chilly, although we enjoyed aerial views of moose loping through seemingly endless forests of firs. Despite bitter cold, wind and snow, operators mounted massive work programs to bring the tremendous Ladyfern gas wells on production as quickly as possible. EnCana Corp. hosted our visit to the Devonian Slave Point Field. -Peggy Williams Great Wall of China 1997 On a 1997 visit, I was struck by China's capital, Beijing. At various points, the city looked like a modern-day version of Houston's Galleria area, with familiar hotel-chain names and the golden arches of McDonald's occasionally interrupting the skyline. Still other parts of Beijing, particularly at night, looked like Tokyo's neon-bedecked Ginza district, that is, an oriental version of Times Square. Yet other, more run-down parts of the city looked like they were left intact from the 16th century. Interestingly, this collision of culture and architecture could be witnessed within walking distance of our hotel. So, too, could the sprawl of Tiananmen Square. On a light note, I remember one of our hosts telling us the square is part of what China believes to be the center of the universe. That was eye-opening: up until then, I had always thought the center was Manhattan. Climbing the steep steps of the Great Wall bordering mountainous Mongolia, I was reminded, on a more serious note, of both the mortality of man and the capacity of the human spirit to achieve. It occurred to me that the Great Wall, still standing after thousands of years, will be here for a long time to come. We, on the other hand, are here for what is but a blink of the eye in the ages of man. -Brian A. Toal As I walked uptown from Trinity Church on Wall Street less than three weeks after September 11, the sky over the financial district had a gray and yellow cast. It was from the smoke still rising from the stricken 23-acre site of the World Trade Center. There, a six-story pile of smoldering rubble was all that was left of the 110-floor South Tower. Further on, a spaghetti-like maze of iron supports jutted out from the remains of a building that once housed the New York Mercantile Exchange. This grotesque jigsaw, framed by the blown-out windows of the World Financial Center, looked like newsreel footage of Berlin near the close of World War II. Peering into this landscape, I reflected upon happier days when I would sit in the sprawling plaza in front of the Twin Towers, having coffee between interviews. Occasionally, I would see how far I could crane my neck to glimpse the tops of the two gleaming, steel-framed structures. What I wouldn't give for the chance to get a sore neck that way again. Further north, the front of St. Paul's Chapel, where George Washington worshipped, was covered with signs of remembrance and tribute. Meanwhile, people gathered in small clusters along the sidewalks. It was one of the few times in my life I saw New Yorkers actually stop on busy streets, talk to each other and reflect. -Brian A. Toal

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