As I sit here in my smelly sweat-drenched overalls, with a balmy 28C and more than 80% humidity outside, Christmas seems just about as far away as it can be. I am spending two weeks trapping fig wasps on Barro Colorado Island in the middle of Lake Gatun, which is part of the Panama Canal (it is a surreal experience to see huge container ships glide past lush rain forest to a chorus of hooting howler monkeys). But my calendar tells me its about time I did something about my Christmas correspondence.

Tallship in the Panama canal

I am now working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Barro Colorado Island is their oldest research site. Last Christmas I was still in Kyoto. Now I am in Panama. And in between I visited two other continents. In fact, I seem to have spent most of 2002 living out of a rucksack. Those who are interested in continuing with this ramble click on the buttons below, where everything is related in incredibly tedious detail including photos.

From Kyoto to Panama via Okinawa, Australia and Europe

Outside Fuana House with the bosses, Thoyyib and Yuko

From Kyoto I went to Iriomote Island in southern Okinawa, from where I wrote my last Christmas letter. There I worked for two months as an assistant at a local Minshuku (family run hotel) called Fuana House. Several of my friends visited while I was there which was a lot of fun. In my spare time I was still doing some fieldwork and I also managed to get in several days diving. All in all, a great time. From Iriomote I briefly returned to Kyoto, which was in the throws of World Cup fever, to prepare a presentation. I did not have tickets for any World Cup games but I enjoyed seeing several of the games in bars around Kyoto.

My next trip was to Cairns, Australia for a conference on Canopy Biology. I went a week early to fit in a diving trip to the Great Barrier reef - another amazing experience. The conference was really interesting, with some excellent keynote speakers, and my own presentation went well which was something of a relief.

Sweetlips	"Sharks!"

Farewell dinner in Kyoto

From Cairns I returned to Kyoto to collect my belongings and headed for Scotland. Between the project in Sarawak and my desk in Kyoto I have been eight years at Kyoto University, so it was quite a wrench to finally leave. Members of the badminton club held a final competition (and party) and we had one farewell dinner in town with people I have met from other walks of life in Kyoto. To those of you reading this 'Thank you', I cherish many happy memories of Kyoto and Japan.

Abby, David and the boys

I was home a week which was just time enough to see everybody. Mum and Warwick were fine. Mum's life is quieter than before since the doctor told her to take things slowly, but she is much better and now that Warwick drives it has made things easier still. Warwick also took me down to see Abby, David and the boys, which was a lovely day.

Dima, Eva, Mika and Hannes in front of Stephan's Dom

So after re-arranging my belongings I set off on the last leg of my move to Panama, which was a side trip to Vienna. There I met with friends from earlier days in Kyoto. We spent one day at a nearby lake - where it was very wet, and a couple of days looking around the city. It was a brief but fun holiday. From Vienna I flew directly to Panama City arriving at 3am on the 16th July.

Most of the time since arriving in Panama I have been working at a laboratory in the city, with occasional field trips. We are doing a project on stingless bee honey (great to work on something that tastes good), trying to find out whether the chemistry of the honey is related to the species of bee or the flowers they visit or both. Native people have always use honey for traditional remedies so there is a possibility of some medical benefit and for development projects around national parks. I made a marvelous trip to Bolivia in October to collect samples, which took me to the Chaco (dry forest), the Beni (Savanna), and Yungas (montane forest). I also spent some time in La Paz where met up with friends and colleagues from nine years ago.

Inspecting stingless bees in the Isozog	Honey collecting in the Beni

So now I invite you to read a bit more about my Bolivian trip or take a look at some of my photos from the past year.