In the adventure travel business there is no question more frequently asked than, "Is it safe?," and for good reason.

For fifteen years I was a commercial airline pilot and the exact same question was always up front in the conscience and sub conscience mind. Human beings as a whole tend to fear the most what they understand the least. This is a natural tendency that serves us well to a point.

We fear snakes but we have little if any contact with them and for the most part, little knowledge of their behavioral patterns. In the paper this morning was an article on the capture of a 49-foot python that weighed in at over 1000 pounds. Half a ton of snake and these guys in the Indonesia wanted to bring him home! At 1000 pounds I suspect that it took 15 to 20 grown men to carry this creature, a new world record by the way, and probably more to catch and control a snake that has a wicked disposition to begin with.

Did they fear the longest snake in the world, hardly? While they did not fear this creature, they did respect him. The local people who have been around snakes all of their life used their knowledge to supplement their fear and the end result was a very well organizes plan that was safely executed.

Now if you were to get one of these Indonesians and put him in the back of a New York taxi and take him across Manhattan, you had better pick a route that goes by a hospital. Why, because his familiarity with New York traffic is about as well developed as our understanding of snakes. Pythons do not kill people, but these automobiles kill people everyday.

We in the developed world live around the automobile, yet after natural causes, the automobile is by far the single most deadly force in our lives. Why then do we treat it so casually? Why does our government have to create laws to force us to wear seat belts, even though we know it saves lives? Familiarly. The automobile has been such a part of our life that the familiarity has suppressed the fear, and to some degree the respect.

While we at WWA do not advocate one bit that our trips do not offer up some risk, we will state unequivibly that we have managed this risk to a level at or below that of what you would incur in your day-to-day life. Here is how we do it. First of all every airplane and flight crew gets a check ride when I am on board. I have yet to fly in an airplane that carries WWA clients that I have not been rated to fly myself and have hundreds, if not thousands of hours as pilot in command. There are aircraft operators that I will not allow to transport WWA clients. Lodges that use these few operators do not get any of our clients and never will again. They do not have the respect for the task at hand to warrant the responsibility. Enough said.

A lot, but not all of our trips are south of the boarder. In the past Central and South American countries were governed by military dictators. Cuba is the only one left and we do not go there. With the exception of Columbia, there is not a country south of Miami that I have been to and not felt safe. Yes there are places in all countries, the US included, where one has to exercise judgment. When WWA clients travel they are on a planned itinerary that has been used by our clients that is specifically designed to minimize any and all exposure to anything other than a wonderful experience. If I for any reason I feel that a situation is unsafe, you will not be going as a WWA client. THIS IS THE ONLY GUARANTEE WE OFFER.

Our respect for the task at hand and the responsibility bestowed upon us is taken so seriously that we make it a practice of going out to the lodges as often as practical to review all aspects of safety. Our lodges are required to have the following:

One life preserver for each occupant in a boat. No exceptions.
Each boat shall have a first aid kit.
Each lodge will have a first aid kit available.
Each lodge must have communication with outside resources.
At least one person at the lodge must speak fluent English.
All single engine aircraft are to be turbine powered except where operational necessity dictates otherwise.

In the end it all boils down to do we care? Yes we do care. To this day I have never seen an organization that has come close to even trying to enforce a basic level of safety. We understand safety and out of that understanding comes the respect for safety that will bring you home time and time again.

David E. Caywood, Jr.
Crew Member/DC-10
FedEx/Memphis



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