[meteorite-list] Is the NWA El Dorado over with?
From: Adam Hupe <adamhupe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:13 2004 Message-ID: <002001c28366$7b9413c0$883ae70c_at_attbi.com> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C28323.6D13BFA0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear List Members, We have been asked many questions about our recent trip to Northwest = Africa. The main question is how we did at acquiring new material and is = it true that fewer meteorites are being found. I do not mind answering = these questions.=20 I feel we did well at securing rare pieces but the Moroccans, disputed = zone trade route villagers and nomads are now all aware of the prices = being realized outside of their countries and are asking extremely high = prices, in some cases higher than the retail amount. The word has seemed = to spread to even the most remote places. The amount of material they = are finding is about 25% by weight of what was coming out only two years = ago.=20 The good news is they are getting better at spotting achondrites so = educating them on what to look for magnetic or not is paying off. They = are also doing a better job of remembering where they found the = meteorites so they can go back and look for more (expect a lot more = pairings). Instead of selling their meteorites to Moroccan dealers = several villages having been saving up material for us for months and = this is what made the trip worthwhile. Each village we had an agreement = with was excited to see us and one very remote village had a celebration = both because they had visitors and we brought money and gifts for them. = This village is so remote that no tourist has ever been there before = plus it is in a very dangerous area. It used to be in Algeria but nobody = knows now because it is in the most disputed area of the desert. I will = write more about this fantastic village in a secret oasis later. We feel = good that the nomads who are finding these meteorites are being rewarded = for their hard work more directly now. Luckily our translator can speak = several Berber dialects included Algerian Berber or these relationships = would not be available to us. On our way out of the desert we stopped by several cities and checked = out all of the major dealer's offerings and were surprised at the lack = of new material. Most of this material my brother Greg recognized from = our teams last expedition in April. I was glad to meet some of the = people I have been corresponding with for years and the unexpected = treasure of making new friends along the way. Is the Moroccan El Dorado = over? It is a matter of prospective. If meteorites represent El Dorado = than the answer is yes, it is 25% of the El Dorado it was just a couple = of years ago. Was it worth going? Yes, through creative contacts and = relationships we had a very successful expedition.=20 Wishing everybody the best, Adam Hupe The Hupe Collection IMCA 2185 ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C28323.6D13BFA0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2> <P>Dear List Members,</P> <P>We have been asked many questions about our recent trip to Northwest = Africa.=20 The main question is how we did at acquiring new material and is it true = that=20 fewer meteorites are being found. I do not mind answering these = questions. </P> <P>I feel we did well at securing rare pieces but the Moroccans, = disputed zone=20 trade route villagers and nomads are now all aware of the prices being = realized=20 outside of their countries and are asking extremely high prices, in some = cases=20 higher than the retail amount. The word has seemed to spread to even the = most=20 remote places. The amount of material they are finding is about 25% by = weight of=20 what was coming out only two years ago. </P> <P>The good news is they are getting better at spotting achondrites so = educating=20 them on what to look for magnetic or not is paying off. They are also = doing a=20 better job of remembering where they found the meteorites so they can go = back=20 and look for more (expect a lot more pairings). Instead of selling their = meteorites to Moroccan dealers several villages having been saving up = material=20 for us for months and this is what made the trip worthwhile. Each = village we had=20 an agreement with was excited to see us and one very remote village had = a=20 celebration both because they had visitors and we brought money and = gifts for=20 them. This village is so remote that no tourist has ever been there = before plus=20 it is in a very dangerous area. It used to be in Algeria but nobody = knows now=20 because it is in the most disputed area of the desert. I will write more = about=20 this fantastic village in a secret oasis later. We feel good that the = nomads who=20 are finding these meteorites are being rewarded for their hard work more = directly now. Luckily our translator can speak several Berber dialects = included=20 Algerian Berber or these relationships would not be available to us.</P> <P>On our way out of the desert we stopped by several cities and checked = out all=20 of the major dealer's offerings and were surprised at the lack of new = material.=20 Most of this material my brother Greg recognized from our teams last = expedition=20 in April. I was glad to meet some of the people I have been = corresponding with=20 for years and the unexpected treasure of making new friends along the = way. Is=20 the Moroccan El Dorado over? It is a matter of prospective. If = meteorites=20 represent El Dorado than the answer is yes, it is 25% of the El Dorado = it was=20 just a couple of years ago. Was it worth going? Yes, through creative = contacts=20 and relationships we had a very successful expedition. </P> <P>Wishing everybody the best,</P> <P>Adam Hupe</P> <P>The Hupe Collection</P> <P>IMCA 2185</P> <P> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C28323.6D13BFA0-- Received on Sun 03 Nov 2002 01:26:09 PM PST |
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