Island of Paradise: A Review

NOTE: This review was first published last week in the new issue of Stuart Miller's Alien Worlds magazine. Thanks to Stuart for letting me republish the review right here.

Island of Paradise
By
Jonathan Downes

A Review by Nick Redfern

As someone who is themselves an author, I am often asked to write reviews of other people’s books. And so, when Alien Worlds’ editor, the good (most of the time, at least) Mr. Miller, asked me if I would be willing to review the latest mighty tome from British writer, crypto-zoologist, and director of the Devon-based Centre for Fortean Zoology, Jonathan Downes, I immediately said yes.

Reviewing Jon’s book, Island of Paradise – which is an on-the-road, warts-and-all, study of a week-long expedition to Puerto Rico in 2004 in search of the infamous Chupacabras – was somewhat of a departure for me; and I’ll tell you why.

The vast majority of all the books I review are focused upon the adventures and exploits of other people. Island of Paradise, however, is very different; in the sense that it’s a book in which I play a central role. Nevertheless, I hope this has not influenced my opinion of the book!

It was in the summer of 2004 that Jon and I headed off to the rain-forests of Puerto Rico, courtesy of the Sci-Fi Channel, who wanted to film us chasing the Chupacabras and UFOs for its now-defunct show Proof Positive – which was a pretty well executed combination of The X-Files meets CSI, albeit in a non-fiction format.

For seven days we rampaged and roamed around the island in search of the vampire-like beast, and heard tale after tale of crashed UFOs, dead aliens, bizarre conspiracies linking the Chupacabras with extra-terrestrial experimentation, secret military operations, black ‘Flying Triangles’, and much more. And, thanks to Jon, the whole story of that distinctly bizarre week is now finally chronicled in print.

The best way I can describe Island of Paradise is as a Fortean version of Hunter S. Thompson’s fabulous The Rum Diary that told of the master’s own journalistic adventures on Puerto Rico back in the 1950s.

Jon skilfully captures the essence of what makes Puerto Rico so magical, in terms of its history, its culture, its people - and its overwhelming weirdness, too. Truly, as Jon demonstrates, Puerto Rico is a locale that attracts the adventurer and the thrill-seeker like no other. And given that it was a veritable hot-bed of activity of the ufological, vampiric and downright uncanny kind, what else could I, or indeed we, do but welcome the aforementioned weirdness with wide-open arms.

If Jon and I were going to spend a week hunting vampires and/or aliens courtesy of the Sci-Fi Channel, then, as he reveals, there was no better place to do it than deep within the heart of the island of paradise, and while regularly fuelled by the finest of local cuisine and a plentiful supply of ever-present chilled margaritas and imported beer. Onward!

Having digested Jon’s book, I can safely say that one thing stands out more than any other: only an adventure involving the Centre for Fortean Zoology could result in a deep discussion of Fireball XL5, Earl Grey Tea, Guantanamo Bay, Chupacabras DNA, Roswell, and the United States’ ominous Department of Homeland Security!

I was pleased to see that Jon included in the pages of his book a description of our time spent at our base of operations: the Wind Chimes hotel in downtown San Juan. For those who weren’t there, it might seem superfluous; but for Jon and me it was a time to rekindle a friendship that had been separated by the Atlantic for a couple of years; and it was a time to make new friendships with the Sci-Fi Channel’s crew.

There is something unique about the camaraderie that comes with hanging out alongside fellow thrill-seekers and adventurers – all from different corners of the globe, most not even knowing each other, yet all thrust into a strange and surreal quest to seek out the truth about a diabolical beast said to roam a real-life paradise.

But, Jon demonstrates, it was without doubt the day we go our hands on a shining, silver jeep that things really took off…

There’s something special about driving around in an open-top jeep in a place like Puerto Rico with one of your best friends, with the wind in your hair (for those who have hair…), and in hot pursuit of the unknown, while ear-splitting punk rock reverberates out of the CD player.

Barely one hour into our expedition, as Jon records, everything got a bit surreal. No expedition of this type would be complete without an excursion into the darkened depths of a shadowy old cave. That a bat decided to piss on my head while we were in there only made things more memorable. With much humour, Jon records how I decided not to bother with rabies injections of a type that Ozzy Osbourne was forced to undergo after his own legendary encounter with a bat; and instead I hoped that the little pisser wasn’t rabid, and that I wouldn’t wake up the next day like one of the frenzied souls from 28 Days Later or the spectacular 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Needless to say, I didn’t.

Of course, I knew that all of this would serve as good fodder for Jon’s planned book on our trip around the island, and so I merely wiped my head with my bandanna, swore at the offending beast and his or her brethren and continued roaming and filming. And a crew of a dozen, led by the good Mr. Downes himself, laughed heartily!

Perhaps of most interest to readers of this magazine is what Jon has to say about an alleged UFO crash deep in the El Yunque rain-forest of Puerto Rico back in 1957. Jon tells the reader of our fascinating encounter with a woman named Norka who was able to fill in some of the gaps suggesting that at least something had genuinely crashed on Puerto Rico back in the 1950s, and who was also a veritable fountain of knowledge on all-things monstrous too.

As long as I live, I will never forget that moment when Norka told us of her own personal encounter with the Chupacabras late one night in 1975, and Jon and I turned to each other and realised that the beast Norka had seen was practically identical to the notorious Owlman of England – a creature that Jon had hunted, and been haunted by, for years. It was truly a pivotal moment in that memorable week.

As we sat on the balcony of Norka’s beautiful home high in the hills of El Yunque, sipping cold drinks, listening to her stories, and with the sun bathing down on us, I knew that we were experiencing something very special, and that beneath its beautiful exterior, something – or some things - dark, ominous, dangerous and bizarre dwelled on the island. And Jon’s chapter on this particular encounter most certainly does not disappoint.

One of the things that stood out for me upon reading Island of Paradise was how the initial quest quickly became something very different – and particularly so when new, and unforeseen, factors came into play. We had flown to Puerto Rico with the intention of trying to determine, for the benefit of the Sci-Fi Channel, if we could find, examine and identify any evidence for the existence of the Chupacabras – such as undeniable DNA. Yet, by the end of the week we were deeply immersed in stories of crashed UFOs, genetic mutation, bizarre changes in the island’s ecology and much more.

I will never forget that week in the summer of 2004 when Jon and I roamed Puerto Rico’s rain-forest, its lowlands and its little villages in search of monsters, UFOs and aliens. It was an experience that will stay with me for all my life, and one that (as the book records) was as much about friendship, adventures and good times as it was about hunting for the Chupacabras and for the remains of wrecked alien spacecraft. And at the end of the day, that was good enough for me. As for Jon: well, Island of Paradise tells it all, just as it was – the good, the bad and the plain strange.

If you’re looking for the definitive book on the Chupacabras, its potential links with the UFO controversy in general (and crashed UFOs in particular), and what goes on behind the scenes of an on-site, week-long investigation in an exotic and mysterious world, then Island of Paradise is most definitely the one for you.

No Monsters, But...

...an amazing animal story...

The Anomalist on Crypto

Crypto news from The Anomalist today:

June 30
The Fight to Save the International CZ Museum disobey.com
The International Cryptozoology Museum needs some help if it is to remain open, and one individual, who goes by the name of Morbus and happens to have been one of the first donors to the museum in 2005, has dug deep to help out. The struggle continues, and you can find more information, including the correct way to make your donation, as Loren Coleman reports in Save the Museum: CZ and the IRS / Update. Meanwhile, there are cryptid creature reports in the news, today, such as Reports of 'Bigfoot' Sightings in Greene County Has Trackers on the Prowl, South China Tiger Photos Fake and Breaking News: Wild Bears vs Humans.

The Almasty: The Latest

There's a new report in from Jon Downes on the Almasty expedition. Since this is an important report (in more ways that one - as you'll see), I'm relating it in full. And so, here's Jon:

It had been a couple of days since I had last spoken to Adam, and once again my incipient paranoia was beginning to kick into action. Just before lunch today, he phoned again, and although he told me first of all that I needn't worry, and that all five expedition members were alive and well, he told me that there had been a couple of close shaves, and passed me over to Richard.

"I nearly died... twice" said Richard, and although he was being characteristically bullish about the whole affair, I have known him a long time, and I could tell that the experiences had really shaken him. He told me had the first time, he was trying to cross the ice sheet, when he fell down a crevasse, and slid a hundred feet on his tummy, and just managed to grab onto a rock to save himself.

He lost his digital camera and - bizarrely - his front door key, but otherwise, apart from being shaken he was OK. However, soon after he was walking along the edge of a cliff, when it collapsed, and once again he fell down a ravine. He grabbed hold of a tree, Indiana Jones style, and dangled above the ravine until his colleagues managed to pull him back to safety.Dave also managed to fall down another crevasse, waist deep, and had to be pulled out.

All this happened on the way to the place, where - a few days ago - a witness called Sergei allegedly found found the fresh corpse of a female almasty only a few years ago. The boys had been under the impression that it was a relatively short half hour trot from the village, but whether this was because something had been lost in translation, or whether the five boys from England were just not as adept at dealing with the unfamiliar terrain, or whether even - as I have found on many occasions in the past - the local witnesses completely exaggerated the distance, just to try and make their new friends happy, I don't know, but the half hour stroll turned into four hours plus of gruelling trek across rocks, ice sheets and some of the most unforgiving terrain Richard, at least, has ever crossed.

Then, only a stones throw from the location of the unfortunate almasty's final resting place, Richard succumbed to altitude sickness. This is no joke. I suffered from it about ten years ago, high in the mountains above Mexico City. It is a most peculiar sensation. It is like the delirium that one gets with a high fever, mixed with a hangover, and it is one of the most unpleasant experiences that I have ever been through.

Sadly, although they excavated the place where the makeshift grave was supposed to have been situated, it was too no avail. The body was long gone. But in an area where bears, jackals and other scavenging carrion eaters are common this is hardly surprising.

However, the news is not all disappointing. Dave Archer apparently found what may be an almasty 'nest' in the woods, and they have at least 20 hairs for analysis. They have also been promised a putative almasty tooth for analysis.

This evening the party have split into two. Dave and Adam are going to set up trigger cameras in a derelict barn where there have been a string of sightings, including one by the guide Sergei (mentioned above), in 1986.

They spoke to the Vice President of the National Park who had a sighting of the almasty three years ago. It was dusk, and he originally thought that the creature was a sleeping cow. But it got to its feet and he realised that It was human in form. He spoke to it in Balkar and in Russian, but there was no answer. He didn’t see its face, but noted its huge domed head.Another guide, Anatoli, and his father, have both reported sightings of the giant snake. They describe it as being about 7m long and being the colour of the bark of a poplar tree.

The expedition, despite setbacks, is going well, and we look forward to the next installment.

No News Is...Well, No News...!

All is silent on the Russian front today. Unless Richard and the team are currently being devoured by a hungry family of Almasty, it seems fairly safe to assume that the phones are out, or some other type of technological hitch has hit the team. More when we have it!

Bigfoot: New Books and Help

Loren Coleman alerts us to some forthcoming new books on Bigfoot. Also: unfortunate news from Loren about his museum - anyone who can help in any way is urged to contact him a.s.a.p.

Monstrous Things

The CFZ's quest for the Almasty reaches the British media; and Lisa Shiel has several new Bigfoot-related posts at Backyard Phenomena.

Normal service (in other words, considerably more posts!) will be resumed tomorrow. Today has been what is commonly known as a Monday-morning day!

The Almasty, The Russians, The Trousers, The Latest!

Here's Jon Downes with the latest on all-things Russian and Almasty-ish, courtesy of team-member Adam Davies who, via a crackly phone connection, has updated Jon on what's afoot.

Says Jon:

"The first thing that [Adam] assured me is that all members of the team are safe, healthy and well. The only injury so far has been Adam himself who, whilst climbing some treacherous rocks, slipped and fell 10 feet, tearing his trousers.

"Even Richard is unusually chipper as despite a day of gruelling climbing thousands of feet up mountainous rock faces to a cave where Almasty have reportedly been seen, and – as far as I can gather – from whence Grigory Panchenko obtained both skull fragments and samples of scat, and in Adam’s words 'Richard for once does not have the wooden spoon for being the least healthy member of the expedition – apparently on this occasion the booby prize goes to Keith who had most difficulty negotiating the unforgiving terrain.'

"They explored the caves yesterday, which are at a place called White Rock, near Tyrnyauz and have set up camera traps in the caves. At the moment we have no information as to how recent the scat samples are, but presumably local people believe that the caves are inhabited by the Almasty.

"Grigory has given the bone and scat samples to the boys and he believes that they are genuine, although he has asked Adam to stress to me that he is not prepared to accept them as firm evidence until they have been analysed.

"Today, as far as I can gather, (and you have to remember that this report is gleaned from two very brief crackly telephone conversations, each lasting well under 3 minutes, so I don’t have all the answers), half the team have climbed back up to the caves to check the camera traps, whilst Adam, presumably having repaired his trousers, and Dave have been filming an interview with an eyewitness who claimed to have found an Almasty body in 1996.

"There wasn’t time for me to get a full description, but Adam told me of his surprise at hearing that the female corpse reportedly had a ‘conical’ head like that of a yeti. The team will be staying in and about Tyrnyauz for a few more days before embarking into the mountainous regions near Mount Elbrus hopefully to exhume the cadaver."

Here's the rest of Jon's post.

More when we get it!

Rather curiously, Adam's caper with his trousers is eerily reminiscent of something of a similar nature that happened to Richard on a previous expedition, when he ended up well and truly trouser-less!

What's the deal with the CFZ and trousers? I have no idea, but it can't be a pretty sight, to say the least! It won't mean a thing to American readers, but I'm rather minded to ask Adam and Richard (in the words of the old Scottish song): Donald, where's your trousers?

Is there some weird Fortean beast or entity that has a particular liking for trousers of the CFZ kind? Mercifully, I don't know - and nor do I particularly want to know either!

Richard Freeman on Human Evolution

Almasty team-leader Richard Freeman on human-evolution...

Big Cat News

Tragedy in the big-cat community; and a possible new British encounter.

The CFZ In Russia: On Its Own

The CFZ quest to find the Almasty of Russia is progressing - albeit not without a few setbacks. Here's Jon Downes with an update:

"We have had no Internet for the past 36 hours so I haven't been able to update at all. The main news is that Channel 4 [the British TV company that intended accompanying the CFZ team to Russia] have pulled out of the expedition. The Russian Government apparently refused to grant a visa to the film crew. The area of the expedition is perilously close to Chechnya and other trouble spots for their liking, and they are afraid of an anti-Russian documentary being made by the folks in what is euphemistically described as the free world. So we are on our own."

At least Richard and Co. have their own cameras; and Jon tells me he will be making his own, detailed documentary on the expedition using the filmed material that the guys bring back with them. And, of course, with Jon being able to make the film according to his own rules, there won't be any editorial control from outside - you'll get a film made by cryptozoologists for cryptozoologists.

Cleaning Up The Mountain...

Wonder if they'll find a Yeti?

Cat Killed in the USA

Thanks to Mark Fraser for alerting me to a breaking story on a cat-kill in the US...

The Search for the Almasty Continues...

Well, after having had Net-hassles the last couple of days that left me unable to update you on the Russian expedition, I'm back online - at the same time that, over in the UK, Jon Downes has now lost his Net connection (hopefully until tomorrow at the latest)!

I spoke with Jon on the phone earlier and we joked that if we were of a more paranoid nature, we might conclude there's something sinister in all this!

But, no: it's just due to good old technology and bad weather.

Anyway, there is something to report from Jon regarding the search for the Almasty, and it's this:

"Adam Davies telephoned us from Nalchik airport. All the team have arrived in Kabardino Balkaria safe and sound, with their baggage and equipment intact, and furthermore, they have liased as arranged with Grigoriy Panchenko and his colleagues who have been doing advance research in the region for the last two weeks. Excitingly it appears that Panchenko and his compadres have already secured some faecal samples, as well as some bone fragments supposedly from a skull which may be of an Almasty."

Now, we shouldn't, of course, get too excited until we can say something (or nothing!) definitive about this "skull" issue, but at least things are progressing and work is being done - which is the main thing.

Expect more as soon as I have it!

The Anomalist on Crypto

From our good friends at The Anomalist, here's a few things they have highlighted over the last couple of days:

What is Yowie? Cryptomundo. Cryptozoologist and author Loren Coleman is seeking input as the mystery of the various types of huge, hairy man-like beings fleetingly glimpsed in various locations around the world continues. Are the various Bigfoot-like creatures reported around the world all related? Or are they different creatures, some ape-like and others more man-like? With images. Meanwhile, the reports of melanistic felids continues from various locations around the US, as seen in Black Panther Roundup.

Loren Coleman at Cryptomundo has a trailer for the new mockumentary No Burgers for Bigfoot. Meanwhile, the Bigfoot research of the late professor Grover Krantz will be the subject in London during The Cryptozoology Season, the last of Asia's cheetahs might be a bridge between the hostile US and Iran governments, as detailed in Cryptic Cats Link Hostile Governments and the Ukrainian government has plans for the endangered European bison, explained in Radioactive Wisent?

The CFZ in Russia - The Latest

Well, the CFZ's expedition to Russia in search of the Almasty is well under way. Here's a few of the notable developments that have occurred over the last few days:

1. A statement from team-leader Richard Freeman, who gives his thoughts.

2. Jon Downes confirms the team's arrival in Russia.

3. The expedition begins in earnest!

Keep reading, as I'll have much more to report this coming week.

Britain's Big Cats...

...are still prowling around - here and here.

One More From Jon Downes...

Jon Downes gives us one more update on what's afoot with the Russian expedition, his new Island of Paradise book, and much more...

"Life is too bloody complicated.So much is happening at the moment that it is almost too much to take in, let alone document on my sadly neglected bloggything. However, the boys are off to Russia amidst a flurry of terrorist alerts and other high jinks that I am not - at present - at liberty to talk about.

"You can follow their adventures on The Expedition Bloggything . They leave tomorrow evening, and I expect the first bulletin, telling us that they have, at least, made it through immigration at Moscow, early on Sunday.

"I am sitting in the office at the zoo at the moment. All the staff have become very fond of Richard in the short time that he has been Head Keeper, and are anxiously looking forward to news from the expedition.

"In the midst of this, building work on the museum is just about completed, and we have moved the first four exhibits in; Flump the Chinese soft-shell turtle, Myrtle the Amboina box turtle, one of our amphiumas (Gumbo), and the alligator soft-shell.

"I am sitting here at the zoo frantically trying to work out where to put a second soft-shell that we recklessly said that we would have months ago....And on top of everything, my new book Island of Paradise is out next week."

Southern Fried Bigfoot

I received in the mail this morning a copy of a DVD titled Southern Fried Bigfoot that, as you will probably deduce from its title, focuses on man-beast reports in the southern states of the U.S.

Here's my take on the show:

"SOUTHERN FRIED BIGFOOT is a highly entertaining, thought-provoking and suitably atmospheric study of the beast of the Deep South. Packed with notable testimony and expert commentary from the South's leading monster-hunters and cryptozoologists, SFB is required viewing for everyone who wants to learn more about this elusive creature, those that have been fortunate to see it, and those who have made it their life's work to uncover the truth. An excellent production!"

And here's the link to the official website of Southern Fried Bigfoot. Check it out - this is a good one!

SOUTHERN FRIED BIGFOOT is an independently-produced documentary that explores the legends, tales and possible reality of the hairy monsters that are purported to live in the wild areas of the South.

While many have heard the legends of Bigfoot in the Pacific Northwest, the stories of boogers, swamp devils, and bush apes lurking in the South aren't as well known. With commentary from believers, skeptics, and the open-minded, SFB shares a slice of Southern folklore that many people aren't aware of.

SFB profiles some of the people and groups who have made efforts to study and pursue the southern sasquatch. And while it covers the subject of strange creatures in the South, a few key legends are highlighted. They include:

The Fouke Monster: The hairy creature that has been sighted around Fouke, Arkansas for decades and was the inspiration for the cult classic film "The Legend of Boggy Creek."

The Skunk Ape: The foul-smelling creature that is said to haunt the Everglades in Florida.

The Honey Island Swamp Monster: The beast that is rumored to prowl the swamplands northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Lake Worth Monster: A white shaggy creature that was sighted repeatedly near Fort Worth, Texas in the late 1960s.

Are these just legends or reality? Could there really be some type of unknown primateliving in the backwoods of the South? Watch SFB, listen to the legends, and judge for yourself.

Tension at the CFZ...

As the departure date for the CFZ's expedition to Russia gets ever closer, an ominous atmosphere has descended upon the Center's headquarters in Devon, England, as Jon Downes reveals below...

"God, I wish that I could tell you all the stuff that's been going on behind the scenes here, but I can't. Sufficient to say that it has been an emotional roller-coaster, but despite setbacks it is all still going ahead. With less than 48-hours left to go, the atmosphere here is more than tense, and I don't think any of us will be happy until I get the phone call sometime on Sunday morning telling us that they have safely arrived in Russia..."