Technology has transformed the challenge of reporting on expeditions in
remote corners. Traditionally, Nicolas Reynard would have greeted the Korubo
with a 35-mm camera and shot roll after roll of film. Then would come a two-day
trudge through the jungle, a nine-hour boat ride to the nearest airport, and half
a day of connecting flights back to National Geographic headquarters in
Washington, D.C.
Not this time. Reynard captured the Korubo digitally, storing images
on a metal item known as a personal computer memory card (PC card).
He then loaded the images onto his laptop and zapped them via satellite
to North America. The result: a fast, firsthand glimpse of an expedition
that made history.