From cheerleader to explorer?
By Melissa Farenish
For The Daily Item
January 28, 2010
WILLIAMSPORT — How does a girl go from NFL cheerleader to National Geographic explorer? Mireya Mayor made the transition more than 10 years ago when she took an anthropology course at the University of Miami.
“I fell in love with it,” she said.
Mayor, an English and philosophy double major, joined the Miami Dolphins cheering squad because she liked to dance. Her Cuban mother, who Mayor calls “my role model,” expected her to become a teacher or nurse after college.
Instead, Mayor chose to chase monkeys and gorillas in the jungle.
“My anthropology professor talked about her experiences chasing monkeys in the jungle, and that fascinated me,” Mayor said.
Soon, she was reading about primatologists like Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall. Once Mayor watched the Fossey biography “Gorillas in the Mist,” there was no turning back — she wanted be the next Fossey or Goodall.
“They were my role models,” Mayor said. “I wanted to be biggest achievement is the discovery of the world’s smallest primate.
Like most discoveries, “it was completely by accident,” Mayor said. The creatures she caught in Madagascar didn’t fit the description of lemurs in her reference books. After a series of genetic testing, she announced the discovery in 2004 and earned her place as a top anthropologist.
Last summer, Mayor was on the History Channel show “Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone” The show stars four explorers who follow in the footsteps of journalist Henry Morton Stanley’s 1871 trek through Tanzania wilderness to find world-renowned explorer Dr. David Livingstone. That meant they had no GPS, no maps, and no tents.
The “essence of that place is still the same,” according to Mayor. The danger of predators such as lions and crocodiles and diseases like malaria is still there. Each of the explorers was sick at least once. One explorer, Benedict Allen of England, contracted malaria.
The rest of the group had to decide whether to leave him to die or continue their trek with him. Thankfully, Allen pulled through and was able to finish the exploration.
Mayor will speak about her experiences at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 at the Community Arts Center, 220 W. Fourth St., as part of the National Geographic speaker series. Tickets cost $5 for students,range from $20 to $25 for the general public and are available by calling (800) 432-9382. Bring this article to the box office the day of the show for an adult ticket for $10.
