Botanist's work on the seashore
While performing his duties as a botanist, he was only allowed to walk along the coast with a border guard.
Fishermen in Mazirbe were not allowed to fish, but locals were not allowed to swim anywhere. Everyone had to carry their passports with them every day, because they could be checked multiple times during the same day. Since I am a botanist who was also doing research at the time, I was “caught” on the beach several times. Once, the director of Slītere National Park officially agreed with the border guard that I could walk along the coast from Saunagas to Mazirbe. A border guard with a Kalashnikov assault rifle was “attached” to me, who reported something at each connection point (at that time there were portable telephones and certain connection points from which you could communicate). The poor soldier had a very hard time with me, because every now and then I would go to the dunes to look at the plants, but he didn’t know whether I was going there for personal or scientific reasons, which created awkward situations. Taking pictures on the seashore was not allowed, though. Looking at it from today’s perspective, it was all quite funny. There were no conflicts with the military – everyone did their job. The border guard post was located at the Kolka – Ventspils and Mazirbe intersection. The border guards usually left there when a bus arrived. There was a local shooting range on our property (Lēdzerkstes) (land full of shells) and there was even a helicopter landing pad planned at one time.
