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Gili Air – laid back vibe, vibrant skies and turtles
The 3 hour fast ferry from Nusa Lembongan to Gili Air was spent sunbathing on deck, watching dolphins and getting a glimpse of Gili Trawangan. Gili Air is beautiful, its sunsets are fabulous with the volcano Mount Agung on Bali silhouetted and reflected in the shallow sea and coral reef. Gili Air is fabulous for snorkelling amongst turtles, you don’t have to go out on a boat, just rent fins and snorkel set and swim off the beach. Amazing experience, saw green turtles and hawksbill turtles amongst a million colourful fish We have loved our stay on the island of Gili Air. There are no cars or regular mopeds on…
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Bali – Ubud, rice terraces, temples and monkeys
So now we are in Bali, short ferry ride from Ketapang, Java to Gilimanuk Bali. Then a 5 hour taxi to Ubud, the cultural and spiritual centre of Bali. Our home for a few days is tranquil and overlooks rice fields yet just a short walk to an array of bars and restaurants. This is Bali, a place of beauty coupled with mass tourism, will we like it? Only time will tell. We have now seen two sides of Ubud, Bali. The first was a quick stop at the famed Tegallalang rice terraces. (Couldn’t bring myself to take photos here) Once a place of beauty, now more of a theme…
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Indonesia – Sumatra – Bukit Lawang
Following our jungle adventure in Borneo we flew to Sumatra having a luxury 2 night stay in Medan, the capital city. From there our base has been the jungle village of Bukit Lawang. Great little rustic village in a great setting on the banks of a river. We have spent 2 days exploring the village and its surrounds, walking amongst rice fields, clambering through bat caves and learning how they make brown sugar, tempeh and tofu. We have had our fair share of rain and storms too but then we are in a rain forest! Tomorrow we embark on another adventure, a 3 day jungle trek and wildlife spotting in…
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Borneo – in search of the orangutan
We have just had the most amazing trip which exceeded expectations. We flew out to Pangkalan Bun in Borneo (known as Kalimantan in Indonesia) to meet up with our klotok (traditional wooden boat) our home for a couple of nights. Apart from the wonderful experience of sleeping on the deck of our boat surrounded by the sounds of the jungle and eating fresh local food, our main reason was to view orang-utans in their natural environment, what an incredible experience this was. I will let the photos talk…….. Although our time in Kalamantan was mainly about orangutans, there was so much more to the trip. The boat was fun and…
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Okavango & Makgadikgadi: Days In Amazing Places
The outdoor shower at Boteti Tented Camp takes us aback, not because of its temperature but more due to its extreme saltiness, so saline as to give off a sea-like odour and leave the skin feeling pinched once dried. If this in itself is hardly an Earth shattering fact, the point that it is part of the unique topography of this area just adds to the mystique and intrigue we are already feeling as we gear up to explore more of our amazing surroundings. The natural phenomenon which is the Okavango Delta is full of features which are utterly fascinating and in some instances unique. Its annual story is this.…
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Northwards To Maun And The Okavango Delta
Francistown, whilst there’s nothing exactly wrong with it, isn’t the world’s most exciting place and we’ve been kicking our heels a bit, spending three and a half days in a town where you can probably see everything worth seeing between breakfast and lunchtime. Maybe though, our three days have seemed lengthened by anticipation, for when we leave here we will be heading for somewhere which was always planned to be one of the highlights of the whole trip. To herald our last night in Francistown, the very first invasive mosquito of the entire trip makes an appearance and clearly wants to be tonight’s star, whining its way past our ears…
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Lake Malawi Days
It went on for a bit longer. The very friendly guy who smiled as he told us he’d given our room to someone else, WhatsApps after a couple of days to say that the usurping guests have extended their stay for a night and we still can’t take our original booking. When we do eventually move to Tranquilo after three nights away, it’s immediately obvious that our temporary billet was far superior to the one we’re now at – and given that we had, of course, refused to pay the difference, we’d inadvertently got ourselves a real bargain. Tranquilo has clearly seen better days, and what’s more, the dusty outdoor…
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From The Plains To The Sea: Arrival In Diani & Reflections On Safari
We’ve been in Stanley’s company for over a week, our different lives thousands of miles apart thrown together by circumstance, and saying goodbye at Voi train station feels disproportionately poignant. “You going home today after your long week, Stanley?” “Oh no, don’t remind me of that” he says, “it means that I won’t ever see you again”. For a brief moment he actually appears to be welling up. It must be dust in his eye, surely. Stanley has been a good guy. He talks to the animals out of the minibus window, tells us what he thinks the animals are thinking, and, when he spots a dead bird seemingly killed…
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Safari Final Stage: Tsavo West & Tsavo East
In the previous posts from our safari week we have mentioned the differences between each region, a fact which is once again very evident as soon as we pass through the gates and enter Tsavo West. For the most part, the shrubbery of Tsavo West is more dense and greater in height, so animal spotting here is much more a case of good luck rather than scanning the plains through binoculars. Moreover, it is far less visited here, so any CB radio contact between guides is far more sparse. In a way, all this adds to the thrill of a sighting, each encounter being a rather more private affair than…
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Stage Four: Amboseli And A Missing Mountain
To enter Amboseli via the Kimana Gate is to drive into a dust bowl. Huge plumes follow each safari truck, every animal movement is followed by the same giveaway and by the time the first hour of our first game drive has passed, our mouths taste of nothing but dry dust. But the dustbowl is but one element, there is more to learn about unique Amboseli, a set of characteristics which set it apart from Kenya’s other safari regions. For a start there are four separate habitats: the dry dusty plain, a freshwater lake, a salt water lake and an extensive swamp. What really makes Amboseli unique though is the…
