Luxurious Lodge

After three days of conference we leave to drive further north for a few days holiday. On the way we see a beautiful hyena, big herds of zebras and wildebeest and the landscape changes becoming more open and more how I imagined Africa with rolling grasslands and only occasional trees. We are lucky to see a group of rhinos basking in the sun and see some spectacular storks in the many waterholes along the way. Unfortunately we get a puncture and greatly fear getting eaten by a lion whilst changing the tyre. It can happen - I saw it in a documentary! Luckily we do not suffer this fate but nervously drive without a spare tyre until we can buy a new one. We stay in Letaba rest camp that night which is also alongside a river and see many almost tame deer in the park. We meet up with some friends Justine and Aleiks - friends from the workshop and find out all the gossip from the workshop with much wine.

The following day we drive in the most northerly section of the park where the vegetation changes to spectacular sandstone plateaus and amazing Baobab trees that sometimes look like the whomping willow tree in Harry Potter when they have red-billed buffalo weaver nests in their branches. We are staying for two nights in the luxurious Outpost Lodge which is spectacular. Our room is like a verandah open on three sides to the most beautiful view across the plains to the Luvuhu river, a tributary of the Limpopo. It is lovely lolling in the bath and watching the sun set and the stars come out. The milky way is superb up here with no light pollution and it is an amazing experience sleeping under a mosquito net watching the stars and then the sun rise. We have an amazing dinner around a fire and get to know our guide Sarah as we are the only people staying in the lodge. The impact of the global financial crisis I think.

We wake up at the crack of dawn and drive for an hour where I have never been so cold I think, but we arrive in a forest full of these wonderful fever trees and get a little too close perhaps to Africa's most poisonous snake, the black mamba. On our return we have the most amazing breakfast/brunch which forces me to sleep for the next few hours just digesting it before the next beautiful meal. After lunch we drive to a breathtaking gorge and climb to the top feeling like such adventurous explorers, at least I do. All too soon we have to leave paradise and head back south. Luckily on the way back we see a leopard sleeping in a tree thereby ensuring that we have seen the famous big five animals of the park. But really I prefer the wonderful zebras whose stripes are so vivid and strange to all these scary beasts. We also see a spectacular ground hornbill who obligingly poses for a picture by the side of the road. It is easier driving back with the sun behind us and we stay at another rest camp called Olifants for our last night in the park. It has indeed been a great African adventure.

Gorgeous Giraffes

We see many elephants which is lovely until Charlene explains that they can be rather unpredictable and can charge at cars if annoyed. Indeed quite soon we see an elephant coming towards us rather fast flapping its ears angrily. Luckily we are a few cars back and reverse quickly but the car in front was having difficulty getting out of the way. Very scary as they are enormous animals. My view of elephants undergoes a change and I prefer from then on to see them at more of a distance. It is great fun looking for all the animals on our list and we soon see many kinds of deer and antelope including a huge herd of buffalos. It is nice getting to know the other women - Becky who is from England and Wendy who is from the U.S.

At night we have a traditional BBQ which South Africans are very partial to and call a Brai. I tasted my first meal of pap, a kind of cornmeal mixture with a spicy sauce, very tasty. We also get to try a number of nice South African wines and talk to many interesting people working on Antarctic conservation from around the world. Our next safari is exciting as we see lions sleeping and then later four lions eating their kill, a buffalo. The event causes a lot of road rage with people eager to get photos and not behaving very considerately. It was all pretty gruesome rather like a national geographic programme but fortunately we were too far away to hear the sounds! I decide I much prefer herbivores and that afternoon we see a lovely giraffe placidly feeding by the side of the road. Again I was looking at the giraffe without noticing it for five seconds, so well does it blend into the environment huge and unlikely though it is.

That afternoon Hugh and I visit the local bird hide and we get up close to a group of hippos snorting and groaning in the water. It was very peaceful listening to them blow water out of their nostrils and flick their cute pink ears. They are very zen and I decide that if there is such a thing as reincarnation I would like to come back as a hippo. We walk around this amazing golf course nearby somewhat anxiously avoiding the crocodiles and the wart-hogs. We see lots of wonderful birds including a multi-coloured purple-crowned Lourie which pleases Hugh greatly. My favourite bird however is the lilac-breasted roller which likes to perch in dead trees so as to be more easily seen. When it flies it has these long blue tail feathers and is extremely gorgeous.

African Adventure

After a long flight across the Indian Ocean we land in Johannesburg en route for Kruger National Park where Hugh has a workshop on Antarctica believe it or not! We hire a car in Nelspruit and bravely drive ourselves to Kruger. We learn later that the organizers of the conference were worried about our safety as security on these roads is not good. I must say we kept the doors locked and were rather relieved to enter Kruger. We had lunch at one of the oldest rest camps at Pretiorskop and Hugh was happy as we saw lots of birds including a pretty pearl-spotted owl blinking at us in a tree surrounded by colourful sunbirds. The landscape was quite thick with thorn-trees so I saw my first elephant by the side of the road without realizing it was there for a few seconds. It is hard to believe that you could miss an elephant!

For the first three days we were staying at Skukuza, the largest rest camp which is located along the river. We stayed in one of the iconic round huts with thatched roofs which are very cute and include little kitchens in the verandah. There are many of these rest camps in Kruger which are quite affordable and very comfortable. I saw my first hippo in the river and fell instantly for these large peaceful creatures. Although they are responsible for many deaths in Africa it is not that they are aggressive but that people get in their way. Much misunderstood I think.

It is lovely winter weather, quite warm during the day but coldish at night. We are still able to sit on the deck for sundowners and to meet the other invitees. We have our first taste of Amarula, the drink made from the fruit that elephants are rather partial to. It is a little like Baileys. Quite nice. There are a number of other consorts at the meeting and we have been allocated a guide of our own called Charlene who takes us out on our first safari the next day. I have bought a nice little tick-list of animals and birds of the park which interestingly includes trees and on our first drive, a number of trees we pass obligingly have names on them which helps me to recognize them and tick them off my list which I find very satisfying!

Danum Valley

The next day we fly east across Borneo to Lahud Datu, on the Celebes Sea for our trip to the Danum Valley Field Station. On the way we see the dreaded Oil Palm plantations that are decimating the forest and orphaning orang-utans. Our three hour road trip to the Field Centre is pretty ghastly but we finally arrive to hear all the strange sounds of the jungle at night.

Next day, despite buying some leech socks I soon attract such a number of leeches from our first walk in the jungle that my enthusiasm for wild places and lots of slippery mud soon evaporates! It is small comfort to see the brilliant blue and black Asian Fairy Bluebird even though Hugh missed it. This does not just mean I have seen a species he has not, but indeed an entire bird family! Hugh claims this is inconsistent with our prenuptial contract.

Day two and we are lucky enough to see an orang-utan and her small baby from the verandah at breakfast, which inspires me to leave the leach-less place of safety and face my fears in the jungle. I not only see the orang-utan again but also a Bornean gibbon, a pig-tailed macaque and a troop of red leaf monkeys. I remove the resultant leeches with only one or two screams of horror and feeling a lot like Angelina Jolie I bravely cross the scary swing bridge across the river in the rain. And who said I was an urban princess?

By day three we were set to leave. Hugh had seen neither a Pitta nor a Pheasant, so he faced ridicule at the hands of serious twitchers around the world. Fortunately the last morning walk before breakfast yielded both, and the muddy bumpy drive back to Lahad Datu unearthed the mythical Bornean Bearded Pig. Our last night in Sabah is spent in the luxurious Tanjung Aru Resort where we appreciate hot water and alcohol after suffering without either in the Danum Valley. A great end to a South-east Asian adventure!

Mt Kinabalu

We take our lives in our hands and head off in a shared mini-van early Thursday morning for the two hour drive to Mt Kinabalu. The traffic is awful and the road steep and windy with many trucks but the views, even through the mist and low-lying clouds, are still sensational. This huge mountain, with its jagged teeth of granite is a big draw card for most tourists who long to climb to the top of its 4095m peak. I think they are all mad and convince Hugh that we would be much happier walking around the many trails at the Park Headquarters and more to the point see many more birds.

So we have a lovely morning and luckily do see many of the Bornean endemics that our bird book describes including a pretty pale blue Flycatcher and a bright scarlet sunbird, called Temminck’s1 Sunbird. We also see the famous black and green Rajah Brooke’s2 birdwing butterfly and this lovely lavender and blue butterfly pictured which remains unidentified (by us at any rate) as yet. It unusually stood still long enough to be photographed.

It is very cool up here on the mountain and feels strange but pleasant to be walking through rainforest without any humidity. We walk trails that go along some mountain streams and marvel at all the ferns, mosses and lichens that cover the trees. It is only after lunch that the cloud clears a little and we are able to see the mountain up close and I am extremely glad we decided not to climb it!

1Who was this Temminck? – a man, like “Whitehead” and “Horsefield”, who named so many birds in the region. He was Dutch aristocrat and zoologist with an inadequate Wikipedia entry even smaller than my husband’s– see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenraad_Jacob_Temminck.

2While stuck in various airport lounges I took the time to read “White Rajah”. This is a relatively amusing book about Sir James Brooke, a man of wealth and position, who took it upon himself to build the empire in the region by attacking pirates (some of whom may have been innocent bystanders) and taking a fancy to young native boys. Hugh thinks that homosexuality is surely the reason why the British Empire was great – it was the driving force behind men being away from their wives on boats in the ocean, with other men, and very little to do.

Stupendous Sabah

This trip is about spending 10 days in Sabah, a Malaysian province of Borneo, as Hugh is running a conservation planning workshop for WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) in Kota Kinabalu and the aim is to then travel around and see lots of birds for Hugh and Orangutans for me. Our first day was extremely successful for my agenda as we visited the nature reserve run by the Rasa Ria resort outside of Kota Kinabalu. After a short walk into the reserve, the rangers called up the two orphaned orangutans who swung in through the tree-tops with effortless ease. I have never seen something so amazing in my life. We were all entranced as they fed from their feeding stations and then put on a show for our benefit. It was hilarious to see them swinging their trees and pretending not to be able to reach the next treetop. Apparently they enjoy the oohs and ahhs of the tourists and like it if you clap.

The two orphans are about four years of age and are being rehabilitated before being released back into the wild. Young orphaned orangutans often need to be taught how to swing on branches and have to be encouraged to look for their own food. The highlight of the visit was seeing the six month old baby orangutan who is still kept in the nursery and was the most adorable creature who had to wear a baby suit as she felt the cold! It brought tears to my eyes. The ranger said it was very hard for them too when they had to hand the orangutans over to the Sepilok Wild life park in East Sabah for release as they become so attached to them. I'm not surprised.

Kota Kinabalu, although on a nice harbour on the South China Sea, is not that attractive mainly as it was bombed twice by the allies in the war and only three pre-war structures remain. But it does have an interesting Museum which displays the different indigenous tribes,their costumes and culture which I find fascinating. There are about 9 different tribes with quite distinctive dress and wonderful beads, coin belts and weavings. The largest tribe are the Kadazan tribe who mainly wear black and have a very elaborate rice harvest ritual in May which sounds fascinating to a pagan like myself as it has priestesses with sacred implements and elaborate head-dresses made of rice stalks, colourful threads and silver ornaments. At dinner that night we went to a fabulous steam-boat restaurant where the different tribes were represented in a dance show. By far the most impressive are the Kadazan-Dusun tribe whose costume is not unlike Native American Indians with large feather headdresses and bark shirts. They used to be headhunters and still seem pretty good with a blow pipe. They have a dangerous looking dance which involves jumping quickly over moving poles.

We visited a wonderful bookshop called Borneo Books which had lots of history, anthropology and plant/bird books and where I learnt via a fascinating bead book that many of the tribal bead necklaces are heirlooms and that some of them are made of beads from Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Venice. It is still a mystery how the beads got to Sabah. We also visited a groovy Fillipino bar where I had the best Margarita outside of California that I have ever tasted. The food is delicious here too as there is a mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and Filipino cuisines with lots of noodles, rice and yummy (to me at any rate) tofu. Tomorrow we are going to visit Mt Kinabalu which means 'place of the spirits of the dead' - if the weather is clear you can see the mountain from our hotel room but usually the mountain is wreathed in clouds. Very spooky!