We have just returned from an amazing trip to Mexico, a holiday arranged with Naturetrek ostensibly to experience the wonders of the monarch butterflies overwintering in the oyamel pine clad mountains to the southwest of Mexico city, but there were many other delights to savour which I will write about soon. For the present, I…
Welcome to a fuller account of our trip to Africa – October 2023. I thought you might be interested in hearing a little more about our recent trip to Uganda and Zambia. After all it wasn’t all about Bee-eaters, Rollers and Kingfishers, indeed there was much more than birds to fascinate and entertain. We arranged…
Southern Pantanal 2 – The Mad Mad Moonlight News came half way through our evening safari of a Jaguar kill. We drove directly to the site where biologists from the local conservation team were staking out the half devoured carcass of a cow; they were hoping to identify which particular cat was responsible. In the…
15th/16th November 2016 – Southern Pantanal The head of the ocelot, such a cryptically patterned beast, could just be seen behind a screen of grass as it sat motionless beside a shallow pool. It’s white ear patches reflected the light shone by our guide who, ever alert, had spotted the cat from his vantage point…
Saturday 12th November 2016 (late afternoon) – Northern Pantanal It glared at us from baleful lemon yellow eyes, sat atop a tangle of fallen branches and roots. A Ferruginous Pygmy owl, one of a pair our guide had picked up calling from the track along which we had been strolling. The ability of this knowledgeable…
Thursday 10th November 2016 – Northern Pantanal We arrived to the ominous sound of rumbling thunder issued from the depths of evil looking clouds that periodically spat jagged forks of lightning. The accompanying humidity made for an uncomfortable welcome to our stay in the Northern Pantanal. But the rain didn’t materialise, at least no more…
Hakuna Matata – No Worries! A Swahili phrase which sums up the laid back nature of people, their lifestyle and attitude on Zanzibar, the last port of call on our African adventure. We arrived late into Zanzibar after a mid evening flight from Nairobi. Then another hour to drive south towards our rather plush accommodation…
A few days spent in Israel – April 2015 – immersed in spring migration at Jerusalem and Eilat, a fantastic experience. This post summarises my impressions of witnessing masses of birds at close quarters. The post first appeared as a series in my blogger site which is worth a look if you’re interested in my…
This blog post summarises a week long visit to Extremadura, Spain during the early spring of 2015. We travelled with Naturetrek and had a fantastic time immersed in the landscape, the history and of course the wildlife. The impressions are my own. You can read much more about this in Martin Kelsey’s profile and his…