Sri Lanka is a country that is constantly offering hidden surprises, and for those who travel here, it feels like your own private discovery. There are the crumbling ruins of ancient civilisations, baking in the midday sun. Friendly tuk tuk drivers who are thrilled to discuss the latest cricket match. Fields of glossy tea leaves, … More 2 weeks in Sri Lanka – an itinerary full of action
Wessel was complaining that he thought he had malaria. He felt feverish and nauseous. I said that that was highly unlikely; like all of us, he had been taking his daily Doxycycline, and we were in winter, not prime mosquito season. Besides, I imagined someone with malaria would probably feel significantly worse than Wessel.
There’s a place in Borneo to see Orangutans, and it’s not a zoo. It’s Semenggoh Nature Reserve, just outside of Kuching, where the animals are gradually re-introduced to the wild.Â
The quest for the scarlet macaw was beginning! The quest took place in the Osa Peninsula, a jungle region sprouting off the south west of Costa Rica’s slender frame. By all reports, this was one of the richest wildlife spotting destinations on earth.
I ticked an item off my bucket list in Chiang Mai. I rode an elephant. It felt strange to step on it’s great grey head as I boarded it, but once the docile pachyderm lumbered lazily along the path, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. But was it ethical?
Kuching means ‘cat’ in Malay, and you don’t have to look very far to find evidence of it’s association. Stone statues of cat families and sculptures of proud bronze felines overlook many of the city’s roundabouts, and adorn it’s manhole covers.
“Enjoy it, man”, T said as I walked past, a backpacker from Liverpool who was travelling with his New Zealander girlfriend, S. “Will do”, I replied, as I set off into the jungle. I had met them days earlier in Kuching, capital city of Sarawak, on the West Coast of Borneo.
The door swings open and Mark stands in the doorway of the humid jungle bar, khaki clad, dabbing beads of sweat off his neck with a handkerchief. The jungle mist rolls past his feet, and the sound of insects invades the room, drowning out the beat of the fan.
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