I've just come back from the Philippines on an amazing trip organised by Shangri-La Hotels and Kuoni; my feature about the white coral sand, miniature tarsier primates and excellent seafood will be appearing in the Mail on Sunday at some point.
While I was away my feature about house-sitting was published in the Mail on Sunday, check it out here.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Dieting on a cruise ship?
Well I had a go...
My feature about Carnival Magic appeared in today's Mail on Sunday. Read all about it here.
My feature about Carnival Magic appeared in today's Mail on Sunday. Read all about it here.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Hello stranger!
It's been a busy few months with exotic cruises in Borneo and Patagonia keeping me busy and an up-coming trip to the Philippines to plan for.
While I've been away I've had features published on Canada, SE Asia, New Zealand and a new ship review... links to follow soon.
I've also been shortlisted for two awards; one at the Travel Press Awards (Young Journalist of the Year) and one with the British Annual Canada Travel Awards (Best Media Coverage) - so fingers crossed!
While I've been away I've had features published on Canada, SE Asia, New Zealand and a new ship review... links to follow soon.
I've also been shortlisted for two awards; one at the Travel Press Awards (Young Journalist of the Year) and one with the British Annual Canada Travel Awards (Best Media Coverage) - so fingers crossed!
Monday, 19 September 2011
Saturday/Sunday - Going wild
After a morning visit to the POW camp in Sandakan we headed to a water village to catch a speedboat out to sea and the mouth of the Kinabatangan River, where we were staying overnight. The boat cut through the cocoa-coloured river like a hot knife through chocolate as we headed up the jungle-lined river, passing white egrets perching on driftwood and proboscis monkeys straddling branches.
After a lunch stop we continued on to the lodge where we were staying overnight and transferred to a smaller boat to go on an evening wildlife-spotting cruise. As well as seeing more monkeys getting ready to sleep, we saw a streak of electric blue whizz past (a kingfisher), saltwater crocodiles, crested serpent eagles and giant monitor lizards chasing baby macaque monkeys. At the lodge geckos crawled on the ceiling and an oriental pied hornbill was sitting outside on the fence – at night the jungle was full of hoots and calls, drowned out by torrential tropical rain.
Sunday morning’s 6am start saw us heading back out on the river where we were greeted by a gibbon honking in a tree and a big group of hornbills – rhinoceros, oriental pied and crested ones. It was a good morning for bird-watching and we also saw dollar birds, datar birds and brahminy kites flying over lakes clogged with purple water hyacinths. We were all looking out for orangutans and a few sightings of nests and moving branches had us all a little disappointed as we sped back to the ship.
Luckily for us our guides were looking out and we had two proper sightings of the hairy apes hanging from branches and swinging through the trees. On our way back we stopped at the village of Abai to plant a tree, paid for by Orion, to try and help keep the ‘corridor of life’ alive along the Kinbatangan River.
As we left Sandakan there was a little bit of drama with an engine problem that caused us to run aground and so we were taken to a local hotel for the night. We’re staying in Sandakan now rather than going on to Tawau, but in true Orion style all the crew served us a gourmet seafood dinner with champagne by candlelight last night even though the ship had no power.
Now that’s my kind of adventure.
After a lunch stop we continued on to the lodge where we were staying overnight and transferred to a smaller boat to go on an evening wildlife-spotting cruise. As well as seeing more monkeys getting ready to sleep, we saw a streak of electric blue whizz past (a kingfisher), saltwater crocodiles, crested serpent eagles and giant monitor lizards chasing baby macaque monkeys. At the lodge geckos crawled on the ceiling and an oriental pied hornbill was sitting outside on the fence – at night the jungle was full of hoots and calls, drowned out by torrential tropical rain.
Sunday morning’s 6am start saw us heading back out on the river where we were greeted by a gibbon honking in a tree and a big group of hornbills – rhinoceros, oriental pied and crested ones. It was a good morning for bird-watching and we also saw dollar birds, datar birds and brahminy kites flying over lakes clogged with purple water hyacinths. We were all looking out for orangutans and a few sightings of nests and moving branches had us all a little disappointed as we sped back to the ship.
Luckily for us our guides were looking out and we had two proper sightings of the hairy apes hanging from branches and swinging through the trees. On our way back we stopped at the village of Abai to plant a tree, paid for by Orion, to try and help keep the ‘corridor of life’ alive along the Kinbatangan River.
As we left Sandakan there was a little bit of drama with an engine problem that caused us to run aground and so we were taken to a local hotel for the night. We’re staying in Sandakan now rather than going on to Tawau, but in true Orion style all the crew served us a gourmet seafood dinner with champagne by candlelight last night even though the ship had no power.
Now that’s my kind of adventure.
Friday, 16 September 2011
Friday – Hanging out with orangutans
From Sandakan we drove to Labuk Bay, a palm oil plantation where the owner has left an area as a jungle reserve, which is home to proboscis monkeys who swung through the trees to reach the feeding platform and were happy to sit on the fence watching us watching them. They are pretty docile – they fight by making noise at each other rather than tearing strips off one another and we saw an alpha male with his harem of lady friends. At the second viewing platform we also saw a hornbill – a black bird with a double yellow beak like a toucan and more common macaque monkeys; one ran along the feeding platform with his little baby clinging to his belly.
In the afternoon we went to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, which is the largest in the world – orangutans are only found in Borneo and Sumatra and their forests are quickly disappearing, although there are more of them than of the proboscis monkeys found in the wild. The rehab centre was set up in 1964 to try and help orphaned orangutans (coming from the Malay meaning ‘man of the forest’) and those that had been illegally kept as pets. To begin with the orangutans interact with their human carers and are taught how to feed, climb and play – during this stage they can be viewed at the first feeding platform, where we saw a mother and baby and two young ones swinging off branches and munching on bananas in the forest. During the latter stages they are taken further into the sanctuary, away from humans, and eventually released into the wild.
In the afternoon we went to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, which is the largest in the world – orangutans are only found in Borneo and Sumatra and their forests are quickly disappearing, although there are more of them than of the proboscis monkeys found in the wild. The rehab centre was set up in 1964 to try and help orphaned orangutans (coming from the Malay meaning ‘man of the forest’) and those that had been illegally kept as pets. To begin with the orangutans interact with their human carers and are taught how to feed, climb and play – during this stage they can be viewed at the first feeding platform, where we saw a mother and baby and two young ones swinging off branches and munching on bananas in the forest. During the latter stages they are taken further into the sanctuary, away from humans, and eventually released into the wild.
Thursday – Life’s still a beach
Today we spent the day on Pulau Lankayan; an island so small it doesn’t even appear on Google Earth. Carpeted in jungle and surrounded by coral-white sands, Lankayan looks every inch the idyllic desert island and, apart from the small dive resort that let us use their jetty, it is an uninhabited paradise.
Strapping on our snorkels we swam offshore a short distance to see the ‘house reef’ that surrounded the island and were soon joined by colourful parrot fish, blue starfish and a purple anemone that was home to several orange and white fish who can survive inside the frills. There were some jellyfish tentacles and sea lice in the water who kept giving me a sting every so often and my mum somehow seemed immune to them, but Mick our expedition leader said they were harmless anyway. As we were getting out a baby black-tipped reef shark cruised along the shore front – just to remind us who is boss.
Strapping on our snorkels we swam offshore a short distance to see the ‘house reef’ that surrounded the island and were soon joined by colourful parrot fish, blue starfish and a purple anemone that was home to several orange and white fish who can survive inside the frills. There were some jellyfish tentacles and sea lice in the water who kept giving me a sting every so often and my mum somehow seemed immune to them, but Mick our expedition leader said they were harmless anyway. As we were getting out a baby black-tipped reef shark cruised along the shore front – just to remind us who is boss.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Wednesday - everybody needs good neighbours
Today we arrived at the town of Kudat and took a bus to meet the Rungus people – a sub-group of the Kadazan-Dusun people who live in northern Borneo. Traditionally they lived in longhouses; literally long communal houses built on stilts that up to 100 families could call home. We visited a reconstructed one at Bavanggazo; the roof is made of palm leaves and the floor is stalks of bamboo – each family had a room and a communal area runs the length of the longhouse.
The Rungus people are also known for their beadwork – originally they were made of seeds but now they use plastic beads to create intricate straps and belts. We were treated to some traditional music – an elderly lady played a nose-flute and then a rather relaxed gentleman started playing a sitar-type instrument, but seemed to drift off in a trance and the guide had to nudge him… turns out he was playing the music that they listen to when they chew betel nuts! Me thinks he might have been chowing down on some for breakfast.
Orion were keen for us to see a non-touristy longhouse, so we were taken to a nearby Rungus village called Tinagol where people still live in traditional-style housing (albeit one with an iron roof and MDF sides). I wandered through the two-storey longhouse and saw some doors were decorated with Wayne Rooney posters and Merry Christmas signs - inside some sections we could see TVs and all the family’s bits and bobs. We went on to Sumanggkap, the ‘gong making village’ to see the instruments being hammered out of metal.
Originally I misunderstood the itinerary and thought the Malaysian name of the village was Gong Making (pronounced Gon Mak-in), before I found out it was where they made the gongs, ahem. It’s a good job we get nightly briefings from our lovely expedition team to explain all of this.
The Rungus people are also known for their beadwork – originally they were made of seeds but now they use plastic beads to create intricate straps and belts. We were treated to some traditional music – an elderly lady played a nose-flute and then a rather relaxed gentleman started playing a sitar-type instrument, but seemed to drift off in a trance and the guide had to nudge him… turns out he was playing the music that they listen to when they chew betel nuts! Me thinks he might have been chowing down on some for breakfast.
Orion were keen for us to see a non-touristy longhouse, so we were taken to a nearby Rungus village called Tinagol where people still live in traditional-style housing (albeit one with an iron roof and MDF sides). I wandered through the two-storey longhouse and saw some doors were decorated with Wayne Rooney posters and Merry Christmas signs - inside some sections we could see TVs and all the family’s bits and bobs. We went on to Sumanggkap, the ‘gong making village’ to see the instruments being hammered out of metal.
Originally I misunderstood the itinerary and thought the Malaysian name of the village was Gong Making (pronounced Gon Mak-in), before I found out it was where they made the gongs, ahem. It’s a good job we get nightly briefings from our lovely expedition team to explain all of this.
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