Otters

I was very excited to see a family of otters resting on the jetty when heading out for a row today. I am not sure which species it was however the family of around 6-8 were fairly relaxed. In a number of trips around SEA I have been hoping to see otters and the last place I expected it was a man-made reservoir in a Singaporean industrial suburb.

Get it India

 

Rompin - Year 6

It was quite a disappointing fishing trip in 2015.  The haze from Indonesian burn-offs has been camped over South-East Asia for around a month and with the lack of visibility it was hard to see birds feeding on bait-fish. We had no bites on day one and then nothing on day 2 until mid-afternoon.

There was plenty of life out there - cuttlefish, mackerel, barracuda, some mating sea-snakes and this little guy who lived to tell his tale another day.

 

For Richard and Evan this was their first fish of this size and ending up with 4 fish including a double hook-up, meant the trip ended on a high.

 

 

70kg plus at Rompin

Unfortunately I was pulling in tiddlers however Tim landed this beautiful sailfish in October 2014.

South Africa Christmas 2014

 

Easy Tiger

Hmmmm. I was somewhat ethically uncomfortable but they seemed to have credentials so Amanda and I spent some time with the Chiang Mai tigers. It was momentarily thrilling but ultimately felt like shooting fish in a barrel.

However I did come away from Chiang Mai knowing that unless A gets one lucky shot away I am in no danger of any serious fury from my woman scorned.

It was my first time in northern Thailand and I was incredibly impressed by the cuisine - Chiang Mai sausage, khao soi, kâab mŏo........ mmmmmm.

Things I saw at the zoo - me!

Things I saw at the zoo

This little fellow was sunning itself on a leaf beside a path and was watchful but relaxed.

 

This big fellow - a Mexican Red-Knee Tarantula was safely cooped up out the back.

 

 

 

Things I saw at the Zoo - zoo keeper attachment

I passed the Docent exams last week and was lucky enough to spend two days in a keeper attachment. Basically shadow a keeper and spend two days-in-the-life of. The zoo is very specific about not sharing photos of the back of house so the below are random Internet photos indicating some of my activities at the River Safari.

 Smelled and rubbed by a curious giant anteater with baby.

 Searched and nudged by a hungry coati.

 

 Struggled with by an elephant trunk snake who would rather not be moved.

 

Growled at by feeding jaguars advising me to back off.

 

 Teased by picky sturgeon who demand hand feeding.

Licked by tapirs mistaking sweat for a salt lick.

 

Smiled at by the ghairal when watching the keeper's back.

 

And spending an hour scrubbing the Ganges River of algae. Yep, it only took an hour, but there was two of us. It wasn't all fun though. Cleaning cages and exhibits, prepping food for all and sundry, back-washing and cleaning filters, sweeping, moving and caging. I probably added and hour to the keeper's day with distraction and annoying questions but it felt like a rare opportunity.

Things I saw at the Zoo - adolescent orangutan

 

Today I sat my practical as well as my written exam for the Docent position. It was strangely nerve wracking for what is really just a hobby. I guess without passing, this hobby is a little harder to enjoy. I am pretty confident of passing though you never know.

Things I saw at the zoo - pygmy hippos laughing

Tales from the Crypt - Xinjiang 2001

Xinjiang is a phenomenal area, both geographically and culturally. Located on the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, Xinjiang is a Muslim province within China. People are Uighur, Hazak & Kazak and there are few Han Chinese though in recent years this has been rapidly changing due to PRC policy to develop region. The land ranges from Swiss Alp-like mountains to searing low-land deserts, all within a few hours drive of each other.

The Flaming Mountains

My visit was well prior to the up-swell of "separatist" violence of 2008 although several weeks prior, a series of non-fatal explosions had been let-off.

 

In travelling from Turpan to Tianchi, I was befriended by a Uighur man in the bus. His family had currently set their yurt high up on the mountain just below the snow-line and I was invited to ride one of their tiny horses up the mountain and stay with them.

The family were essentially herdsman and horseman. Little did I know, one of the staples if you are a horseman and herdsman is horses' milk. When I saw them milking the mares I stupidly asked "if you can drink it." Horse milk is fermented in a sheep's stomach until alcoholic and then consumed in great quantities. As a guest and someone to be indulged, I was given a bucket-load of milk. Not figuratively. Literally. A bucket of fermented, warm, horse milk.  I didn't want to offend so gritted my teeth and gulped it all down. At about 4am, I had to delicately and drunkenly sneak out of the communal yurt to throw it all up. Good times.

One of my favourite markets is the Kashgar Sunday market. Young men buy and sell horses with the machismo of young men and horsepower anywhere in the world.

In a small circle of men discussing the merits of the wares, horses are raced back and forwards as the haggling and negotiating takes place. The horses are stopped within a few inches of the crowds nothing close to a flinch from anyone, then raced back to the other side.

Possibly my favourite street-food market is the Urumuqi night market. Flat breads, cold beer, everything under the sun grilled on sticks over coals and the spices of the silk road. I felt like Indiana Jones. In one of my more fashionably ill-advised periods, I even sported a panama hat and white singlet to set the mood. I should have gone for the cool leather jacket and whip.

Xinjiang has even more. It has a temple for the Monkey King whose escapades brought him through the region in the Journey to The West. For those who are culturally stunted and don't know the most important variation of the story, we're talking about Monkey Magic!

Prawning

Part team building, part farewell to Glenn Ng who is one of my team, we spent the afternoon at East Coast Park prawning. It is high action fishing in a man-made pond using rod, but no reel.



 

This is the result of 6 man (& woman) hours of fishing. Mildly fun, incredibly uneconomical.

Tales from the crypt - Botswana warthog kill

This video is not for the faint of heart, vegetarians or the kiddies.

 

This is from our trip to Botswana in 2009 and filmed in the Kwando Linyanti wetlands near the Namibian border. We had come specifically to see the endangered wild dogs however were very lucky to see an actual kill. While the slow speed in which the warthog was dispatched was fairly uncomfortable, it was the noise that chilled to the bone.

Singapore Zoo volunteer - Stage 2 passed

The common training phase has successfully been passed and I now move to station-based training.  I have been allocated my first pick, the Fragile Forest.