J IS FOR JABIRU : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 10 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

Extract from an article I wrote about Australia’s Northern Territory published in an English language newspaper in Spain:

The Mary River Wetlands abound with birdlife and crocodiles. We took a boat ride.

Slim snouted freshwater crocodiles (freshies) grow up to 3 metres long and won’t attack if undisturbed. Estuarine or saltwater crocodiles (salties) can grow up to 6 metres long. These opportunistic hunters can and will grab anything that moves. You don’t mess with salties.

Amongst a welter of fascinating birds, the huge black necked stork, or Jabiru, reigns supreme. At 130 cms tall this magnificent bird stalked like a statesman through carpets of Sacred Water Lilies while Little Corellas squawked overhead.

See you tomorrow – I’m heading north. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?

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I IS FOR IGUANA : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 9 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

At first I wasn’t sure what to make of rocks littered by sneezing lizards. Sneezing lizards? Yup, they were definitely sneezing… and what sneezes! I could see stuff shooting out of their blunt snouts with no regard to the proximity of their fellows.

Now, I mentioned in my Flightless Cormorant post that the Galapagos Islands are chock-full of wonderful wildlife and that includes these Iguanas – or Marine Iguanas. And despite their rather disreputable appearance, they are nevertheless unique and wonderful creatures.

The sneezing is a result of their need to expel the salt they ingest when they’re feeding. The iguanas have developed a special nasal gland which allows them to excrete the potentially toxic salt crystals.

Only the largest iguanas are able to withstand the cold Galapagos seas long enough to actually dive underwater to feed off the seaweeds and algae. The smaller specimens simply scrape the algae off exposed rocks on the shoreline. 

Being cold blooded, all the iguanas spend a great deal of time basking on the rocks… and sneezing.

See you tomorrow – I’m heading west to a continent hitherto unvisited during this challenge. Can you guess where and what the next creature will be?

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H IS FOR HIPPO : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 8 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

Here’s a fictionalised version of a real experience… (apart from the ending) that I wrote for a flash fiction competition.

ZINGING THE ZAMBEZI  IN ZAMBIA

The hippos wallowed in the shallows like a chaos of bruises.

“In the unlikely event of capsize from a hippo attack, use the boat as a shield and swim to the bank,” said Scott.

“I’m a rotten swimmer,” said Georgie.

“Just think ‘crocodiles’. Trust me, you’ll ‘zing’.”

Georgie tugged her bulky, ill-fitting lifejacket. If they capsized, she wouldn’t be ‘zinging’ anywhere. At least a crocodile might have trouble pulling her underwater in a death roll, she thought sourly.

Scott cut the engine. “Ready to catch some tigers?”

Sunbathing crocs slithered with silky swiftness into the water and hippos grunted warnings if they drifted too close.

Georgie hooked a tiger fish. It leapt out of the water in a luminescent flash of orange and pink. The line went slack.

“Lost him!”

In the excitement, they didn’t notice the boat’s position. A shockingly loud snort alerted them. A hippo was porpoising through the water at a speed that chilled Georgie’s blood. Scott dived for the ignition key.

The engine screamed and died. There was a sickening thud.

Georgie lay on the bank coughing up water. She didn’t know how she had managed to navigate the mighty Zambezi but she certainly had ‘zinged’.

See you on Monday – I’m heading west. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been away but will be back this afternoon, when I'll catch up with you.

If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click HERE

G IS FOR GIRAFFE : A-Z Blogging Challenge

Welcome to Day 7 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

When it comes to the wackier looking animals to be found in Africa, the giraffe, with its head in the clouds, is surely right up there with the elephant and rhino.

My first sub-Saharan African adventure was in Zimbabwe and I will always remember my first wild giraffes in Hwange National Park. It’s a marvellous thing that such strangely built creatures can look both elegant and loopily lop-sided at the same time.

I saw giraffes again and again in other locations… swaying like catwalk models on the Kenyan Masai Mara, adding a picturesque addition to sunset over Namibia’s Etosha Pan - or bending awkwardly to drink in Chobe’s National Park in Botswana.

But never mind my attempts to wax lyrical over the extraordinary giraffe… I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

See you tomorrow - I'll be sticking around on this continent because I have a story about an animal beginning with H that I simply have to tell you. Can you guess what that animal will be?


I'm away until tomorrow afternoon and I won't be travelling with my laptop, so apologies for not commenting on your blogs today. I'll respond to all comments when I return. 

If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click HERE

F IS FOR FLIGHTLESS CORMORANT : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 6 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

The Galapagos Islands of Ecuador are chock-full of wonderful wildlife, much of which is endemic to these beautiful islands. The Flightless Cormorant is one such creature.

It has to be said that these birds are not particularly attractive but the interesting thing about them is that they are the only cormorant in the world to have lost the ability to fly.

With their webbed feet and powerful legs, these cormorants are fantastic at catching prey underwater. It is strange that their feathers haven’t evolved to become waterproof and they are obliged to sit with their stubby little wings outstretched to dry after a hunting session.

These birds are only found on two islands in the Galapagos. Our guide asked us to keep our distance from them, for obvious reasons. 

Sadly my visit to the Galapagos was before I started travel writing and my camera wasn’t up to much. Perhaps that’s a good enough excuse to re-visit one of the most incredible places I have ever visited on this planet.

See you tomorrow - I’m going to head back east. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?

If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click HERE

E IS FOR ELEPHANT : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 5 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

Edited extract from a travel essay:

Namibia is nirvana for a photo junkie like me. Intoxicated by sensational scenery and exotic animal sightings, I was overdosing.

My husband takes underwater photos but refuses to carry a camera on land.

'I don't want to see the world through a viewfinder,' he says.

However, 'Can you get a picture?' is his favourite refrain.

Our first stop was Etosha. Namibia’s flagship game park is structured to allow self-drive game viewing. Exploration of an African game park without a guide is a heady experience.

The Etosha Pan dominates the park. This former inland sea stretches into salt-white infinity. 

Nothing had prepared me for its vastness. 

We were watching an ostrich floating on a mirage out on the crackle-glazed pan when we heard branches breaking nearby.

‘Sounds like an elephant.’

I have a husband who delights in scaring me. His strategy is to plant suggestions in the hope that I will succumb to a moment of blind panic. This he finds very amusing.

I sighed at his unsubtle attempt to tease me.

Nevertheless, we lowered our binoculars and swivelled our heads.

An adult bull elephant was breakfasting on an acacia not twenty metres from us. 

'Can you get his picture?' whispered my husband.

The angle was awkward so my shot wasn’t good, but I quietly took his portrait before we snuck away.

See you tomorrow – I’m heading west. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?

If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge, please click HERE

D IS FOR DOLPHIN : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 4 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:

'Wildlife Encounters'

The dive site in Egypt's Red Sea was called 'Dolphin House'. We listened to the dive briefing with mounting excitement.

“If you see the dolphins, you have to work to attract their attention and curiosity.  If you want them to engage with you, turn somersaults, bounce around, and make a lot of noise. Loud squeaking usually works.”

We slipped into the balmy water and descended into the channel where the dolphins were supposed to visit. Nothing. We hung around for a while before finally giving up and continuing our exploration along the reef.

We were given a second chance to dive the same site. I was resigned to not seeing dolphins this time. I certainly wasn’t going to waste my time hanging around for them. 

In we dropped again and began to explore the reef.

My husband found some gorgeous corals topped by an explosion of colourful anthias dipping and flitting around the corals. 

So there we were, heads down, examining our find when I casually glanced up. 

Dolphins! Right behind us! I grabbed my husband’s arm and pointed. 

I somersaulted. I bounced up and down. I squeaked. I squealed. I screamed. I wiggled my outstretched fingers at them.

The dolphins looked briefly at the noisy, madly gesticulating creature and swam away.

See you tomorrow - I'll be heading south this time. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?


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