Archive for April, 2011

Top 10 African Birds! Do you agree?

I have been with Rainbow Tours since 26 June 2000 (coincidentally Madagascar’s Independence Day) and have been a keen birder ever since I can remember. Often, birds are my “window” into a new country, and I then study other aspects afterwards. These ten birds are not necessarily the rarest or the most beautiful, but certainly memorable when visitors make that ‘eye-to-brain’ connection with them, even non-birders and especially, for beginner birders.

Shoebill - Uganda

Dinosaur like; even non birders want to see this prehistoric-looking creature. Nationally rare in Uganda but reliably seen there; also present in Akagera (Rwanda) and in west Tanzania. Nothing can prepare you for making that eye-to-brain connection with one of these monsters of the swamps, where they use their massive beaks to pull lungfish out of mud.

Shoebill

Pink pigeon – Mauritius

Saved from the very brink of extinction by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, (and yes it really IS pink), this beautiful pigeon survived extinction centuries earlier probably due to unpalatable flesh, which is believed to be largely thanks to a berry with narcotic properties – upon gorging themselves on these berries, the said pigeons were reported to flop down onto the ground and lie there in a daze for a while…

Pink pigeon - Photo by Rhett Butler

Blue Crane – South Africa & Namibia

South Africa’s iconic national bird, a beautiful, graceful creature; unmistakable with a very catholic diet; also found in Namibia. Inhabits open grasslands. Endangered.

Blue crane

Pittalike ground-roller – Madagascar

Widely regarded as the most beautiful of Madagascar‘s endemic birds, the ground-rollers are an endemic family of shy, forest-dwelling beauties. This one, as its name implies, is strikingly lovely and like its congeners, is best sought during spring and summer when they call.

Pittalike ground-roller - photo by Olivier Langrand

Knysna Turacou – South Africa

Exquisite crested, long-tailed green bird with striking crimson wing panels which show in flight; all the true Turacous contain a unique pigment (turacoverdin, related to copper) which gives the blood-red colour to their flight feathers. Eats fruit; denizen of evergreen forests from the Garden route/ eastern Cape north to KZN.

Knysna turacou - photo by Schristia

Black Paradise Flycatcher – Seychelles

The avian gem of the Seychelles, this beauty is confined to the idyllic island of La Digue where much effort has been made to save the remaining population; critically endangered but commonly seen in the ‘Veuve reserve’, an unofficially protected site in this island’s dense woods.

Seychelles black paradise flycatcher

Lilac-Breasted Roller – Kenya, Botswana

Iconic African savannah bird, almost a ‘junk bird’ in Botswana it is so common there – but beautiful and symbolic of the African bush.

Lilac-breasted roller

Kori Bustard - Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia

The world’s heaviest flying bird, this massive and increasingly rare terrestrial bird is found in much of sub-Saharan Africa – good places to seek it range from Kruger Park to Serengeti.

‘My partner pointed this bird out to me and said it was a Bustard – I told him to mind his language!!!!’, reads one description of the bird, explaining then that ‘bustard’ comes from the French ‘bistarde’ meaning ‘slow bird’. Males can weigh 20kg. And they are anything but slow…

Kori bustard

Bateleur – Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa

Bateleur means acrobat in French, a reference to this short-tailed eagle’s remarkable aerial antics and displays. Almost abundant in Botswana, Zambia, parts of Zimbabwe, South Africa and eastern Africa. Also one of the most attractive of raptors.

Bateleur

Palm-nut Vulture - Uganda, KwaZulu Natal South Africa, Mozambique

Unique among raptors in being a vegetarian vulture which has evolved to live on an extremely specialised diet of oil palm kernels. Common on the Victoria Nile in Uganda, ranges down to KZN – look for it at and near St Lucia.

Palm-nut vulture

Do any of these birds make your Top 10?  Have we left any out?

NEW! The Luxurious Melati Beach Resort and Spa, Thailand

The luxurious sanctuary resort experience, Melati Beach Resort and Spa in Koh Samui, Thailand can be found on the northern most tip of Koh Samui Island at Thongson Bay. This 4*+ resort and spa is located on an exclusive limited access beach and conveniently situated just 15 minutes away from Chaweng Beach which is a brilliant place to shop, visit entertainment venues, eat and a 10 minute drive from Samui Airport.

The luxury resort is perfect for couples on honeymoons or if you are looking for an exclusive relaxing holiday for you and your friends.  Upon arrival in your room, you will have the choice of customising your sleep experience with a choice of pillow, music, as well aromatherapy oils to be enjoyed just before you go to bed.

Mornings at Melati Beach Resort are a fantastic experience where you will find the breakfast served with a selection of rotating a la carte selections such as grilled steak and eggs to gourmet omelet’s scented with black truffle and plenty more. In the evenings, guests can also have romantic dinners in their villas.

The Melati Beach Resort and Spa boasts spacious accommodation, a gorgeous beach front and an outstanding selection of in-house restaurants. Popular menus include Thai dishes such as Pad Thai (traditional Thai noodle with tiger prawns), Tom Yam Kung (Traditional Thai Soup with Thai prawn broth, flavoured with lemongrass, mushroom and Thai herbs) and Pan-fried Snapper. For beer lovers, the luxury resort serves the best local Singha beer.

An ideal luxury holiday resort for those seeking indulgent romance or true relaxation.

Thank you to Napissara for this guest post on behalf of Melati Beach Resort and Spa.

‘Off-piste’ with the kids in the Kruger

“I slipped the rifle off my shoulder and slowly approached the towering matriarch, my head bowed. Dropping to my knees, I addressed her in humble tones: ‘Your Majesty’ I said.  ‘I beg you to let us go in peace’.

In South Africa’s Kruger Park, Frank, our gnarled ranger, dressed from head to toe in khaki, was quick to assure my spellbound niece and nephew that this particular elephant encounter was many years ago and that a stroll through the park would , far from being scary, be the best way to spot the small wonders of Africa.

In the seventeen years Frank had lived and worked in the park, he had only ever found himself out of his depth once. He continued with his story.

“It was late afternoon and I was returning to the truck with my group along a winding river bed, when I heard the warning trumpet of an angry elephant.”

“I looked up at the sound of heavy feet on gravel,  and saw a huge matriarch, ears flapping and trunk held aloft, her herd-members flanking her, calves tucked in behind, and all of them coming towards us at a stiff-legged run. We were backed up against a rock face, too steep to climb, so there was no escape.”

I glanced across at the twins, Ben and Emma, aged 14, imagining the customary teenager contempt for adult emotion. Instead, their eyes were wide-open, their Ipod headphones unplugged and hanging loose.

“Wow! What happened?” they asked.

Frank continued.  “She seemed to weigh us up and decide that we meant no harm, and as suddenly as she’d arrived, she ambled away, followed by the rest of the herd. Most times the animals hear us coming, and are more nervous of us than we are of them”.

For our trip, we were determined that nothing would stop us missing out on the experience of being on foot, deep in the 7,580 square miles of untamed African bush that make up the Kruger.  If you visit in your hire-car, as more than a million visitors do each year, under no circumstances can you leave the road, let alone get out of your vehicle for closer inspection. Instead we had chosen to do a four-day guided Kruger Park camping safari in the national park, so that we would get as close to the real bush as possible.

At our three-course Beef Wellington dinner in the mess tent later that evening, we were happy to report our only close encounter had been with an impressive golden orb spider, about the size of Frank’s fist, blocking our pathway through shoulder-high straw-coloured grasses with her sticky web.

No royal matriarchs this time, but Frank promised tomorrow’s morning game drive would be sure to encounter lone bachelor elephants, preferring to live a solitary life without the demands of the herd. All would be observed from the safety of the safari truck. Tucked up in their cosy dome tent on comfortable stretcher beds, miles from civilization, Ben and Emma were as excited about the following morning as they had been when camping in the back garden as kids.

Merry from the plentiful South African wine consumed earlier at dinner, my sister and I zipped up our own tent, and dozed off to the gentle rustling of the Acacia leaves and distant roar of lions, marking out their territory. We slept soundly in the knowledge that our little encampment, deep in the bush, was surrounded by a discreet electric fence that would protect us from all creatures on four legs, especially those with trunks.

Any ideas where to take two teenagers on a South Africa holiday this year?

Longest Tunnels in the World

My latest trip to Italy consisted of a very long and tiresome 16 hour drive from London to Milan, passing through 5 countries over 825 miles. During our road trip, we happen to pass through many tunnels some which seem to never end. Having never been a big fan of tunnels (the film Daylight didn’t help!), I tried to think of other things whilst driving through them to ease my phobia. Instead, I ended up wondering what the world’s longest tunnel was. It just so happens I passed through a couple of them on my holiday…

Channel Tunnel
Probably one of the most famous tunnels in the world! With a length of 31.4 miles long, this great piece of human engineering carried 17 million passengers from Folkestone to Calais in 2010 alone.  The tunnel also carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport—the largest in the world—and international rail freight trains. Unfortunately on my return journey, the car in front of me on the Eurotunnel Train had broken down (had to be a Jaguar with an automatic transmission so it couldn’t even be pushed!) and was stuck for an additional half an hour with 5 carriages of cars behind me who were full of frustrated French and English men! Needless to say, I was just relieved it wasn’t my car!

Channel Tunnel Eurotunnel

Gotthard Road Tunnel
A new tunnel experience for me! At 10.5 miles long, this is the longest tunnel I have ever driven through by car! It is the third-longest road tunnel in the world after Norway’s Lærdal Tunnel (24.5 km), and China’s Zhongnanshan Tunnel (18 km). The St. Gotthard tunnel forms part of the A2 motorway in Switzerland, running south from Basel through the tunnel down to Chiasso on the border with Italy. Currently under construction, the Gotthard base tunnel due for completion in 2017 will be the longest tunnel in the world at 35.4 miles long. Fortunately for me it won’t be a tunnel I will have to drive through – instead it will be a rail link between Zurich and Milan that will allow passengers to travel between both cities in less then three hours.

Gotthard Tunnel Switzerland

Have you been through any one of these longest tunnels in the world? Do you prefer your flying or driving to your holidays in Europe? Why not go on a road trip once in a while and you might just see the light at the end of the tunnel…eventually!

Celebrations erupt all over India as the cricket world cup comes home

On Saturday 2nd April 2011, tens of thousands of cricket fans from around the world turned to television screens and commentators as the World Cup Final unfolded at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Celebrations erupted all over the world as India won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 after 28 years. India became the first hosting team to win the cricket world cup with the finals played in the hosting country. The finals were watched by an estimated 1.2 billion people all over the world making it the largest single audience for any world final in any sport! There is no doubt that most of these audiences would have came from India’s cricket mad nation with a population of approximately 1.21 billion people!

Indians around the world celebrated the win from the UK, to Canada, to Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore. Scores of fans around the world celebrated the triumphant win by spilling into the streets waving the Indian flag, banging dhol drums, carrying posters and flamboyantly dancing to bollywood music and celebratory chants of ‘Chak de India’ meaning, “Go, India!” An unforgettable experience if you were lucky enough to have been on a holiday in India.

If you missed out on any of the celebrating, sit back and watch how it was done from around different parts of India and around the world:

India

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Delhi International Airport

Dubai

Singapore

For your chance to be able to visit such a beautiful country full of colours, energy, rich culture and delicious cuisine, Western & Oriental Travel are offering you the chance to save 10% on all India tours booked by 22 April 2011 and valid for departures until 30th September 2011. See our fantastic and exciting India holiday collection.

Giraffe Eats a Guest’s iPhone off a Second Storey Balcony

Here is one for you, imagine being on a safari holiday and relaxing in your stunning luxury resort, when all of a sudden, you look outside your second storey balcony window and you see an unusual large face peeking over your balcony. What would you do? Scream, shout or reach for your phone? Well, Christine Magda was a guest staying at the Orchid Resort in Kenya when this exact occurrence happened. “Before I could even register what was happening, it was gone, along with my lunch and worst of all, my iPhone!”

According to the Tribe Hotel, one of Nairobi’s designer boutique hotels, occurrences like Christine had are a regular and have become all too familiar with guests reporting disappearances of phones which are left outside on balconies. The Tribe Hotel has issued guests with a new regulation prohibiting guests to leave their smart phones on their room balconies.

Image by Rainbirder

How is that for a once in a lifetime experience?