Across the river from the lodge the jungle sat on a narrow strip of land. Here there were more lodges hidden amongst the dense parts but also a village. Sandwiched between the river and the sandy beach, the village essentially had one narrow, main road. Not that there were any cars. Along both sides of … More The Place of the Turtles
The first light of the day filled the air, pushing back the shadows of night. The sky that was revealed was cloudy, a swirl of greys, pale blues and just a hint of pink over the horizon. A slight breeze stirred the leaves on the trees and rustled through the reeds, rippling the water on … More The Return
It was not just around the Lodge at Taricaya Ecological Reserve that we encountered wildlife. Each day whether we were walking to and from observation platforms, flower cutting, weeding, maintenance or even clearing trails, we were immersed in jungle wildlife. Of course we also went out on specific walks looking for wildlife. The first of … More Wild Barley Rewind: Jungle Trails
After arriving at Taricaya Ecological Reservein the Peruvian jungle back in 2006 we quickly settled into a routine. Each morning breakfast was at 7:30am. 8am and we would head off in teams to undertake one of the projects, planting and weeding flowers, maintenance, building or looking after the animals in the rehabilitation programme. Three days … More Wild Barley Rewind: Jungle Lodge
In October 2006 Lee and I headed to the Peruvian jungle as the first stop on a 9-month world trip. Here we spent two months working as volunteers at the Taricaya Ecological Reserve, a private nature reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, located along the Madre de Dios River. Arriving in Puerto Maldonado we climbed aboard … More Wild Barley Rewind: Welcome to the Jungle
Under a big bright blue Norfolk sky. A strong breeze blows across the marshes and lagoons. Grass and reed heads bend and flex, small waves ripple across the water. A flock of Brent Geese passes overhead, with a gargling call, moving from marsh to pool. Beautiful, elegant, smoky black geese with white crescents on their … More Birding with babes
It was the quiet between two storms that were battering the UK. Storm Ciara had passed and Storm Dennis was imminent. The wind was still strong, pushing and pulling trees, bending the tall grass almost horizontal and creating waves with small white crests on the pools at Cranwich. The sky overhead was a leaden grey, … More How did the toads cross the road?
It has been a while since I last posted, what with life, school, Christmas, New Year and the arrival of my little boy Toby. 19 days early but healthy and happy. Today, 3 weeks on, and I have returned to my routine and daily river walk. The tail end of Storm Ciara was still making … More River Walk
The nights are drawing in. With the clocks going back darkness is catching up with the end of the working day and is hot on the heels of the end of the school day. It leaves little time between the school run and nightfall. Little time, but still time. Time to be out in the … More Reedlings in the roost
The cliffs towered above the small boat as it rolled gently in the waves at their feet, its sandstone face honeycombed into multiple shelves and crags smoothed by the elements and painted in the white wash ubiquitous with seabird colonies. All available space on the ledges was taken up by nesting seabirds. The bulk of … More Seabirds of Noss
Wild Barley 