Adam made it very clear I wasn’t to make any quips today or do anything that could delay the helicopter. Tough one because I was feeling hilarious. The morning game drive revealed plenty more Tetse flies and several fish eagles, but that was about it. Apparently there were some wildebeest and zebra on the horizon but they could have been pretty much anything considering they were so far away. My money is on James having duped us all into visiting the only African National Park that rates a pelican as its most dangerous resident....Continue reading
The final day of filming and it has been another epic day. We had an early start with a flight back to Lusaka on the Islander plane. It all went ok this time, no mid-air mishaps, although we were all a bit apprehensive on the approach to the runway as we’d been told that radar was down and there had been a number of near-miss collisions....Continue reading
Unbelievable – all that trekking about yesterday and seeing absolutely no game compared with a twenty minute drive to the airport this morning and seeing a large pack of wild dog – I wanted to get out the truck and take my chances with them rather than face the ‘vomit comet’ ride back in the Islander plane. Needless to say I didn’t (which is probably just as well) and despite my inherent fear about hopping up beside Brendan the pilot for the return journey, he did a great job and got us back to Lusaka without incident....Continue reading
Had a bit of explaining to do the other day. I’d got up with Noah for the normal 5.30am routine and as I carried him downstairs, he giggled, pointed to my stomach and said ‘baby’. Now this is hilarious when he points at my wife’s belly and says baby because she is pregnant and we’re trying to get him excited about the prospect of a little brother or sister, but this line of conversation with me wasn’t quite the plan. I had to turn things around fast – and rapidly pointed out that lions have big furry tummies like Daddy and no one makes fun of them. Noah thought this was hysterical and I’m not sure if he got the right message because Mr Tummy was subject of about 30mins intense early morning discussion and repeated probing. I was worried he might hurt his hand on the ridges of scarcely disguised muscle but he’s tough. I also managed to explain how seals and whales keep warm in the oceans. It was a morning of education. I didn’t take it personally but needless to say, I walked to work rather than drove. Noah needs to know just how tough Daddy is and a walk in driving rain definitely proves the point. Not even a lion would want to do that....Continue reading
We’re in Peru and it is hot and humid. Bringing two pairs of trousers seems like a bad idea now… We’re visiting a charity called Amazon CARES and I’m looking forward to it as the trip looks to be quite action packed....Continue reading
This is a trip I was especially looking forward to. Since I was a kid I’ve dreamed of travelling deep into the Amazonian rainforest. After a 24 hour trip we finally arrived in Iquitos, an island of civilisation in this ocean of lush trees. You never know what to expect on these trips, but I am somehow not worried at all and my gut tells me we will find loads of stories here....Continue reading
Belen market takes some seeing to believe. It is a heaving chaotic scene of hustle and bustle and everything is available for purchase. Huge anaconda skins decorate some of the stalls, animal skins, potions are for sale adjacent to clothing and grocery stalls. It is a sprawling centre of commerce in Iquitos and bizarrely, above the meat market Amazon Cares were running a community outreach project. I’m really impressed with what Molly has set up here, she has a great team and they are doing a lot of good. A WVS team are also here which means I am just one vet of five so there is lots of work going on and everyone seems in top form. Spaying was the name of the game on the first day, a few sick animals which needed tx and a poor cat who had been bitten on the face and lost its eye. Carolien – one of the nurses, found the poor little creature and we fixed it up back at the Amazon Cares clinic in town.
Simon is our new special friend for this trip. Marc is back but Adam is in India so another member of the extreme cameraman gang has been drafted in. Simon loves the fact I keep reminding him he is extreme at every possible opportunity (there really is an extreme cameraman club) – he has just had an extreme breakfast for example and feels extremely pleased about it. He is extremely nice and is definitely an extreme addition to the gang. The only other point of note is that Lupe is working hard on his Spanish (he has a Spanish girlfriend) so he’s currently dazzling us with the odd word in the local dialect. Almost as extreme as Simon.
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Annie (one of the vets on the WVS team and worked for the charity last year) has stayed behind from the rest of the group to come with me and the film crew. There are apparently lots of animals lined up for us to treat in a community and I’m going to need an extra pair of hands. It’s great to work with Annie again and I’m glad of the back up it was looking like I would have been short of help with everyone else (including all the local team) having gone up river to run another neutering campaign.
The day started with a very sad case of a sweet little puppy that was badly jaundiced. We think it has leptospirosis (a horrible disease that we vaccinate against in the UK and spread by rats) and the prognosis is poor. We popped it on fluids and started a course of medicines so fingers crossed it pulls through. It won’t be in the programme as it arrived first thing and needed treatment immediately but we’re all rooting for it....Continue reading
We visited a manatee rescue centre today to recce for a shoot we are going to do later in the week. It is an absolutely wonderful place and I’m glad we are going to be filming there. The highlight of the visit for me had to be bottle feeding a juvenile manatee. They are such remarkable creatures – think underwater elephants – and seeing them this close up is extremely rare as they are sadly on the verge of becoming extinct....Continue reading
