16th January 2012

Time is almost up here, so what is next.
It has been a fantastic experience. I love working with these chimps and i'm living in the environment i have dreamed of, yet i pack my backpack once again. Why? my life is too restrictive. I can't have visitors coz it might upset the chimps, the cabin is cold at night and my volunteer life is 7 days/week when Karl is home. no great deal really, but not the life i want.
I'm going through a lot of brain and heart turmoil as to where to next. my heart is very much in Africa. love the wildlife and pockets of rainforest, but when my head kicks in with the checklist, funding makes it impossisble so far to find everything i want. yeah i know, greedy!
Biggest problem here is security and medical. many europeans who have been here for 20 years are starting to think if they should move home now they are in the 80s, where there is good medical and hospital facilities. do i really want to be in that position in 30 years?
The weather and wildlife is the best thing here! awesome. land pricesses are not too bad. Can possibly set myself up with a few acres and home for around $100k, but can't get rainforest, elephants and lattes & muffins for that.
So, my journey continues. options being:

1. Sarawak / Malaysia - has orangutans and great location for finding occassional contracts and to see family. but humid tropical climate and had no luck finding property prices on the internet. all rainforest land is categorises as AGRICULTURE and westerners CANNOT buy agriculture land. this is how Malaysia manages to destroy all orangs habitat and stop guys like me buying it up to protect the orangs. i think the Malay govt will really piss me off over time. for residence visa need to put $50k in a malay bank and monthly pension of $3k /month. i'm not that rich lol.
2. Philipinnes - cheap homes and cheap to live but reputation of dangerous. My girl is Phil and unfortunately she says she is so use to living with bars on windows she would not sleep if we lived somewhere where we did not have this on our home. resident visa requires $20k in their bank. also has the tropical humid climate.
3. Thailand - always a favourite of mine. love the buddhist culture, people and food and great location for finding occassional contracts and to see family. . beaches down south are good. but very little rainforest, mainly in Krabi and Phuket which is way too touristy. also humid tropical climate. sorry, but where i am now has the best climate in the world. 25-28 degrees every day of the year and cool to cold at night which is great for sleeping. just wet (boggy) and dry (dusty) season which is fine to me. for residence visa need to put $25k in a malay bank and monthly pension of $2k /month. i'm not that rich lol, but westerners cannot buy land, unless its a business. may have to build a yoga retreat.
4. Bali - not always on my list, but up around Ubud is suppose to beautiful rainforest, meditation, yoga and also great location for finding occassional contracts and to see family. good choice if i keep away from the aussie bars lol. dont know about visas.
5. India - another new option. Glenda tells me a place called Kerala may have what i want as far as rainforest, elephants, tigers as well as a centre for ayuverdic hospitals, ashrams, meditation and yoga. again great location for finding occassional contracts in dubai. not sure of the climate and visa issues. i dont think westerners can buy land, only lease.
6. Panama / Costa Ricca - love these places. can buy rainforest land, good retirement benefits. good adn cheap medical and hospitals. good climate, i think. bit of a risk being on a volcanic fault line, but hey, its 2012 so what the hell. problem is, so far away from family and contracts. will have to learn spanish
7. Ecuador - oooh, really cheap homes. great selection of environments to live in whether be hot beaches or cool mountains. on the door step of the gallapogos islds. not sure about hospital and medical. resident visa only requires a pension of $800/month.

So, I'm looking for a quiet peaceful environment where i dont hear or see people unless I want to. surrounded by rainforest, sitting on my balcony or in my spa (lol) sucking back a JD and overlooking valleys of rainforest with the sound of a running river. a warm to hot climate with little humidity and be able to feel safe without the need for bars on windows. Cafes and resturants within a 15 mins drive for my human primate, latte and muffin hit.

What do you suggest?????

15th January 2012

We have a wildlife night camera which i have been putting out, just down from my cabin. we then place salt on the ground for the elephants. here are some happy snaps lol.

10 January 2012

I took Glenda on a mini safari this week to Sweetwaters Game Reserve. The reserve is about 3,000sq mtrs of kenyan country side totally fenced in to protect a plethora of african wildlife including elephants, black oryx, black and white rhinos, reedbuck, zebra, jackal, waterbuck, gazelle, hippos, impala, hartebeest, leopard, giraffe, lion and warthog.

it was only a 45min drive to the reserve, mainly due to the rough road, then we drove around the reserve from about 8am till 2:30pm. we saw most of the wildlife except for the lions. of course, we should have been there yesterday.....

for a first timer in africa it was a good introduction, but really didn't get up close and personal with elephants or lions.

our guide told us there was talk of a leopard kill, so we went looking for the leopard. we never found it, but we found a couple of jackals eating the remains of a fresh kill.

while we are driving through the park in the safety of our car, cattle hearders and park staff are walking around the park as if its a zoo with caged animals.