BALI ... HI

It's called Island of the Gods - Bali, that is - and I'm about to find out why.

First I'll spend seven nights at Mediwi Bay Retreat in Negara (north-west of the mainland) after which I join one of Intrepid's adventures (I've used them before and will continue to do so to countries where language and culture can be a barrier) for a 15-day intensive tour ending up on one of the small islands off Lombok: Gili Meno Resort, in the heart of one of the world's biggest natural bird sanctuaries. (I can do bird-watching lying on my back soaking up the sun, binos pinned to my beadies!)

But, no, fellow-bloggers, you'll have to wait for mid-June when I return and write up my travel tales. For now be content with a taste of what's to come.

Bon voyage, I say!

MAN'S INHUMANITY

I was alerted to the fact that there was a dead dolphin washed up on Golden Mile's stretch of beach in Britannia Bay. What I saw was in fact the evidence of some callous brute who had shot the creature.

I called MCM senior researcher Mike Meyer and, at his behest, had the carcass (of what he told me was a sub-adult common dolphin) moved to the deepfreeze of a friend until he could arrange for it to be collected (for DNA and further study).

This beautiful, innocent creature had likely been targeted by pelagic fishermen as it is wont to rush at the netful of fish being hauled aboard a fishing vessel.

Lee knelt down beside the body and stroking it murmured, "I've never touched a dolphin before".

Sad, eh?

WHO'S HAD A HARD DAY AT THE ORIFICE?

Robin and Sylvia Gibbs broke their long-standing tradition (seven years in a row) of spending the Easter weekend here at Dolphin B&B+S/C by choosing instead to travel to Kgalagadi National Park, but in their stead I hosted the stay of a most delightful family: Denise and Hannes Meyer and their daughter, Salome Hoogendijk and her husband Frits.
Other than the fact that they were just darned nice people, what made their stay stand out for me was one of these coincidences that is a reminder of how miniscule we are in the greater plan of things.
Having established that Salome is a dentist and Frits a maxilla-facial surgeon, both practising in Pretoria, I asked whether by any chance they knew my cousin Boetie who passed away tragically in 2009. Not only was the response positive but, when chatting to Hannes, who has a dental practice in Thabazimbi - is this keeping it in the family or wot? - Denise chips in to say that she and Boetie were in the same class at school together. You can't talk about anyone and it will get back to them!
Incidentally, I've seen some seriously good camera equipment in my time but their clobber was to-die-for, although let's give credit where it's due: I suspect it's their dedication to get that perfect shot rather than their Nikons that made the results of their work so extraordinary.

GET YOUR TEETH INTO THIS ONE

Last time I tried to explain to, you, my Blog-followers why it is that I do what I do. Probably the paramount reason I gave is the fact that I learn something new every day. I mean, how many of you know that an elk has only two ivory teeth? Come on now ... admit it ... you had absolutely no idea that an elk even had teeth; you thought they only had antlers.
Ignacio and Sarah - he from (Basque) Spain and she from Montana - stayed with me during his research into renewable energy along the West Coast (he's a provider to the industry, not a developer per se). Sarah proudly showed me the antique ring Ignacio had bought for her birthday next Friday - and this is where the elk thingie creeps in.
I couldn't read the carat gold, but knowing the age of the ring, I guess it would be 24ct - as pure as they made it in them thar days - and promptly guessed (wrongly) the stones to be opals of a kind.
That's when I had a lesson in natural history from Sarah who explained that the boreal elk Cervus elaphus has, amongst its other gnashers, these two ivory teeth and as I can't for the life of me think what they could be useful for, I wonder whether they - rather like man's useless appendix - were stubs of a kind of tusk from elks of the Pleistocene Age. Whatever ... it makes for nice cocktail party prattle.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BIRDS AND THE BEES, REALLY

Why do I operate a guest house? What's in it for me, you may well ask? Besides the obvious income, there's the joy of knowing you've made visitors content, if not downright happy - something I really strive to do.
But for me it's also the gratification of learning something new every day - and this morning was one of those back-to-school moments.
Siegfried and Trudi, who stayed here with Hansruedi in January, returned with her Mom, Petro and friend Mari-Louise and over breakfast I was taxed with "What's the difference between swallows, swifts and martins?"
Now, I've often been called Mrs Reuter or Mrs Yellow Pages but, trust me, it's not because I have all the answers. Nyet, nay and not at all! It's just that I know where to find the answer. So quicker than you could say boo to a goose I was on the blower to avifaunal ace Trevor Hardaker (Don’t believe me? Go to www.zestforbirds.co.za for a right royal treat.) whose succinct reply was, “Swifts have no back toe so can’t perch”. And there you have it, dear followers of my Blog.
Anymore brain-teasers you want to throw my way this bright Monday morn?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

An off-the-street enquiry resulted in Pierre and Mireille Klemm from Geneva, Switzerland spending three nights at Dolphin B&B+S/C and I was able to spoil them with a special breakfast on Valentine's Day morning. Mind you, methinks these two celebrate their relationship every day they're together (with Pierre referring to her as The Colonel I think they're set for many happy years yet to come).
This is their fifteenth trip to South Africa, but their first this far up the West Coast; usually they reach only Yzerfontein where they stay with now-friend Angelique at Villa Pescatore and from what they wrote in my visitor's book ("We have fallen in love with the area") I may see more of them in years to come. I certainly hope so!

CARING KID

I'm a very proud step-grandmother. Young Christian, aged 10, has subscribed to National Geographic Kids for about three years now. Then, lucky lad, he was drawn as subscriber of the month, which won him this drop-dead-fancy PawPaw watch. Last year he submitted a letter about the litter the family collected whilst hiking up Lion's Head - perhaps that went a long way towards his name having been selected. Personally I think it's very responsible of him to show concern regarding the planet he lives on and to have done something about it.