Welcome to the jungle

Buton Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
This is the first trip I have done out of Europe (not counting a week in Morocco) since 2009. The experience is completely different to anything I have done in the last 4 years in any of the 50 countries I have visited, and not just because I am taking 27 students to the other side of the world.
This blog will be my account of the first half of the trip to Indonesia, the jungle part.
As expected the journey starts at Arlanda airport and catching am Emirates flight to Dubai. After 6 hours of sitting around we then took a flight to Jakarta. After some time getting through customs we are picked up and taken to our hotel.
Next morning we are traveling again. This time from Jakarta to Baubau via Makassar. Unfortunately the planes flies by Indonesien timeand we are delayed 90 minutes.
In Baubau we are just about at the jungle... But we are required to spend a day in the town to rest up which includes a trip to 'paradise' beach where all the students have a chance to unwind.
Finally the time comes, and we jump into cars and head off. A two hour journey over some unruly roads later and we are there at Labundo Bundo village!
The jungle experience is divided into two parts. The nights sleeping in the village and four nights sleeping in a jungle camp. So after our first night in the village we head out for the jungle camp, Lapago. The trek was a little hilly, but not much of a challenge for my group of Swedes. What was about a three hour walk ended up being only an hour forty.
I personally was a little apprehensive about the camp. I'm a little bit of a city boy who likes my creature comforts, or at least being close by. Although I camped a lot as a youngster, I have always prioritised other activities as an adult. I wondered how I could possibly get any sleep over the next four nights knowing it would be in a hammock. Looking back, I would say that to date, these are the best nights sleep I have had, and many of the students would agree.
The activities we participated in over the days in the jungle and village were:
The main purpose of the trip, habitat surveys. This involved collecting data on the canopy, undergrowth, trunk measurements of larger trees, the slow of the transect and the number of seedlings and samplings. This data is the important information required for Operation Wallaceas application for REDD+ funding. This data has been collected only by high school students over a number of years.
Herpefauna walks required students to follow a researcher as they cleaned out pit fall traps, recorded the findings abs let the animal free.
Megafauna walks was walking along a transect and recording information about animal tracks as well as watching camera traps being set up.
Civet walks was following the researcher through the jungle to check Civet traps for civets or other animals. Unfortunately for the group, no civets were caught, but they were able to see pictures on the camera trap. They also got a lot of information about civets.
Butterfly walks had students following a researcher along a transect and counting butterflies at particular points (point count) and identifying them. If they can't be identified, the students got to try to catch them.
Jungle skills were taught by a local villager. This included trapping, fire making, shelter building, and identifying plants for eating and drinking. Of course this works better if you happen to have a parang (machete).
Canopy climbing happened on a 48m fig tree, meaning students had the opportunity to get to 41m. The view from the top was amazing, being able to look over the canopy cover of the forest. It required a bit of strength, but in general, everyone got up and was definitely one of the highlights of the trip to date (and sweatiest).
Couscous walk required the students to walk down the road to the village trying to spot couscous in the trees and recording the number seen and describe the habitat they were found. Couscous are marsupials that have a prehensile tail, and are quite cute.
Farm walk was meant to be a cultural experience but was a little tedious as it was just showing quickly how the crops are planted and the type of plants grown, with a little bit of food tasting. The second part of this activity was more exciting and involved learning to cook an Indonesien dessert.
Early morning bird walks were an optional extra for the students. This was similar to the butterfly walk, which meant the at specific points along the road the students stopped for a period of time to try and identify the number of species at each point by sight or song.
As well as these activities, some students got to go out in very small groups with a scientist. These activities were frog walks, a day following a troupe of macaques, going to a tasier sleeping tree and watching for them leaving our returning from its nocturnal hunting and bat walks.
It has been an amazing time, and I have survived well even if the diet has been rice and I haven't been able to use a proper toilet or shower. The students themselves have shown a lot of growth, have learnt a lot from the lectures, talks and activities. Half way through the trip I believe this has been a worthwhile experience for the students and we have yet to make it to the dive site.

Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein - my favourite Liechtenstein

After a nice new years I head to Zürich. I am treating this place as a base only to get to Liechtenstein and München, and get some needed rest.
My first impressions of the city was of surprise. It is more attractive than I thought. And the city centre is more based on the river opposed to the lake. Like all Switzerland it seems, there are views of the Alps.
I however, bring tired, started my time here going to the hostel to chill and sleep. The next morning I wake up all excited. It was the day I would visit my 50th country. In fact, since moving to Europe 4 years ago (and a few weeks) I have been to 49 different countries, as well as visiting some favourites a number of times.
But back to 50. Liechtenstein. Not the cheapest place to get too. About 60 euros return. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to any expectations. The city of Vaduz, the capital was a mish mash of ugly modern architecture and old rural style buildings from way back. There didn't seem much planning involved. After the war they decided to move away from agriculture, and so buildings shot up. In fact I had read the city lacked a soul.
There is a castle on a hill that the head of state, the Prince lives in. But you can only see the outside, as it is obviously someone's house.
From what i have read, the more rural areas have more charm add they are up in the mountains. But the poor weather, and expense to travel around put me of much more exploration, so instead headed back to Zürich disappointed.
Today I did a walking tour of Zürich. The tour guide was a historian, so expected done good stories, but his information was rather shallow. He made a big deal about the reformation due to a guy called Svingly. Maybe I am wrong but was curious as to how important he was outside Zürich and Switzerland as I have heard of Calvin and Luther, but not this guy. Maybe a historian can tell me. I saw where both Lenin and Einstein studied and where Lenin lived before the Germans sent him to Russia to overthrow the democratic revolution of Russia. Another regrettable decision I'd imagine.
A nice city with some character. If I had the motivation would probably have tried to do more. Oh well. Of to München before going back to normality in Stockholm.

Joshua

Lions and tigers and bears Oh my!

After the days in the mountains, I have reverted back to city travel.
So from Brig, first stop was Bern, the capital, and listed by UNESCO for the cultural heritage of the old town.
Through couch surfing a girl from Bern. contacted me and offered to show me around the city. I jumped at the chance for a personal tour guide as well as the opportunity to spend time with a local. After all this is what travelling is about, interacting with locals and experiencing culture. So we started by being typically touristic, checking out one of the most famous monuments, a clock Tower.
But we then decided to head for the only Hill of note in Bern (surprising for Swiss standards) Mt Gurten. This is surprisingly only really a local spot, perhaps due to the effort to get there. From it you can see the alps top the South which was stunning, and then the city to the north. Unfortunately, as we got to the old town the day was diminishing so did not spend too much more time sight seeing. But I did see where the bears live (they are currently in hibernation). They are important to the city as they are on the coat of arms and have apparently always been found in the city.
The evening consisted of chamois fondue. First time I had used fondue for meat, but it was good food. Then we just chatted. She is an inspiration. She was the only survivor pulled out of a bus wreck that tumbled 200m down a mountain in Switzerland in 2005. She has had to learn to read and write, gets memory loss and has had many operations to repair broken bones. Yet she is studying a masters, then plans to do her phD. She owns a house. She is my age! She is doing the phD so she won't have to work as much due to higher salary and therefore can enjoy life. Remarkable woman.
The next morning I left the hostel to have a quick look around the old town in daylight, including Einsteins house where he came up with some of his quantum mechanic theories.
Of course, being new years eve it was time to head to the next destination before it was too late. So of I had to Luzern.
Do i arrive in the early evening and after checking in and having a nap I head straight to my evening festivities. This is my seventh year in a row I have celebrated in a different city. My festivities again were organised through couch surfing. Someone saw I would be in town and decided to invite me to the gathering. It was a great night too. There was 9 of us in total, and some random joiners at different stages throughout the night. It was held at Isabel's art studio (couch surfing girl). This was an excellent venue right up against the train tracks, so if you open the back door you were stepping onto the carriage parking area. So sheet eating, it was 6 hours of dancing and acting the fool. The sister of Isabel is studying theatre, there was a musician, a few other artists, people working on humanitarian programmes, so everyone was just as loopy as the next. I have to say I really appreciated the invite, and considering I was going to cancel last minute, I am glad I didn't. Definitely one of my better new year celebrations.
After such a lovely evening, I had to get up to check out and check Luzern out. Was tough as only slept four hours. Luzern scenically is gorgeous. Big Lake surrounded by mountains. I didn't go up a mountain as they are all over 2500m and snow covered, so no time to walk them (or desire), and I wasn't interested in being exploited financially. The charges to get to the top are excessive, and having spent a week on top of mountains, didn't feel the need to do this. I did check out the old town. It was okay. And saw a large monument of a lion as a tribute to Swiss mercenaries. Was definitely more touristic and hectic than Bern. Comparing the two,  the actual city of Bern is nicer, and Luzern has the picturesque setting.
Tomorrow to visit my 50th country, Liechtenstein.
Oh and sorry, no tigers!

Joshua

Visiting the Toblerone mountain

Am now in Switzerland after a wonderful week skiing. I was blessed this year to have excellent room mates, my group was generally fun and was part of an exciting social group where every night was a fun night.
The highlight though was definitely skiing alongside the glacier on grands montets. We started at  3300m, definitely the highest starting point I have skied from. The views from the top were stunning. The start was very steep, thin and bumpy. The actual run was more off piste than piste, the snow being knee height at many points on the way. A massive challenge, with group members losing skis in the snow when they fell. Luckily my skis could take a lot of tension (which isn't normally a good thing) so the few times I fell I kept my skis. Surprisingly I skied much better in these conditions. Maybe it was due to the softness of the snow, knowing it didn't hurt at all.
Overall the skiing this week has been tough. I have skied deep snow, moguls, ice, grass andin low visibility, but hopefully I have improved and become a better skier. Although I still have a little fear still about falling, especially on the harder snow/ice.
Now am sitting in a hotel in Brig, Switzerland. I have spent the day in the resort town of  Zermatt. Made famous for the first deaths of mountain climbers on its most famous mountain, the Matterhorn. What a stunner it is. I can see why Toblerone chose this mountain as it's logo. I even went to the spot where the Toblerone view is based from. Although it is not the tallest mountain in the alps, it is much more impressive than Mont Blanc. This is due to its interesting shape and the fact it looks more stand alone. Up close it is obvious why the Matterhorn is so hard to climb.
The whole Valley as a whole would be great to hike in summer. It is a nine day trip. The ski area looks more impressive than chamonix With higher runs. There is even summer skiing. and you can ski to Italy.
Was quite expensive to get to Zermatt though. You can not drive there as it has a no car policy so you have to take a train. This train has beautiful views the whole way, so is just about worth the cost.
Better go to bed now. Of to Bern tomorrow,  the capital of Switzerland.

Joshua

Merry Christmas from Chamonix

So here I am on Christmas Day just chilling out after brunch. Has been an interesting few days.
This year, opposed to last I have some fun roommates more my age, so the social aspect of the trip has been a lot better. We share our costs which makes things so much more manageable. The apre ski I went to yesterday afternoon was so much fun. With all of us dancing on chairs and tables to a Swedish band playing covers.
We also had an all centre Christmas dinner where we had gifts, traditional French Christmas food and random Carol singing. The bar provided us with gifts too. Generally junk, but some got lucky and got a nice beanie.
The skiing has been interesting. Not much base snow left on parts of the run, and so have to avoid stones and plants. Hopefully today it snows as the slopes desperately need it. This has been a challenge for me as I am in group that was already going to be a challenge. But I have survived. Keeping up just with the group I am in. Done some off piste for the first time and done some pretty difficult mogul runs. Done some good falling. But nothing unexpected there. The only issue with the group is that I don't get enough technique work as everyone else is much more advanced than I am.
Just heard snow rumours...... excellent
Merry Christmas all. Hope you all are able to reflect back on a good year. I can say my year has been amazing!!!!!

Another holiday, another blog

This evening I am in Geneva, Switzerland. I am here for one reason, it was phenomenally cheaper to fly on Friday then it was on Saturday. And why was I flying. Well I am of to Chamonix again to ski over Christmas, and the package starts on Saturday. Being based in Sweden, almost everyone I know has gone home or away for Christmas, and sadly Sanne is away travelling South East Asia, so can't celebrate with her.  So it is a chance to go do something I have learnt to do while living in Europe, which I love.
So while I ski there will only be a couple of blogs. The true writing will start in the second half of the winter break. I am travelling from Chamonix to the Matterhorn, Berne, Lucerne, Zurich Liechtenstein and finally Munich.
I am a little excited for this whirlwind tour. I have only once been to Switzerland previously. That was Geneva and I found it boring. Hence I haven't bothered doing much here this evening but eat. But Switzerland is meant to be about the mountains and cute towns. Swiss people have told me to not judge the country by the two major cities as they are fake and don't represent the country at all. So here we are. A weeks time I will be testing that theory. Fingers crossed that the theory becomes fact..
But first, the reason I came this way in the first place. The skiing. Hooray.
So not writing again until Christmas. Which reminds me, I am missing a swedish tradition again this year. ...... Kalle Unka.

Joshua

Last day

Today is the last day of the trip. And both of us woke up a little lethargic knowing we were ready to head home.
However we had one more stop. Pisa, where our flight was leaving from.
So we had a last stroll and meal in Florence and thought about going into the Duomo, but had no interest in lines.
We jumped on the train to Pisa. On arrival we did what every other tourist does. Headed for the Tower. And the rumour is correct, it is leaning. I wasn't very inspired today to do the cliché pictures at the Tower. Tyler was up for photo fun though. So after a very interesting photo we took that made us laugh, I got more in the mood for taking silly photos. Again we didn't go in, not just because of the line, but why go into something that might fall one day.....
Plus there wasn't much extra to see in Pisa. There is only the Duomo there with the Tower. So we headed back to the train station where we are now chilling out awaiting our flight back to Sweden.
Been a fun trip. Seen somethings I have always wanted to see. Been to places that have surprised me in a good way and eaten lots of good food. I also have to thank Tyler for the company. We have had plenty of laughs, and with us both being pretty easy going, have managed everything we wanted to do. Hope you have enjoyed the read.
Oh, and success, Italy managed to cheer us up after our first day. However hasn't necessarily restored my faith in humanity as everything in Italy was battles, wars, family feuds etc. Lucky I teach great students. Won't take then long to restore my faith.

Joshua