I don’t need much, really…

just a little corner of the world,

where I can balance my mind, body and soul, in absolute gratefulness.

Wakatobi, 29 November 2011

You did what?!

I made a promise to myself that I’ll be more open to opportunities and adventures when it comes to traveling this time. That means leaving fate takes me to paths I never took before, embracing everything that’s beautiful, nourishing as well as daunting.

So last July when a friend invited me to join a birdwatching competition, I said ‘yes!’ without giving it many thoughts. So this was where it took me to…

A savanna,

with thousands of butterflies,

and more than 150 species of birds,

and unforgetable sunset,

and wild deers!

We stayed there for 5 days, and it’s not exactly a non-stop party, especially when we had to make use of the, umm, “public” facilities.

But we slept under the gazillion stars, with cool savanna wind, and took looooong walks to the beach. And on one of those days, I spent more than 2hrs sitting alone on a watchtower, hearing nothing but calls of birds from a far, seeing nothing but lush tree tops.

A rookie birdwatcher that I am, I came back all sun-burnt but happy. Definitely an experience I will be more than willing to repeat.