Tag: Duck

Animal Kingdom – Casela

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giant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisegiant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisegiant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisezebra Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseFor some reason I forgot to post these with the rest of my Mauritius posts last month! I went to Casela Nature Reserve on the penultimate day of my trip to Mauritius and as I LOVE animals I was completely in my element.

It’s been two years since I last visited and most of my thoughts are the same. The enclosures at Casela are huge which I think is brilliant. The larger animals (tigers, rhinos, zebras etc) share a huge safari style enclosure, and you’re not guaranteed a glimpse as there’s loads of spaces the animals can run off and avoid the visitors if they wish, which I think is great (although some people were complaining).

I was particularly emotional about seeing the rhinos; an entire species of animal which will almost certainly be extinct within our lifetimes. 3 subspecies were declared extinct in 2011, and poaching numbers are increasing by almost 50% each year. There are less than 100 individual Javan and Sumatran rhinos and just 3 individual White rhinos left in the entire world, which is heartbreaking.

The animals have a lot of space to wander around and the fences and dividers between the smaller enclosures seemed almost non-existent this trip. I really like this aspect of the Park, as instead of seeing one animal per enclosure it was more like a free-for-all with animals roaming around between different areas. I saw lemurs hanging out with the tortoises, peacocks with the giraffes and a pet pig hanging out with the baby goats.

There were also random wild animals; we saw wild monkeys stealing food from the giraffes, lizards in the rabbit enclosure, and even a cheeky mongoose in with the giant tortoises. Talk about animal kingdom! Overall I think Casela is a great animal and nature reserve and I haven’t seen one that better typifies what a zoo should “be”, in my opinion. Where should I check out next?Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
rhinocerous Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
giant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseostrich Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisegiraffe Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise

Cotswolds

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Bourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream SlateBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream SlateBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream SlateBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream SlateBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream Slateducks bourton on the water river bird
I was lucky enough to spend some time visiting the Cotswolds recently. This lovely little place is called Bourton-On-The-Water. Considering I’ve spent about 16 years living in England I have very little knowledge of anywhere outside London, so it was great to spend a few days away exploring. I’m pretty sure when people think of England this is the kind of place they imagine; quaint little houses, picturesque rivers and trees, rolling hills and greenery… and a shit load of birds.

 

On the day we were there the seagulls and ducks were having an all-out war – literally pecking each other out of the water. There were a large amount of tourists hanging around trying to capture the stillness and peace of the surroundings and the crispness of the morning, but it was impossible – the birds weren’t having any of it. Call me mean-spirited but I really enjoyed watching other peoples pictures get systematically photo-bombed by angry birds. You just can’t control nature! :)
Bourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream Slate
Bourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream Slateducks bourton on the water river birdBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester EnglandBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester EnglandBourton On the Water Cotswolds Gloucester England Houses River Stream Slate

Swans

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feeding swans girl outside egyptian geese mute swan uk outside exterior surrey green housepair of mute swan royal white swan england uk surrey outside driveway bricksfeeding swans girl outside egyptian geese mute swan uk outside exterior surrey green house feeding swans girl outside egyptian geese mute swan uk outside exterior surrey green house My parents live by a river and for as long as I can remember “feeding the swans” has been a part of daily life. Swans re-use their nests each year and also teach their cygnets to find food (as opposed to the babies stay in the nest and the parents bring them food) and so generations of swans have learnt that hanging around outside our front door results in food. Over the years canadian geese and egyptian geese (as seen here) have come to join the party. I’m particularly fond of the egyptian geese; they’re more timid than the other birds and have the most beautiful plumage (which I shamelessly tried to copy in my outfit).

Swans have an image of being regal and graceful, but a hungry swan on land is anything but: they waddle clumsily, flapping, hissing and honking noisily and fighting with the local cats, dogs, geese and ducks, invariably winning. Swans are very fierce and ours actually broke a ducks wing once which resulted in an RSPCA call-out. Whilst our swans eat from your hand that’s mostly because they’re so greedy they reach out to snatch food from your hand before you can throw it on the floor. Inevitably you end up with scratches on your fingers from their beaks but I like it; all animals are wild and there’s something inherently unsettling about tame animals who eat politely from human hands. I’m a supporter of animal rights and don’t believe in pets, so I love this kind of close encounter with animals especially when it happens on a daily basis! What wildlife do you have near your house?shiny skirt shiny shoes bronze metallic skirt goldfeeding egyptian geese outsidefeeding swans girl outside egyptian geese mute swan uk outside exterior surrey green housemute swan open beak outstretched food hungry *Whenever I refer to  “our” swans I am referring to the wild swans who my family regularly feed as their nest is in our garden. In no way do we own the swans and I am against the concept of owning an animal or a pet.