A former journalist and business analyst that now works in the world of travel marketing. Based in Toronto, Red Hunt has travelled to more than 50 countries over the past 15 years. You can follow Red on Instagram or Twitter.
Sri Lankan Elephants in Ruhunu / Yala National Park
Elephants have always fascinated me. They’re such huge animals, yet they’re so quiet when moving and even eating.
Beyond the big tusked African elephants, are a number of different Asian elephant species. This one, the Elephas maximus maximus is known as the Sri Lankan Elephant.
There are roughly 6,000 of these endangered Sri Lankan elephants left in the wild, and as the name would suggest they are only found on the island nation of Sri Lanka, south of India.
These elephants were photographed in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka.
Upon arrival in Cusco, Peru one of my missions was to get to the bottom of a mystery that has haunted me for many years – does Alpaca taste better than Llama?
Having had Llama many times in Bolivia, I wanted to try their somewhat smaller, and some say cuter, cousins. You may wonder what Alpaca tastes like. Well, it’s quite a mild flavour actually, not game-y like venison or even lamb can be. You’d be hard pressed to tell it isn’t beef steak in many cases, but if you get a good Alpaca meal there is a nice difference, it’s quite lean and a little sweet.
Now I’m no ‘foodie’ (I rarely use Instagram, but always use the beer app Untappd) and I am not prone to frequently taking pictures of my food. I did manage to get some not-totally horrible Alpaca pictures though.
My first Alpaca meal was at a place called Nuna Raymi in Cusco.
Alpaca en el Ukhupacha
I elected for an Alpaca steak cooked with some traditional herbs and a sauce that had a bit of a kick to it. The actual item I got was called Alpaca en el Ukhupacha and to quote from the menu description it was “Alpaca sirloin marinated with pachamanca herbs accompanied with yellow and panca chil’s and mashed potatoes, topped with sautéed veggies on olive oil, pisco and paprika.”
After eating this tasty Alpaca I was sold on the idea that Alpaca tastes better than Llama, but to be sure, I decided to try to start a new challenge – I must eat Alpaca every day I am in Cusco. I couldn’t be left wondering if that tasty Alpaca meal was a fluke.
Most places around town had simple steak versions, which often looked good, but I was always on the look out for something a little different. I didn’t just want to eat Alpaca steak after Alpaca steak.
Alpaca Brochettes
The next Alpaca meal worth mentioning is the one I had after a day of exploring Sacsahuaman, Tambopatchy and some other Incan sites near to Cusco. A few of us decided to check out LIMO, a place right on the main square. It was a nice spot, albeit a typically overpriced tourist spot when you consider what you get. This place is more known for seafood and ceviche and I wasn’t overly hungry this time so I opted for the Alpaca brochettes. These morsels of meat well presented and came with some tasty Peruvian potatoes, sauces and sides. While my Alpaca was good, I was more excited about having the Pisco Sour here, which was really superb.
The next Alpaca meal that makes it on to my Cusco Alpaca tasting challenge is probably the healthiest Alpaca meal I had. After eating potatoes, rice and starchy foods for so long in Peru, I needed to fuel up on something healthier. Yes, even though I’m a meat eater, I do sometimes have a craving for green things and vegetables. I headed to a place I knew that would have good beer and they also happened to have a delicious sounding Alpaca salad on the menu. It was exactly what I needed and their own craft beer helped make it another favourite Alpaca meal.
An amazing Alpaca salad at Dragon’s Palate in Cuzco, Peru.
I managed to sample some other Alpaca meals outside of Cusco, Peru as well. Just to ensure that Cusco wasn’t some strange vortex for tasty Alpaca meat. It turns out that in Machu Picchu Pueblo you can also get some great Alpaca meals. But back to the tasting challenge! By the end of my time in Cusco, my final verdict was yes – Alpaca tastes slightly better than Llama.
The World Heritage Area of Gunung Mulu in Malaysian Borneo is a rich rain forest that is short in comfort – save for the Royal Mulu Resort – but big on creatures and caves.
The caves at Mulu National Park bring travellers from around the world, most notably for the famous bat exodus from Deer Cave.
The viewing area to watch the bat exodus from Deer Cave in Borneo
When I was spending time in Mulu I had the pleasure of checking out Deer Dave, along with Langs, Clearwater and Cave of the Winds caves. Each one had it’s own appeal and unique characteristics. But first, my favourite…as with most people who visit, was Deer Cave.
Deer Cave
This is a massive cave that boasts the largest cave entrance in the world! The walk into the cave is along a mountainside pathway, and you sort of come around a corner to the cave entrance, not getting to appreciate it’s full size until you’re inside it, looking back out. Cavernous is an appropriate word for Deer Cave.
Streams of water dripping down inside Deer Cave
The trail here is fun to walk along and spot odd formations from the carved out limestone cave, which once had a powerful river running through it. Your walk will take you to some cool spots in the cave like the Garden of Eden Pools.
It is also home to millions of bats that live high up above in the interior ceiling of the cave. There are also a ton of ugly critter like beetles and spiders, but you don’t really see them unless you shine your light into the darkness away from the footpaths. There is a viewing platform area way back down below that provides a panoramic view of the limestone mountain and cave entrance. People gather there around dusk to watch the millions of bats fly out of the cave.
Staring into the light (this is at Cave of the Winds)
Langs Cave
A much smaller cave, Langs Cave has the most impressive entrance way. It’s like a huge mouth opened up and put this cave on display As with Deer Cave and any other caves you visit in Mulu, don’t forget to bring a headlamp / torch with you as it can get dark in some areas inside the cave.
Formations inside Langs Cave, Borneo
Lots of stalactites and stalagmites are found in this cave, which isn’t far from the larger Deer Cave. As with all of the caves you’re allowed to explore, there is a smooth pathway of boardwalks, staircases and platforms built inside the cave to keep you from touching (destroying) the sometimes fragile environment.
Headlamp required – checking out Langs Cave
Cave of the Winds
Located in a different, further away part of the park, getting to Cave of the Winds and Clearwater Cave is a fun hike. It’s not very strenuous, and you might spot butterflies, squirrels and other creatures along the 3.8km trail. Alternatively, you can take a longboat from the park headquarters early in the morning…but I’d suggest taking the hike at your own pace.
Hiking trail to Cave of the Winds
At Cave of the Winds, you experience just that – a cool, windy cave. But also there are skylights high above the cave floor, allowing light to pierce through in sort of artistic fashion. When you’re not staring up in this cave, being impressed by it’s size, there are huge columns of calcite around in an area known as the King’s Chamber. Pretty cool stuff when you realize just how long it takes to create these structures!
Kings Chamber inside Cave of the Winds
Clearwater Cave
With plenty of stalactites ‘dripping’ down from the edge of the mountain along the entrance of this cave, you can get some photos in better light here. I made the mistake of forgetting my tripod when exploring the caves, so almost all of my interior photos turned out blurry and unusable!
Clearwater Cave is your place to relax, after exploring it’s network of paths. There is a river here that goes on for more than 170km underneath these mountains winding through various caves! It exists the cave nearby and you can go for a picnic and swim here – something you’ll cherish after spending a few hours in the sweltering heat and humidity of Borneo!
Some cool formations at Clearwater Cave
Each cave at Mulu showcases different types of structures or features so it really is worth spending a whole day exploring them. If you have extra time you can delve even deeper into the caves by doing some adventure caving at Turtle Cave or Lagang Cave.
A Lava Heron photographed on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos
With bright yellow eyes and colour patches around it’s bill, this little heron has a creepy silhouette to it!
Endemic to the Galapagos islands, the Lava Heron, or Galapagos Heron, is a relatively small heron that feeds mainly on crabs and fish. Their feathers and overall grey-black colour blend in perfectly with the lava rocks found along the shores of much of the Galapagos Islands. This camouflage and a stealthy ability to spear their prey with their bills makes them effective hunters.
You’ll often see them around the shoreline close to town as they have no fear of people. This one was photographed at a beach on San Cristobal Island.
When I went to Vanuatu, I had one island that I really wanted to visit: Tanna Island.
Tanna is home to the world’s most accessible volcano and my time living in a little beach side hut there was perfectly relaxing. Only two things disturbed my peace on that island – the burning black volcanic sand and the sonic boom explosions of Yasur Volcano. To get there, you have to fly into the main island of Vanuatu, Efate.
Efate is where the international airport arrivals land. This island, along with Espiritu Santo are the two main island in this archipelago of 83 islands. Most visitors coming to a resort will hang out at either of these islands, and if you want to spend a bit of time around Efate Island and the capital Port Vila, there are plenty of hotels and resorts around. One of the most interesting ones is called Hideaway Island.
The Hideaway Island Welcome Sign
It’s on the outskirts of town, so you need to take a short taxi / truck ride to get there. The islanders are friendly, so finding someone to give you a ride, real taxi or not, is pretty easy. Then it’s a quick 10-minute ferry crossing to Hideaway Island and your own little piece of paradise.
Palm trees and beaches await, as does the beach bar and – most interestingly – the world’s first underwater post office!
View from above the Underwater Post Office at Hideaway Island
How cool is that?
I chose to stay at the Hideaway Island Resort & Sanctuary after my time on Tanna Island, because I was on a budget and they offer cheaper dorm type rooms in addition to their nice private bungalows. It proved to be a great choice as I was the only person in my 4-bed dorm room! I spent my time relaxing on the beach and snorkeling around the island, where you’ll see plenty of tropical fish.
Attempting to dive down to the underwater post office barrel is a heck of a challenge too. You can actually buy waterproof postcards to ‘mail’ yourself when they have a diver working down there to receive your postcards. Considering that back on Tanna Island there was a Volcano Post post office, I thought it was neat visiting these two odd post offices on my visit.
A murky photo of the underwater post office. Nobody home right now…
If you get hungry or thirsty, the food at Hideaway Island will do the job, but I decided to head into town. Between the ferry, walk and taxi it takes around 30 minutes to go back and forth. In town there are some fruit markets or plenty of tourist restaurants to choose from. I spent most of my meal time at the waterfront bar and restaurant at Anchor Inn as it is one of the better beer places in town, serving Vanuatu Tusker and Vanuatu Bitter beers.
The Ferry and Boat Dock at Hideaway Island
After heading back to Hideaway Island at night, there was always some kind of lively activity happening at the island bar. Whether it was live music or drinks specials, the people staying at the island resort were a fun bunch to hang out with. Definitely a fun place to stay if you’re looking for something a little different from your usual hotel stay.
If you do make it to Hideaway Island in Vanautu…just watch out for:
