Martin grew up in Melbourne Australia playing cricket and Australian Rules football. While growing up, to his parents’ dismay, Martin brought home and kept a menagerie of wildlife including frogs, lizards, turtles and even poisonous snakes!
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The sound of the crunching leaves underfoot, the nagging, rattling call of the endemic Vanuatu kingfisher, the tickle of the sweat dripping down your knee, the glimpse from the corner of your eye of the shadow of a forest bird flying away, the yellow glow of the belly of the Vanuatu white-eye, the taste of the spongy coconut and the juicy pomelo at the end of our morning birding adventure. This morning, we explored the Loru Conservation Area in Espiritu Santo. The protected, 220-hectacre lowland forest is host to at least six Vanuatu endemics and many other songbird species. We were excited, sweaty, hot, curious, alert, occasionally frustrated, and ultimately rewarded. We were never bored. Birding in this kind of intact habitat is truly a special treat. In the afternoon, we took a beautiful canoe ride up to the Riri Blue Hole, where we went for a lovely swim. Vanuatu is a wonder to behold. What a time to be alive!
Santo is a wonderful island to explore with a diverse range of offerings. However, I feel that the friendly people are the highlight. Today, we explored the island in small vans with guides and drivers who made it a great experience. We visited a museum about World War II and the world-famous Million Dollar Point. We swam around a stunning blue hole and enjoyed the rope swing. But it was the water music by a group of women and the conversations we had with our guides that will stay with me. Photo caption and photographer: Having fun at the blue hole. Photo by Mike Greenfelder
We enjoyed two incredible presentations en route to the Solomon Islands. National Geographic expert Andy Revkin presented on his love and passion for photography, and the second presentation was given by our talented guest speaker about the history of weather and climate change. With a change of direction at lunch, we made it to Espiritu Santo just before the sun went down. The day finished off with a lovely afternoon presentation by onboard naturalist Martin Cohen.