From a very early age in life l have always had a great appreciation for the outdoors and everything to do with nature in general . It probably stems from being born in an era where TV , computer games and the like were not a distraction and l was very privileged to have grown up on the fringes of the Palmiet River Valley in Westville on the outskirts of Durban . Today my old stomping ground is now a proclaimed nature reserve .
The one aspect of Brazil Urs and l have really enjoyed , are the long walks we have had in probably the remnants of true Atlantic rain forest which thousands of species of plants,birds,reptiles,amphibians,insects,fish and mammals call home .
Ilha Grande's dense forests , mangroves , rivers and lagoons are teeming with life and to quote from an article which l read , it claims that up to 1000 different species of insects maybe found in a single tree crown , while the Atlantic rain forest as a whole has probably sheltered about one million species . Amazing stuff .
Sitting in the forest as an avid twitcher ( bird lover ) and listening to all the different bird calls and seeing some of them has been a joy . Butterflies with incredible colours and wing patterns are everywhere .
We have had some interesting encounters with a number of larger species including a boa constrictor and we are 100% sure , a yacare caiman referred to in Africa as a crocodile , albeit a smaller species than the nile croc .
While walking through the forest , what sounded like a breaking branch falling alongside us turned out to be a decent sized boa constrictor and we watched it climb back up a tree to regain its lofty perch .
In the case of the caiman , we were walking alongside a stream in the forest when suddenly something large launched itself into the water with a loud splash . We spent sometime trying to establish what it was but eventually continued with our walk . Not thirty metres away was a large sign with a picture of a crocodile and the word CUIPADO on it , which we read later in our dictionary means caution . That killed Urs's pioneering spirit dead in its tracks.
We have seen many marmosets and squirrels and have virtually heard howler monkeys everyday on the island but up to a couple of days ago had never seen them . The other day we managed to do a 18km hike and on route back to the boat we heard close up the raucous sounds of these monkeys probably set off by ourselves . Fortunately we were able to spot them high up in a tree, a small group with a couple of youngsters .
On a lighter note , while diving the other day giving Windward's bottom a good scrub a very inquisitive turtle arrived on the scene , fascinated by me scraping the hull . He/she hung around for a while then decided this was boring and disappeared into the blue yonder .
If nature and all its wonders blows your bush hat off , then Brazil has it in abundance .
Allan & Ursula Ward: Port Owen, Cape West Coast, South Africa.
Shearwater 39:
- L.O.A. 43ft (13.22m)
- L.O.D. 39ft (12m)
- L.W.L. 34ft (10.3m)
- BEAM 13ft(3.9m)
- DRAFT 6ft(1.8m)
HOW IT ALL BEGAN .
I placed my order on Nebe Boats on the 19/10/1992 for what was initially planned to be a complete factory built yacht that l would sail home to Durban from Capetown once she was completed. Unfortunately due to the demise of Nebe Boats in the early days of her construction it did not turn out that way, so l decided to truck her home to Ramsgate on the KZN South Coast to finish building her in our garden at home.
For many years we could proudly boast that we had the most expensive piece of garden furniture in town, but at the time l had no idea of how massive this project would turn out to be. As anyone who has built a blue water cruiser will tell you, particularly if she is kitted out with all the systems and the equipment that a modern cruiser has onboard these days, it is a daunting task . Looking at the positive aspects of this project, l know the boat intimately in that l designed and installed the systems, so from a repair and maintenance perspective l have no issues carrying out the work that is necessary from time to time.
The big day arrived on the 29/8/2008 when we craned her out of the garden onto a rig to truck her through to Durban for launching . What followed was three months of preparations to ready her for the maiden voyage to our home port in Port Owen on the Cape West Coast.
We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.
We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.
The master plan has always been to go cruising, so our plans are to leave for Brazil via Luderitz and St Helena Island at the end of February 2014. So far everything is on track although the “To Do“ list still grows each day.
The purpose of this blog is to record our adventure for ourselves, family and friends. Although it will probably end up being a brief summary of events while we are cruising, we hope you will enjoy and share some of our experiences with us.
LIVING THE DREAM .
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Hi Al and Urs. Thanks for the photos...the place looks beautiful. More info on the bird life ( or lack of it ) please Al.
ReplyDeleteHi Pete , great to hear from you mate . I presume you are referring to the brown boobys . Google it and let me know . Are you still in Port Owen with Misty on the hard ?
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