Tawny Owl Mural

My mum recently turned 60, and as part of her present I painted this mural of a Tawny Owl on the fence in her garden:



It was the second time I've painted a mural without permission. Always a bit of a risk, but thankfully it was well received!

Jungle City - Edinburgh 2011

Off the back of Elephant Family's hugely successful 'Elephant Parade London' last summer, their new project is to turn Edinburgh into a jungle during August and September of this year.





I have again designed something for the event, which I've called "Crocodile Rock".

Elephant Mural in Ghana

I've now posted this video on my own YouTube channel...

Parading Nanook

Here is the video from a couple of Saturdays ago, with Nanook in Green Park. On a miserably wet day, spirits were still high, and credit to Ben Westaway for putting this together under difficult conditions.

Creating Nanook - Elephant Parade London 2010

Elephant mural

Here's the gift I left for our host in Tamale, Ghana.

Sam's Bungalows – Bukit Lawang

You could quite literally throw a stone from the balcony of Sam's Bungalows across the Bohorok river in north Sumatra and it would land in the Gunung Leuser National Park. If you did you might startle a Thomas’s Leaf monkey foraging in the greenery, or disturb a water monitor basking in the sun on riverside rocks. Better than attacking the local fauna would be to sit with a cup of jungle tea and one of Sam's special fruit salads and watch the jungle move.

Sam's Bungalows are ideally situated up the river opposite the Park entrance, a short walk from the orangutan feeding site. There are currently 3 bungalows, all with their own balcony and shower room - beautifully decorated with rounded stones, smoothed by the river, and blending with the surroundings. The soothing sound of a nearby waterfall reminds you that this is rainforest, and you feel at one with nature.

Electricity has not yet reached this far up the river, but a generator provides power daily between the hours of 6pm and midnight. There is also only one temperature for the shower – Fresh! Daily rates range from between 80,000 – 150,000 IDR (£4.50 - £8.50) and the adjacent “Sam’s restaurant” overlooking the river below, is the perfect place to enjoy delicious home cooking from Ifat’s kitchen.

For bookings, contact Sam on: +62 813 7009 3597

I would like to encourage anyone who has stayed at Sam's Bungalows or been to Bukit Lawang to write a review in the form of a comment on this post to advise others who are thinking of travelling to this beautiful part of the world.