Komodo Dragons are the largest, heaviest living lizard in the world, and can only be found in Komodo, Rinca and Flores Indonesia. Also known as the Komodo Monitor, the world’s largest reptile has a mean reputation, but it has been on my bucket list to see them ever since I bought a hand-carved wooden statue of one from Bali back in 2002.

There is something prehistoric about them which I find fascinating, plus there is a sense of danger at the idea of being near one… after all, they have dragon as part of their name! They may not be the fire breathing dragons made famous by Game of Thrones, but they are still dragons.

On the day we had booked to see the dragons, I kept thinking “I’m going to see Komodo Dragons!”, surely this was going to be a highlight of our trip in Indonesia?

​Feet Do Travel take you on their dragon hike in Rinca, Indonesia.

By 9.05am on a Monday morning, whilst walking through the Indonesian jungle, we had already seen a mother Borneon Orangutan and her baby. That morning, we were awoken at 5am by the sounds of the dawn jungle chorus. We had slept on the roof of our Klotok, a traditional Indonesian wooden boat exclusively for us. Although seeing a baby orangutan is adorable, this had already been ticked off our list in Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. We wanted to see an alpha-male; a real King Louis from the Jungle Book.

Today, there were no Monday blues, no disappointing thoughts that it was the beginning of the week; they had been replaced by an amazing experience that we would always remember. This is our Indonesian Orangutan Adventure.

How did you spend your Monday morning?

​I had never heard of a cat café before in my entire life … that is until I read a blog about one and I have since become obsessed! My birthday was looming so I looked up all the cat café’s in the UK and found eight to choose from in London, Manchester, Nottingham, Derby, Edinburgh, three in Newcastle (Mog on the Tyne, The Laughing Cat Café and the newest one Catpawchino). At the time of writing, two are vying to be the first in Birmingham, and one has now opened in Bristol.

Before I start, I must tell you the house rules of all cafes; no flash photography, no petting the cats whilst they are asleep and no chasing and running after them. Various other rules apply at each establishment, but these are the main ones to abide by, after all, you are here to enjoy the company of cats in their home, and it’s not nice or polite to make them feel uncomfortable.
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I opted for Nottingham first, however after making it my mission to visit one… I couldn’t stop there so made it my mission to visit as many as I could. 

When we first told friends we were going to Borneo most people asked “where??”. It is surprising how few people know about the third largest island in the world; everyone has heard of the Amazon rainforest but Borneo’s is actually older at 140 million years ... so why is this Country still largely unheard of?

Borneo is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and the tiny nation of Brunei (think “Sultan of Brunei” and the wealth that is there!) so maybe this causes people confusion??

This ancient biodiverse land is full of fascinating statistics and is home to half of all known plant and animal species - some aren’t found anywhere else in the world apart from Borneo. We have visited this beautiful Country on two occasions (so far) ... so how about I tell you about our amazing experiences and hopefully you will consider paying a visit yourself!

​Top of my bucket list was always to cuddle a panda, so when planning a holiday for a special birthday, naturally it had to be Chengdu in China! 90% of the world’s pandas are born in Sichuan province and I had booked to visit the world’s biggest panda breeding and research centre – thrill level 10/10!
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On the morning of my special day, I tried to keep my excitement in check when arriving at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base - but it wasn't easy!