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STOP PRESS!! Have you tried the YouTube Playlist featuring all of my compositions for the TRANSFORMATES? Many of the photos below are featured in the video which accompanies the track ‘Heaven’. Here is the play list:

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This week has been relatively quiet in my body as I adjust to the quietness left behind by the non-stop all night viral parties. Yes after the departure of the influenza boys I am left to clean up the mess and get used to that day after feeling. Well at least I have some comfort in the knowledge that my viral guests have moved on and are now having fun in some other host. It is probably a good idea to take it easy and avoid too much strenuous activity with RISKKO and his new friend Regy the Vegy Lion cub so this week I will concentrate on a timely update on news from the European Alps (we don’t want them to feel left out) and part 2 of my picture collection from the trek up Chapman’s peak (near Cape Town). Let’s start with the news from the alps.

In the last week I came across five articles in the German language press which may be of interest to regular readers of this site.

The most recent article involved some rather serious revelations about the role of the modern eco-friendly washing machine in the spread of nasty pathogens (timely I thought!). If you are concerned about getting (or have recently had the pleasure of hosting) Noro the famous winter vomiting virus this article may be interesting.

29th December 2012: Spreading diarrhea and vomit through the washing machine – The Norovirus propagator in our kitchen

Don’t you just love it how German news headlines have that uncanny ability to smoothly translate into a sophisticated form of english prose (with minimal help from ‘yours faithfully’)?

The second article is all about beer – but a very special beer. This is about Franken’s first Ladies’ beer (and please no jokes about Franken’s Stein)…….

29th December 2012: Nectar from the Franken forest fairies appears to have magical properties. Ladies’ Beer – Holladiewaldfee – disappears from shelves overnight

Have you ever wondered how birds learn to sing. They just appear to pop out of their shells and start chirping – however the process is much more sophisticated that you might imagine. Article three explains more…..

28th December 2012: If you want to suck on my worm you had better whistle my song!

I have made no secret of the fact that I popped over to Africa for the winter to avoid the cold. However some of my Bavarian compatriots are significantly more hardy individuals and demonstrate this by sledging – in the ‘altogether’. The winter olympics are just starting to warm up – and this is normally when the Harz mountains open their slopes to the naked sledging festival. This year there are serious over-popularity problems mainly due to the ladies’ events …… want to read more (with videos)?

23rd December 2012: Lower Saxony puts naked winter sports event on ice for safety reasons following massive popularity of undressed ladies on sledges and fears of over exposure

Finally it was with great relief that I discovered that in these times of austerity the German tax authorities have found another, so far, untapped source of income for the new year. It would appear that some lorry drivers have been over claiming for lavatorial support (= toilet trips) against their annual tax returns. Clearly this is a subject which requires some very careful attention by the fiscal authorities. The long arm of the German fisc stretches deep into the lorry drivers closet. Have I whet your appetite?

22nd December 2012: German tax authorities require lorry drivers to keep a toilet log-book (“LKV Fiscal Bog Log”)

Now as promised here is part two of my collection of fantastic flora from the South African outback around Chapman’s Peak. If you can name any of the posies in this (or last week’s) photographs please do not hesitate to let me know via the comments box and I will add the details to the blog for future reference.

I hope your year-end celebrations are fun (and safe) and look forward to sharing more exciting stuff with you in the new year.

Happy New Year,

Chris Duggleby.

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

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Well at last it is very nearly here, Chrimble approaches Africa and its visitors from the northern hemisphere. The flu that kindly accompanied me down south has decided to stay a little longer – clearly my body is a temple of viral hospitality. Let us not forget viruses are also beings (albeit little ones) – why shouldn’t they also join us in the festive celebrations? So while I am kept busy helping the viruses to multiply and prepare to move onto their next fortunate host RISKKO and his friends have offered to help sort out the Christmas decorations.

My virus was not the only little being that joined RISKKO and I on the journey down south. As we were shopping for Christmas decorations in one of those ubiquitous ‘everything for £1’ shops Ted jumped into our shopping basket and pleaded to be rescued from the cold north. Take a look at his picture below – could you have resisted his request? So while RISKKO put up the fairy lights Ted decided where best to hang the tinsel.

The Christmas decorations team had a third member, Reg. Reg is from Africa and we found him exploring Sandy Bay beach looking for nice plants to eat: Reg is a vegetarian lion cub and I will explain more about his background in a future blog. He is known locally as ‘Regy the Vegy’ and being a lion it was only right that he assumed a supervisory role in the decorating project.

In addition to our household decorations I would like to introduce you, this week, to some of the natural decorations that make this country so beautiful. When I first came to Africa I noticed that there were not very many Christmas decorations – certainly in comparison to Woking! Then as I looked around I realised why. When nature decorates the countryside as beautifully as the pictures below illustrate there is very little that man can do to enhance the beauty (despite Ted being a dab hand with the tinsel!). So for the rest of today’s blog I am going to take you back up Chapman’s Peak and introduce you to some of the sights and flowers which were simply growing at the side of the path.

The next three pictures set the scene and show the stunning landscape in which the flowers which follow were found. After that I will simply leave you with pictures of some of the flowers. Each flower picture has a number – if you can identify the name of any of the flowers please do not hesitate to let me know using the comments box and I can add these to the blog for future reference. All the pictures are taken with high-definition photography so just click on the photograph to see a more detailed version.

Enjoy – and have a merry Christmas,

Chris Duggleby.

….and to round off the blog after so much eye candy how about a little ear candy for Chritmas from Enya – when I hear this I imagine the pleasure I am giving to the billions of influensa viruses living in my body. That’s how easy it is to spread warmth and happiness – if you have to endure the flu try and leave the viruses with a good impression – maybe next time they will be a little gentler!

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

Apologies to regular readers for being a little late with the blog this week. Just before my last departure from the northern hemisphere I managed to pick up one of the more unpleasant bugs that was circulating so I had little choice but to spend the last couple of days in bed. My sympathy goes out to any readers who are suffering with these seasonal conditions and I hope you make a speedy and complete recovery.

Fortunately my faithful canine companion RISKKO was not under the weather and since we work as a team this week he offered to feature in the blog to give me a rest. So while I was feeling sorry for myself RISKKO took himself up one of our local mountains, Chapman’s Peak, in search of wild animals (and if you are looking for wild animals Africa is a good place to start).

First of all let us set the scene. The pictures above and below show the amazing views that you can enjoy when you take the mountain path up Chapman’s Peak. I mentioned the Karbonkelberg mountain in my earlier blogs. I have a great view of this mountain from my balcony and it also serves as a picturesque back drop to Sandy Bay beach (the articles can be found here and here). Today I can share with you the view of the Karbunkelberg from the other side.

Similarly the picture above is of the Little Lions Head Mountain from the opposite side. Chapman’s Peak features in the picture below and RISKKO’s adventure today takes him close to the top.

One of the first things you notice as you climb the mountain path is the abundance of pretty butterflies like the one below.

…..and of course this would not be Africa if we did not come across some trainee crocodiles and alligators…..

One of my (and RISKKO’s) favourite wild animals is the hairy caterpillar. Today we were not disappointed….

RISKKO, with his very sensitive hearing, is of course able to communicate with the caterpillars and decided to make friends with one of them called Katy.

Caterpillars are normally very weary of little dogs because they know how much dogs like biting tails.

After a little hesitation the caterpillar agreed to become RISKKO’s friend and before long they were rubbing noses together.

The caterpillar quickly climbed onto RISKKO to join him on his expedition up the mountain.

When you get towards the top of the mountain you can enjoy the distant views of the inland plains at the other side. This was a rather misty day but the views were still staggering. If you would like to see more detail simply click on any of my photographs to get a high definition version.

Another of the features of this walk are the many and varied birds. Like the one below:

Of course any walk in the South African countryside would not be complete without a reference to the fantastic vegetation.

In my next blog I will focus on some of the exotic flowers that grow along this path. Regular readers may remember that some of my summer blogs focused on the flowers in the Bavarian mountains. So to wet your appetite and set a benchmark for next week’s African blog here are some of the pictures from Bavaria. If you would like to see more please use the links here, here and here.

Time now to go and snivel a bit more. I hope to see you next week (and of course I will bring some flowers),

Chris Duggleby

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

Having written several recent blog articles about my (and RISKKO’s) adventures in Africa I realized this weekend that my other (prime) winter residence was suffering from under-exposure. So this week I will try to correct this.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I spend the months from March to November commuting between London and the Alps. London is where I earn my living helping a large industrial group manage its business risks. The Alps, or more precisely Bavaria, is where I go on a weekend to recharge my batteries and get inspiration for the week ahead.

In the winter I find that commuting to the mountains can get disrupted by the weather and the drive from either Munich or Salzburg Airport to my apartment in the mountains is rather dangerous (my trips to and from the airport are either very late at night of very early in the morning).

So in the winter months Bavaria as an escape route is replaced by South Africa where I live in a remote location next to the ocean (my recent African blogs have lots of pics and can be found here, here and here). However, commuting every weekend between London and Africa would be a bit over the top, both in terms of my body and my bank balance. So I save up all my annual leave and together with the festive national holidays this allows me to make three trips to Africa of 2/3 weeks.

When I am in the UK I live in leafy Surrey, not far from Horsell Common. Horsell Common is famous because it provided the setting for H.G.Wells’ book “War of the Worlds”. The sand pits mentioned in the book actually do exist in Horsell Common (see the picture below).

If you visit the sand pits or the surrounding swamp area on a misty day it is not very difficult to imagine the Martians landing there and building their heat-ray machines. The book features many of the local areas so if you are a fan get yourself over to Woking in Surrey and visit the common. The author H.G. Wells lived in Woking when he wrote the book and there is a statue of a Martian ‘Tripod’ fighting machine in the town shopping area.

In addition to the sand pits there are a number of other interesting things in Horsell Common. In an earlier blog I described the prehistoric burial mounds which only further add to the mystique of the location (the relevant articles can be found here and here). Around the sand pits, where sand has presumably been excavated (or perhaps its is a result of the Martian heat ray), the ground below many of the trees has eroded leaving some very interesting root structures (see the pictures above and below).

Those local people who have dogs will be very familiar with Horsell Common as a popular place for walking their dogs. In order to not stand out when I am taking photographs I make a point of also taking my dog RISKKO. This helps me to avoid drawing undue attention to myself.

Of course when you are out with your dog it is pointless thinking that you are in control of the agenda. Invariably RISKKO meets up with one of his many friends – like Sid (below).

When the two dogs are together they love playing in the roots and building little doggy houses there. Readers will certainly remember that RISKKO gets involved with similar activities with his friends in the Bavarian Forests during the Summer (if you have not seen the pictures try the link here).

I personally find Horsell Common is great for jogging because the ground is quite soft. This helps me to keep my aging knees going a little longer. Being chased by an untethered Rottweiler also acts a great incentive to go a little faster (I normally jog very early – which is the time that people with the most dangerous dogs are also out – to prevent them disturbing other dog-walkers). If your dog struggles with eating fresh meat try wrapping it in Lycra first!

I can actually get from my apartment in Surrey to the Common by foot. I simply go along the Basingstoke canal. This allows me to avoid unpleasant traffic fumes or hard surfaces. The canal also has lots of interesting things to look at and photograph.

I live next to the canal so I can enjoy the four seasons from my balcony and also keep an eye out for the many activities on the water. We get numerous barges and canoes going past and there is plenty of wild life. The pictures below are taken in Winter and show the views in both directions (taken from the balcony).

One of the most interesting things is a very large Oak Tree which grows directly in front of my balcony. The reason it is interesting is because of the local squirrels.

The squirrels use the tree on my side of the canal together with a similarly large tree on the opposite side as their ‘bridge’. Like many bridges over pretty rivers this ‘Squirrel Bridge’ appears to be a key meeting place and a popular location for the enjoyment of ‘Squirrel Romance’. Clearly you will not find any photos of that kind of stuff on a respectable website like this one.

Although I understandably draw the line at publishing squirrel porn I think it is probably OK to share with you a picture I took in the last couple of days of a rather large squirrel having a mid-day nap on the ‘bridge’.

Squirrels are not the only animals to have found an interesting way of getting from one side of the canal to the other. In the winter time the ducks can find the water a little cool and as a result they have taken to using the local locks as a way of avoiding getting cold feel.

As well as helping to keep their feet warm the locks are also a useful vantage point to enable the ducks to watch out for the many naughty foxes that travel up and down the canal.

Actually I think the major reason for the ducks meeting on the canal locks is to satisfy that most basic of animal instincts – they like to gossip. Take a look at the picture below and tell me that Ducks don’t like getting together for a good chin-wag.

The local ducks also strike me as being a bit vain. I have noticed they like using the locks as a kind of catwalk to show off their shiny red boots.

Well I hope that has brought you up to date with some of the excitement we get here in Surrey during the winter months. Sadly my time for photographing in the UK is somewhat limited in the winter as I normally start and finish work in the dark. However that means there will be lots of potential when I retire.

If you have any suggestions or comments please do not hesitate to use the message box below. Time now to pack my summer gear for the next session in Africa.

Chris Duggleby.

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

This week I am going to introduce you to some of the fierce (and often cute) wild animals that live on our doorstep in Africa. First of all let me introduce RISKKO’s personal trainer called Charlie.

Charlie is training to be a fierce crocodile and so whenever we see him he shows off his press-ups on the rocks near our home.

In my earlier blog article about the Sandy Bay beaches (you can find it here) I described the many rock pools that we have around our local beaches. We are often among the first people to visit the beach in the morning and RISKKO has made friends with the crabs who live here. Below is a picture of one of them called ‘Crusty’.

Here is a picture of some of the rock pools. These are next to Sandy Bay’s smaller beach.

Dogs have very sensitive hearing which means that RISKKO is able to listen to molluscs like clams and mussels. This can be very useful because Molluscs can tell us where to the best pearl oysters live. In the past Sandy Bay was very famous for its pearl oyster beds. In fact there is a story that before the area became famous one of the first settlers in Llandudno came across a beautiful naked girl gathering pearls from around the rocks and caves around Sandy Bay. Apparently this was how it first got its reputation as Cape Town’s unofficial nudist beach. It was probably also the inspiration for the beach scene in Dr No (OK – well perhaps I have used a little artistic license here – but it is nice to think that Sean Connery and Ursula Andress would have prefered to meet here had they been given the choice!)

One day as we were looking for pearl oysters we came across some donuts (or ‘dough nuts’ for the language police). Many readers probably just think of donuts as something you buy in the store or restaurant and that they taste yummy. They do not even stop to consider where donuts actually come from (or more precisely where they grow). Well do not let it be said that this site does not help to educate our global readership. Clearly donuts like most other foods have to grow somewhere. There are lots of donuts living in the rock pools around Sandy Bay and I have captured some of them in the photographs below.

Donuts live in many of the rock pools at Sandy Bay and you occasionally find them growing in rather inconvenient locations as the picture below illustrates. Clearly this rock did not take too nicely to having a donut growing on top of his head. Well I guess at least it could be useful if the rock every gets hungry and fancies a quick snack.

As well as donuts and apprentice crocodiles there are lots of other animals to be found here. Below is one of the local lizards (Lizzy) who likes to play hide and seek with RISKKO.

Seeing Lizzy reminded us of Sally Manda the friendly Salamander who likes to cuddle with RISKKO when he is out walking in the Bavarian forests. If you would like to read more about this the link is here.

Now getting back to Africa (and summer) here is a picture of the wild countryside where RISKKO goes hunting for vicious animals. See if you can spot the little lions head.

Every week we like to share with our readers some of the pretty flowers that we come across during our travels. This week is daisy time. Daisies some times get forgotten but are among the most beautiful flowers you can find. Here are some pictures taken from around Sandy Bay and the little lions head mountain. All of the photographs are taken using high-definition photography so you can see more detail by clicking on the pictures.

I will complete this weeks article with some more pictures of the flowers (see below). I intend to publish some more exotic pictures of local vegetation in future weeks so if you like flowers please pop-by again. Just watch out for any wild animals!

Chris Duggleby.