Komodo & Flores – Last Chance To See? [en]

It’s been a while since I’ve read Douglas Adams’ (et. al.) Last Chance to See, but I remember that it had Komodo Dragons in it. The German edition prominently features a Komodo Dragon on its cover, while the English editions feature the diverse animals that are discussed in the book in a more balanced manner. …

Back to Wallacea: Sumbawa [en]

After my Singapore stopover, I headed straight to the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. Sumbawa lies between Lombok in the west and Flores in the east. Its location can be classified in many different ways. Amongst others, Sumbawa is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the province of Nusa Tenggara Barat …

Bobr Kurva [en]

I’m using the Czech spelling here, rather than the more common Polish Bóbr Kurwa — meaning (nsfw) and pronunciation are much the same anyway. It’s just because this has happened in Czechia recently: V okolí Padrťských rybníků v chráněné krajinné oblasti Brdy postavil bobr hned několik hrází a vytvořil tak přírodní mokřad. Právě takový chtěla …

Tanzania Safari [en]

Ok, I’ve posted way too much about Climbing Kilimanjaro recently. My next tourist activity was a Safari, but let’s make this one shorter and focus on the photos. Fun facts: Safari originally means voyage in Kiswahili. Simba means lion. Hakuna matata roughly means no worries. Being driven around in a vehicle all day and staring …

Perspective [en]

I love how science puts things in perspective: The earth is a microbial planet, on which macroorganisms are recent additions—highly interesting and extremely complex in ways that most microbes aren’t, but in the final analysis relatively unimportant in a global context. […] Microbial life on this planet would remain largely unchanged were all plant and …