Author name: AllisonHill

The Bat That Bit

Yes, I’m the one: the bat that bit,
An act that landed quite a hit,
If I had known what would unfold,
Perhaps I’d not have been so bold.

Since all of you love global travel,
It didn’t take long for life to unravel,
At first the spread felt fairly slow,
But by mid-March was in full flow.

Spoon-Feeding

You fed me with a spoon that day,
For the first time.  A tear in your eye,
Delight at that memorable milestone,
And all those yet to come –
Such as learning to talk and handle a fork.
Then, I’d make that walk to school and see
My world open up in the blink of an eye.
All guided by you, my loving mum.

The Brighton Bomb

 

The Brighton Bomb

The ringing phone on my bedside table woke me. It had just gone 4.30 am. A call at that time generally means a problem of some sort, so I answered hesitantly. I recognised my sister’s voice at once.

‘It’s me, Chris. Don’t worry, everything’s fine but I just need to tell you…” She was speaking very quickly, yet trying to sound calm:

‘Mum and Dad have phoned. They’re OK, but when you wake up you’ll hear the news. There’s been an explosion at their hotel. They think it’s a bomb.’

‘A bomb!’ I was wide awake now. ‘How big?’

‘Not sure, but it sounds bad. Half the hotel’s blown up. Everyone was in bed. They got out, but Mum was phoning me in her nightie.’ …

The Maasai Mara: Different Views and Well-deserved Reviews

A morning drive in the Maasai Mara. Hard to beat. Yet more wonderful sightings of animals enjoying life in the wild. For most of our time in the Mara we’d been pretty much on our own; just us 4 friends in a jeep with an excellent spotter and guide. Finding us regular sightings. Sometimes even on request. Another leopard, please. No problem.

This day there were a few more jeeps about. Some were rushing along at speed, all going in the same direction. Probably to see a kill. That sense of excitement. Check camera settings ready for action. …

Visiting Grenfell


It all looks so different today,
that  smoking charcoal block,
now pale, swathed in creamy
covers rippling in the breeze.
At the top, the banner of green:
Grenfell Forever in Our Hearts.
The words descend in silence,
stirring memories of that night.

The Brazilian Pantanal: Home to Jaguars & Jabiru, Otters & Ocelots

People sometimes ask me where they should go to view wildlife. That rather depends on what they want to see! Most of us think of the Big 5 and that’s certainly a great place to start. Many different destinations in Africa tick that box. But what next? In the last few years I’ve been lucky enough to see orangutans in Borneo, lemurs in Madagascar, bears in Canada and those truly amazing polar bears (and walruses) up in the Arctic. So, how would a trip to the Brazilian Pantanal stack up? Would we see jaguars?   …