Views from top of Mosquito Island

After our hike, Richard took us on a tour of the development that is happening on Mosquito Island.

After biodiversity walk, Richard took us on another hike to see the views from his Mosquito Island. 

View of Necker Island from Mosquito Island.

This is a piece of heaven for sure....

 

This is the current development of his house on the beach.  It will be gorgeous.  His goal with this development is to make it as ecology friendly as possible.

 

One More Feeding with Lemurs

I can't get enough of these little guys, so I went with Kelly and Wing to feed them at 4:30pm today (feeding time).

 

 

This is Kelly and Wing Lam (Wahoo Fish Taco founder) enjoying our furry friends.  Wing is a great example of breaking down barriers of culture and embracing possibilities....He is a Chinese man, born in Brazil, selling Mexican food.

 

Dreams Come True

Ever since last year when I read his book, Screw Business as Usual, and was so impressed with the number of amazing things Richard Bransonn was doing around the world to make it a much better place, I have wanted to meet him.   Not only have I got to meet him, but I have had the privilege of  getting to know him better and he is truly a great man.  Dreams come true!

Getting to and Enjoying Mosquito Island

Got an excellent workout in today, sea kayaking from Necker Island to Mosquito Island where we had the privilege of a biodiversity walk with two of the professors from Oxford.  It was a magnificent day - blue sky, sunshine, nice temps 26C.  Everyone had several choices how to get to Mosquito - power boat, sea kayaking, paddleboarding, or sailing.  Chris and I chose sea kayaking - we each had a kayak to ourselves, but kept together and had great fun!  Who knew a brilliant astrophysicist could also be so absolutely hilarious!

The biodiversity walk was led by Dr. Kathy Willis (left) and Dr. Charles Godfray (right) - they are showing us this enormous caterpillar which is going to turn into a moth about 1 1/2 the size of your hand.  Walking with Charles is like going on a walk with an encyclopia - incredible knowledge.  He jokes that he is really a 18th century naturalist.

That's Jack and Ludo in the background - they've been with us all week photographing and filming.  They are both Richard's nephews.  Super nice guys.  Their brother is the one that just married Kate Winslet.  Ludo did a documentary on the devastation of Madagascar that we saw one night, that he made for Richard.  Jack is the one who woke everyone up at the Great House when the lightning struck.  He was the only one who heard it.  If it hadn't been for him, there might have been a very tragic outcome.

 

After the biodiversity walk, we had a picnic lunch on the beach.

Charles is showing Richard the mating behaviors of some insects in this tree.  They are joined and one flies forward and one flies backward -the insects are in the picture, but unfortunately it looks like you can't see them. 

Here is the view from the beach from the picnic lunch.

Here is our Oxford academics and Richard.  From left to right is Dr Kathy Willis (biodiversity), Dr. Chris Lintott (cosmology),  Dr. Charles Godfrey (food farming/biology), Dr Sonia Trequeros (nanotechnology), and Dr. Ian Goldin (director of Oxford Martin School).  They are huge intellects and really nice people!

 

 

Breakfast with the Lemurs...You Gotta See This!

OMG, I got to go with the lemur caretaker this morning for their feeding.  It was fanastic!  These creatures are so special - I'm so happy that Richard has taken the time and effort to save them.  90% of Madagascar natural habitats have been destroyed through development, and with that - the demise of this beautiful species.  The are classified as prosimmian (before primates) - they are an ancient animal and humans have unfortunately put them in danger of becoming extinct.  For only 5 hours of 1 day in a year, are lemurs fertile - so reproduction is very challenging. 

I hope you enjoy these pic's - the video's are even better - I'll have to wait to post those to Facebook later.  If you want to have your mind blown, go the the last 4 photos.....caretaker explained what they are doing....unbelievable!!!

Once they know you have their breakfast, you are their new best friend.

How can you not love that face??

When they eat, they take a bite and then tilt their head back and chew so it can go down their throat better.

They love the bananas and grapes best, then they hit the vegetables.

Their hands are so velvety soft.

 

Ok here's the coolest possible thing I could have imagined.  Once they are done eating in the morning with you, they go and sit in lotus position, arms outstretch and let as much sunshine hit their belly.  Basically they do yoga and meditation every morning!!!  Totally amazing!

Here is the front view.

 

 Another one joins....

Then another joins...ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!

Pictures of the Houses on Necker

Richard's Great House that is being rebuilt after it burnt to the ground several months ago after a lightning strike during a hurricane.

This is the one side of Richard's Main House which you can see from my Love Temple House.

This is the pond near Bali Hi House - on the far side of the pond are about 50 endangered flamingos.

This is Bali Hi House.

This is the Bali Cliff House (tall one) and Bali Beach House.

This is the beach near Bali Cliff, Bali Hi, and Bali Beach houses.

On this beach, this is the table we had supper on tonight.  Great meal, they had a big bonfire going, flamingos squawking on one side, waves crashing on the other - it is a magical place.

 Here is a closer view of the flamingos on the pond.

This is the Bali Lo House (left) and Bali Bauh (right - partially covered)

This is Bali Kukili House.

This is one of the paths from the Bali Lo, Bali Bauh and Bali Kukili Houses to go back to the Beach House and main dock.

Some lovely flowers have been planted at various places around the island, but the native vegetation is shrubs and trees, not flowers.

Dinner with Richard and the Stars

I had the fortune again to sit across from Richard tonight at dinner.  He is truly an outstanding individual.  He has some great stories from the scary night when lightning struck the Great House during a hurricane and started on fire with his mother, daughter, nieces and nephews, and friends all in the house.  I'm sure you may have heard it on the news, but Kate Winslet was one of the guests and saved his mother.  He tells the details of that night which sounded pretty darn scary.  Most of all he owned here burned to the ground, but he was just happy that no one got hurt.   I've got to know his nephew (who is here as the photographer for the conference) while I've been here and his nephew says despite the fact that it was Richard that lost the most, he was the first one to rally everyone around being positive and thinking of how great the new rebuilt house will look.

He is kind, generous, humble and a genuine nice person.  He loves his lemurs (as do I now after being with them today) and loves Necker Island and his game reserve in South Africa, both which honor Mother Earth/Gaia.  I admired him since I read his book last year and was a big reason that I applied to come to Necker Island - he has done nothing but increase that admiration for what he is trying to do.  I am honored to get to know him better this week - what a chance of a lifetime!

2nd floor of Beach House - sorry blurry IPOD photo.  It is a beautiful venue.

Same room with comfy couches on either side of long banquet table.

Chris Lintott, my new favourite astrophysicist and new friend, was showing us the 9 billion history of the stars tonight.  He brought his gigantic telescope and we started with Jupiter and her moons, then went through nebula, moved to clusters, saw single stars, and admired dying stars.  I LOVE astronomy and the stars (I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little).    Man, it was cool!   It was a perfect night - clear, warm and a night sky absolutely FULL of stars.  I cannot look up into a starry night like tonight and not feel the presence of something so magnificant, so meaningful, and so magical.  

Now for a bit of reflection as I feel like I have been in a state of bliss ever since arriving here (other than missing Amber terribly).  This trip is beyond description in terms of how much it has meant to me.  Almost everything I love, that I am passionate about, that I enjoy, that I think is important is part of this trip in some way.  I am filled with inspiration with almost every conversation, discussion, event, and quiet moment.   The magnitude of gratitude I feel exceeds any words I could give it.  Richard commented last night when asked how he was able to accomplish what he has...."if you see a need or something that can be better and you have the means to fill it, you just do".   I know I will be asking myself after this conference - what can I do to fill the needs I see?   I hope that I can inspire others to join me in that question.  One person can make a difference - that one person could be each of us.  And if one person, turns into 2 or 4 or 10, wouldn't that be BRILLIANT!