Experiencing wildlife in Asia is one of the world’s great natural adventures. Few countries can compete with Indonesia for its diversity of terrain, flora, and fauna that thrive on soaring volcanoes, sandy beaches, humid jungles, and everything in between. Today we’re going to chat with travel journalist and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Mark Eveleigh, about what Indonesia has to offer those in search of wildlife and how to best approach this sort of trip. 

Trevor and Scott Banter about Mark’s last visit on the show in late 2022: Episode #158 – Kopi Dulu: Exploring Indonesia with Mark Eveleigh, revisiting Mark’s book, Kopi Dulu, and sharing a wildlife element that they’re both curious to learn about on this show.

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Our guest, Englishman Mark Eveleigh, was first on our show in Dec. 2022. We’re having him back to share more about Indonesia, as he has such a rich history there, particularly with the release of his book about the country, Kopi Dulu. Mark’s been a travel writer for more than 25 years and truly done it all. He’s authored 12 books, more than 850 full-length travel features for 120-plus publications, including Esquire, Sports Illustrated and National Geographic, among others, covering travel in more than 70 countries around the world. He joins us online from South Africa.

Listen to the episode to hear Mark answer the following Questions:

• Welcome back Mark. So, during our last chat, we focused on Indonesia as a travel destination, drawing from experiences during the travel and writing of your book Kopi Dulu. Today we’re going to focus on a specific type of trip – one to see and experience wildlife.
• So for those that missed your last chat with us, where are you from, and how did you get into the writing business in Asia?
• Great, so why is Indonesia a good choice for a wildlife-focused trip in Asia?
• Key fauna one might dream about and plan to see?
• Do people need to pick one island or could one go to many places in a single trip?
• In Kopi Dulu, you mention going to Kerinci Seblat National Park (Lots of tigers?) – is that park a good spot to consider, and why?
• Where did you do the orangutan experience, how does you get there, and how long you need?

• You mention staying at RIMBA Ecolodge – just south of Padang, along the coast of Sumatra which sounded like a pretty special place.
• Work through other top islands and sites in conversation – back and forth between Trevor and Scott
• How about we work our way through some of your other favorite national parks, moving from west to east?
• That tough question Mark, someone has three weeks and a moderate budget, where does Mark tell them to experience wildlife and how do they do it?
• Let’s wind up by learning about your book Kopi Dulu, which recounts your travel across Indonesia and much of the inspiration for this conversation came from. Tell us a bit more about it and how people can read it.

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