25/8/05
A 6.15 start and a long wait at the airport saw me on a Singapore Airlines flight headed for Singapore, I watched Hitchhiker’s Guide, Sin City and Troy, all were good none great, Troy finished just before we came in to land. I wandered the shops looking for the McKinnon Phillipps guide but couldn’t find one. Saw House Crow and Common Myna at the airport. A short flight later and I was in Jakarta, after the usual hassles of being hustled I found the free transfer bus to the Sheraton hotel which I found out you’re supposed to tip the driver from a business man who shared the ride with me, he paid the tip. The Sheraton is cheap at A$100 a night for the luxury, but I don’t intend to make a habit of it. I was soon sitting around the table with Jan, Chris and Stuart. I didn’t have any dinner and after hearing a Savannah Nightjar I was asleep by 21.30
26/8
After stuffing myself on the free buffet brekkie we went to Muara Anke and got Darter, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Javan Pond Heron, Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Sunda Teal, White-breasted Waterhen, Purple Swamphen, Common Sandpiper, Spotted Turtledove, Island Collared Dove, Cave Swiftlet, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Collared Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Sunda Woodpecker, Pacific Swallow, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Common Iora, Bar-winged Prinia, Pied Fantail, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Great Tit, Yellow-bellied Sunbird, White-breasted Woodswallow, Racket-tailed Treepie, Black-winged Starling, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Nutmeg Manikin. One of the disgusting things about Indonesia is the pollution, we had found a track that went to the sea, but the seashore was absolutely foul, with a rubbish strewn, smelly, corrupted site that made me nauseous, the water was more oil than water. The river that flows alongside the reserve is choked with rubbish. Back to the hotel and I went for a wander around and found Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Javan Myna, Great Egret, and a Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker. Shower, checked out and had a nice satay but with hairs and ants, got the shuttle-bus to the airport, there were no money changers at the domestic terminal, so we caught the free yellow bus to terminal 2, Jan and Stuart went to change money I went looking for the field guide again with no success. Spent an anxious 10min looking for the others downstairs, and eventually found them upstairs. A 30min flight found us in Bandar Lumpung where we met our driver for the trip and headed off to Way Kambas, we stopped several times to pick up bottled water, food and a very nice meal with just a hint of too much chilli for me, this meant that we didn’t get to the gate until 21.00 and they wouldn’t let us in because we didn’t have the right paperwork, very Voganesque (HHG), we had to go back and get the right permits, but when we came back with them they still wouldn’t let us in and ushered us to a guest house on the edge of the park, it was 22.30 before we got settled.
27/8
Up at dawn and drove in to the park to the house we would stay in, and then walked back along the track before having bread and mango at 9.30 for brekkie, then did a loop through the jungle on a leech infested track, we spent more time pulling off leeches than birding, I still ended up with 3 leech bites, back for a late lunch at 14.30 that Yarni our driver cooked for us of fried noodles, it was a bit mouth burning. Lazed around the camp and saw a huge Common water Monitor. Stuart had brushed against a hairy caterpillar on the walk that stung him. Saw Black-throated Falconet, Crested Fireback, Emerald Dove, Spotted Turtledove, Green Imperial Pigeon, Black-bellied Malkoha, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Raffle’s Malkoha, Cave Swiftlet, Silver-rumped Needletail, Whiskered Treeswift, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Red-crowned Barbet, Brown Barbet, Yellow-bellied Bulbul, Cream-vented Bulbul, Red-eyed Bulbul, Hairy-backed Bulbul, Ashy Tailorbird, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Sooty-capped Babbler, Black-capped Babbler, Chestnut-winged Babbler, Black-throated Babbler, Crimson-breasted Flowepecker, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Sumatran Drongo, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Thick-billed Spiderhunter, Balck-naped Monarch. After a rather spicy fried rice and mango we went out for a spotlight, we saw nothing but heard Bay Owl and Javan Frogmouth. By the end I was exhausted and could barely stand up, as soon as we got back I crashed.
28/8
During the night we heard Brown Hawk Owl. Up at dawn, brekkie was white bread, sugar bread and a green mandarin. Didi the ranger took us up the river in the boat, we started out paddling, we walked across savannahs where we saw elephant dung and footprints, after wading along the river we got our quarry, White-winged Duck, also Lesser Adjutant, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Olive-backed Woodpecker. Saw the beautiful Prevost’s Squirrel, Black Giant Squirrel, Barking Deer and Siamang Gibbons hooting throughout the day. Eurasian Wild Pigs invaded the camp at one stage. Rested in the early afternoon, then got the boat ride down the river again with Didi, seeing Black Bittern, Purple Heron, Javan Pond Heron, Storm’s Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Lesser Fish eagle, Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon, Asian Palm-swift, White-throated Kingfisher, Small Blue Kingfisher, Red-bearded Bee-eater, White-bellied Woodpecker, Black and Red Broadbill, Black and Yellow Broadbill, Lesser Cuckoo-shrike, Fiery Minivet, Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Olive-winged Bulbul, Blue-winged Leafbird, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, White-breasted Woodswallow, Large-billed Crow, Javan Myna, also saw Silvered Leaf Monkey. Dinner was surprisingly mild, went spotlighting and heard Gould’s Frogmouth.
29/8
Up at dawn, not much left for brekkie; just dry bread and an apple. We were driven up the river a few kms and we walked from there, got Javan Munia, Common Hill Myna, Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker, Buff-vented Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Scarlet Minivet, Banded Pitta, Green Broadbill, Buff-rumped Woodpecker, Banded Woodpecker, Black Hornbill, Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Edible-nest Swiftlet, Rock Dove, Great Argus, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black-winged Kite, Jerdon’s Baza. The Great Argus was as long as the road was wide as it slowly ambled across it, we were stuffed by the time we got picked up, but we were still finding new birds. A long drive back to Bandar Lumpung, stopped at one point to look at the huge concrete houses that the locals make for the Edible-nest Swiftlet, so that they can harvest the nest material. Four very smelly people walked in to the Marco Polo hotel a mid-priced hotel. After a shower we all felt better, Stuart, Chris and I took a taxi down town but could find no book for me and no post cards, got a taxi back. Dinner was very nice; one of the dishes was a butter sauce seafood, very yummy, bed not long after.
30/8
Up a bit late today enjoyed the view across the bay from the balcony, part of brekkie was a very nice melon juice. Drove to Kota Agung, it took forever to get our permit for the forest, found the hotel Satia, not too good, Stuart and I have to share a bed. Jan stayed behind as he wasn’t feeling good, I’m getting Stuart’s cold but just a sore throat at this stage, but I wake up with a headache and puffy eyes in the mornings. We drove to the NP via one of the worst roads I’ve been on, it was steep and it looks like it doesn’t get fixed after the rainy season so there were huge potholes, one gang was filling the potholes and charging a rph1,000 toll to let us pass, picked up our compulsory guide, drove a little further and walked in to the jungle. We followed a ridge then dropped down, went most of the way down then turned back. We heard more birds than we saw, and we didn’t hear many. My knee got sore so I didn’t follow them down the road. Back for another Padang meal, much of which I’m not willing to eat, added Rufous-winged Philentoma, Asian Glossy Starling, Oriental White-eye, Horsefield’s Babbler, Wreathed Hornbill, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Black Eagle, bed after a cold mandi. The mandi is a common feature of older style hotels, it is basically a big square cistern of water in a tiled room usually with a squat toilet next to it which is just a hole with a bit of porcelain for you to stand on as you squat, you use the water out of the mandi to pour down the toilet, and for when you’re washing to pour over your head as you stand next to it. Given the heat of the days here the mandis are surprisingly cold. Toilet paper is a non-existent commodity here, so I always bring my own, though the toilet is not designed to take toilet paper and is often hard to flush away with the small cup that is supplied with the mandi, it’s all part of the adventure!
31/8
We took pity on the driver and went the long way round to Liwa, but it took most of the day, had a look at a cemetery, very eerie place with the spectacular Flamboyant Trees. It was late arvo by the time we got our room, all wood panelling and slate mosaic floor, the mandi was in better condition than last night’s. Went for a walk down the hill but found no new birds, we did get a raptor in the fields today but couldn’t agree on what it was, so the only addition was Long-tailed Shrike, we were all a bit down and I was even further down when we ended up at another Padang restaurant for dinner. The trouble with Padang restaurants is that they have no refrigeration, so the food sits in the window all day, it’s usually very dry, unappetizing food, and a lot of it is very spicy, I’m usually restricted to one or two dishes and rice that I can stomach, the only advantage is it’s cheap. Bed soon after.
1/9
Drove down past the village and walked along the road, added a few more birds and a lot of diesel fumes in the cool mountain air. Jani came and collected us and told us that we had to get a permit, so lost 1½hrs and rph50,000, and gained another useless guide. Had lunch in the village overlooking the fish pond where the food scraps went. Jan went back sick, Chris refused to get his feet wet, so Stuart and I went along the waterfall track which was a bit of a quagmire and picked up a few more birds, another frigging Padang dinner. New birds for today were White-rumped Munia, Purple-throated Sunbird, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Sunda Laughingthrush, Spotted Fantail, Chestnut-naped Forktail, Verditer Flycatcher, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Sunda Whistlingthrush, Green Iora, Scaly-breasted Bulbul, Grey Wagtail, Sunda Woodpecker, Greater Coucal. Stuart got a bit irate with me when in the lead I flushed the forktail twice on the waterfall track before we got a look at it.
2/9
I had to put my jumper on this morning, more chilli fried rice for brekkie. Walked down the road again, less traffic today, but less birds too, still managed to add a few. Batu Raja was our aim for today and the hotel Harison. I slept a bit on the back seat of the van. At one point we stopped by a largish river and had a mango or three, we used my plate and I didn’t see that they hadn’t used bottled water and rather than waste it I started to drink it, I had taken one gulp and had a second mouthful before they stopped me, I rinsed out my mouth and waited for the reaction, I felt a bit nauseous in the arvo, the next test would be what comes out the other end. We found a Chinese restaurant and filled up on nice food, I was happy. New birds today were, White-bellied Yuhina, Grey-bellied Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Asian House Martin, Blue-eared Barbet, Helmeted Hornbill, Blyth’s Hawk-eagle, Oriental Honey Buzzard.
3/9
Breakfast was a bit ordinary; a small potato filo, on the road by 7.00. The Trans-Sumatran Highway is a bit of a tortuous track, much of the day was spent in first gear negotiating road sized potholes, for much of the way there was only one line through the potholes so when traffic beat you to it you either wait for them or bump through the pothole, some were so big there was no option but to wait. One bridge had a collapsed concrete slab which little boys were directing trucks around and charging. Most villages were collecting money for their mosque, and block the road to make you slow down then dangle butterfly nets in front of you to drop your cash in to. We stopped at Lubuklinggau at the Hotel Royal, it took all day to do 300k. Stuart didn’t like the room we were given which was as nice as Jan and Chris’s, so went and complained, Jani had to come back to interpret, ½hr later we had a slightly bigger room next to the noisy main road with a squeaky a/c. I won the toss for the bed so he got the mattress on the floor. Last night’s hotel was much nicer for less money. We had Chinese again, including a very yummy calamari in honey and garlic, had a durian juice, it doesn’t smell as bad as I’d thought, but it doesn’t taste as good as I’d hoped. Had Strawberry Ice-cream for desert for A$1 equivalent. I discovered one thing here that you don’t wave your arm at a waiter to gain his attention, you raise it and do a little raking motion with your fingers, so Stuart said after giving me a nasty look, and I’d asked what I’d done wrong. Only added Woolly-necked stork, Barn Swallow, Brahminy Kite today, though we didn’t stop much.
4/9
On the road early, we had morning tea and Bangko, then we made our way up to Kirinci lake, on the mud flats and swamps we got a few new birds, then up through the tea plantations into the dank rain, finally arriving at our homestay. Susan had already been there a few days, we added Common Myna, Lesser Coucal, Long-tailed Parakeet, Pin-tailed Snipe, Common Moorhen, Pacific Black Duck, also a Banded Leaf Monkey. I set up my mozzie net over my bed just to be sure.
5/9
Up when it was still dark, brekkie was banana and chocolate pancakes, got driven up the goat track to the start of the forest, it was ratty to start with, but steadily improved to good trees and flowers, walked up hill til 14.00 and returned, we lost Jan and Chris towards the end as a light rain began to fall, I was glad I’d strapped my knee, it makes it difficult to lift on steep climbs, but it didn’t get inflamed. We were all a bit worn out by the end of the day. I had fallen twice during the day on the greasy slope, once staining the back of my arms, dinner wasn’t good, the chicken was dry and overcooked and I’ve been reduced to drinking tea. Added Rusty-breasted Wren-babbler, Pygmy Wren-babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, White-browed Shrike-babbler, Long-tailed Sibia, Great Tit, Blue Nuthatch, Mountain White-eye, Black-capped white-eye, White-throated Fantail, Rufous-vented Niltava, Indigo Flycatcher, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Sunda Warbler, Mountain Leaf-warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Sunda Bush-warbler, Hill Prinia, White-browed Shortwing, Shiny Whistlingthrush, Orange-spotted Bulbul, Grey-chinned Minivet, Sunda Minivet, Fire-tufted Barbet, Sumatran Trogon, Glossy Swiftlet, Wedge-tailed Pigeon, Slaty-breasted Rail, Golden Babbler, also added Mountain Tree-shrew, Loe’s Squirrel, Three-striped Ground-squirrel and a calotes dragon that changed from black to green. Bed 21.00
6/9
I woke up feeling sick and feverish and nauseous, up the track early again every step accentuated the nausea, so as a consequence a lot less fruitful today, back by 12.30 for lunch and slept the arvo away, I woke up just in time to go spotlighting down by the river bed. Added Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Short-tailed Frogmouth, Barred Eagle Owl.
7/9
Up a bit later than usual, still not feeling well, struggled down the usual banana chocolate pancake and up the track, it wasn’t as much of a struggle today, though the birds still seem to be decreasing in abundance. Back by 12.30 again, helped Susan crop her photos on her laptop, back up the hill at 15.30 and stayed til dark to spotlight, added Green Magpie, Lesser Shortwing, Sunda Whistlingthrush, Asian Brown Flycatcher. The power was off when we left, but had come back on before we got back, which meant that I could have hot water to go with the mandi, luxury! I had made a mistake in that I had turned the tap on to fill mandi when the power was off, so no water came out, but then for some reason didn’t turn the tap off. When I got back my mandi had overflowed, which is no big problem in that it just flows across the tiled floor and out the drain, but I had left my toilet roll on the edge of the mandi, and it was ruined, disaster! Thankfully Jan gave me some of his to use the crouch toilet. The water was off again later, this time I turned the tap off… I hope.
8/9
Rained in early morning, but cleared by the time we arose, drove over to Mt Tujuh a huge volcano with a lake caldera, a long walk up through the tangle of roots, and a short steep walk to the lake called Danau Tujuh. Paksubandi hauled our lunches and stove for a cuppa. On the way back we had some light rain which turned medium as we got back to the van, drove a short distance to the waterfall that emanates from the caldera. In the rain the birds were disappointing but the waterfall was thunderous, back for a mid afternoon laze which lasted until dinner then bed. New birds were: Checker-throated Woodpecker, Orange-backed Woodpecker, Collared Owlet.
9/9
Once more unto the mountain we ventured, up to the destroyed shelter, my knees are starting to deteriorate as are my boots in the muddy mire of the track, as are the birds, I’m only catching up on birds that the others have already seen: Temmink’s Sunbird, Lesser Yellownape, Barred Cuckoo-dove.
10/9
Last Chocolate banana pancake, getting a bit sick of them. Last hike up the mountain, after a while we split up, I trolled the main track slowly, seeing only a few birds. Saw Stuart a few times, he wasn’t having any luck either. He said he was going to try the stream; I slowly followed him and got a prize right at the edge of the forest. I disturbed a hen peacock-pheasant and her chicks, the mother and one of the chicks took off up a gully, but one chick ran out in full view of me, but they’d got separated, there was a lot of anxious calling, and I decided to hang back and let them re-unite, which may have cost me a better view. After lunch we headed off down the mountain and checked in at the hotel Busana. I have a spacious room all to myself. After a while we headed up the Sako rd and in the late afternoon we started birding, walking down the road/track til nearly dark, then back to the hotel. Today’s new birds were: Sumatran Peacock-pheasant, Little Cuckoo-dove, Spot-necked Bulbul, Sunda Bulbul, Black and Crimson Oriole, Ashy Drongo, Sumatran Treepie.
11/9
I slept okay, my mozzie net fended off the mozzies, but during the bird call last night one got me on the foot, and overnight I’d gotten quite a reaction to it. An ordinary but plentiful brekkie, then up the mountain. The mozzie bite really irritated me all day, it got a blister and it was well swollen, I popped the blister, washed it and Jan gave me some antiseptic potion in a swap for some of my anti-fungal cream. We tried up the gully for the pitta. At one point Susan told us to wait and went on ahead promising to point it out, she saw it but then it scampered off, so no-one else got to see it, I wasn’t impressed with her tactics considering she’s a professional guide. So we slide our way down the muddy slope and had a good morning birding down the road steadily finding new birds. We drove down to Mewa Sako for some spicy mie goreng, bit too much for my liking, and hot fresh squeezed orange juice with sugar. In the heat of the afternoon we did a shorter walk up the hill which wasn’t fruitful. We went back to the pitta site and Chris, Stuart and I got it, we went back to gloat to Jan who hadn’t come up, only to find that he’d had a better view of one, we all headed back to the hotel happy that we’d got the main target bird for the area. Another lousy Padang dinner. Added Graceful Pitta, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Crimson Sunbird, Plain-throated Sunbird, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Blue-masked Leafbird, Grey-cheeked Bulbul, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Black-crowned Barbet, Wallace’s Hawk-eagle, Crested Serpent-eagle.
12/9
Nasi Goreng for brekkie, then up the mountain, the birding wasn’t so good today. At one stage I was in front when I noticed that no one was behind me, they were all 50m back looking at a new bird, no one had said anything to me, I was a miffed, especially since by the time I’d got back it was gone. By then we were all a bit birded out, Jan even admitted it to me, he said he was yearning for a bit of TV and a straight road, I just wouldn’t mind one without potholes, we went back early. The hot water was working so had a shower, the mozzie bite on my toe still hasn’t sealed up even though I wore sandals today. Dinner was a repeat of lunch with ice cream for dessert. I was surprised at how many new birds I’d seen today: Yellow-vented Bulbul, Spectacled Bulbul, Pacific Swallow, Ruddy Cuckoo-dove, Green-billed Malkoha, Barn Owl, Large Hawk-cuckoo, Black Magpie.
13/9
Up before dawn and up to the top of the pass for brekkie. The others went looking for pheasants along the ridge, my toe still isn’t too good, so I walked the road, and disturbed one, but got no view of it, added a few birds that others had already seen. At the bridge we all caught up and went to our usual place for lunch, then off to look for a hotel, we managed to find a dingy one in the area, but then couldn’t find out how to get a guide and boat for tomorrow. We were told that the park we’d intended to visit no longer existed and was now a palm oil plantation, this was our secondary spot for the White-winged Duck, so they have allowed the habitat for a rare threatened bird to be destroyed, as we drove along we certainly saw evidence of the destruction of the jungle and the endless rows of palm oil trees. So we decided to drive on to Padang and arrived at 22.30, we had an awful Pandang dinner in a truck stop; I could only stomach the rice, some cucumber and an orange drink. At dinner Jani asked Stuart if he could share my room since his accommodation was 7km away, he said yes without asking me if it was okay, it wasn’t until we were in the hotel lobby that he asked me… bit late. I laid down the rules of no smoking, no walking around nude, and no snoring. New birds: Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Wrinkled Hornbill, White-headed Munia
14/9
during the night the a/c went off, I thought Jani had turned it off, but I hadn’t noted where the control was to turn it back on, I found out in the morning that it was a power cut, but it needed to be re-set to start again. Worse still, a mozzie had got into the room, and although I retreated under the blanket sweating in the heat, it waited for me to surface, rather than get Jani. I didn’t sleep well, and woke up quite angry as anything I did or said was going to be wrong, I suffer quietly as usual. Drove to a 4 star hotel in Bukittinggi, and bought a few postcards and a table runner for rph185,000. Our rooms weren’t ready and at lunch the waiter had to come back several times for things being off the menu, it then took for ever to arrive, it was worth the wait though, I had a very tasty chicken satay. The room is nice and I have it to myself. In the late arvo we went to a nearby Rafflesia reserve, there were none in bloom, there was a small old one and a huge bud of one about to bloom. All but Susan and I are feeling sick, I’m glad I didn’t eat too much for brekkie and dinner last night. Retired to room and wrote post cards, dinner was better than Padang food but still not very good. New birds: Lesser Forktail, Oriental Magpie-robin, Cinnamon Bittern.
15/9
Jan was still too sick to come out, Chris was still not well either, so we abandoned the idea of climbing the volcano, instead Jani took us to a collapsed volcano with a huge lake. We arrived at the rim suddenly with no real climb, he dropped us at the top and we walked down to the lake through patchy jungle, the birds were a bit inactive and we were all a bit worn out by the humid heat by the time we got to the bottom where there were absolutely no birds except for sparrows. Had the best juice yet, a lime juice, though after the sweet chicken for lunch, the second one was a bit sour. Slept in the arvo til dinner, went to the Novatel, the entree of spring roll was nice, but the club sandwich was very ordinary. The margarine here has no flavour, the cheese is plastic and the chips cold. The crunch came when we had to pay for our rooms, they had decided it wouldn’t come out of kitty, the others were able to split their bills as they were sharing, I had to pay for mine alone. Mind you I got them back when I refused to tip the driver the expected rph300,000 each. I gave my reasons as not being given any choice as to whether to bunk with him the other night, he uses my binoculars without asking permission, and is presumptuously taking food. There is no doubt that he has been of great assistance to us, but the others are all richer than me so they can pay, the other thing I was not happy about was that they all drank alcohol which came out of kitty (I don’t drink alcohol) and they all ate a lot more than me, but there was no compensation for me, there was a bit of bitterness in the air. Added Red-throated Barbet, Chestnut-capped Scimitar-babbler, Baya Weaver.
16/9
Jani refused to bring the van up so I could get my scope out to pack, he had brekkie instead, so I had to go get it, had brekkie, drove to Padang waited til 12.10 flight to Jakarta, said goodbye to Stuart who’s heading off to Bali and Susan who’s heading to Halmahera, and Jan back to U.S. We thought we’d come in to terminal 1 and had to go to terminal 2 but realized we had come in to terminal 2, so did a round trip in the yellow bus, eventually got the bus to the Sheraton, which I’d hoped not to have to spend that amount on again. I went for a walk across the freeway choked with traffic to the ponds and got a Little Ringed Plover. One of the good things about expensive hotels is a really nice hot shower, gold plated knobs and all.
17/9
Got the shuttle to the airport, paid my tip this time, back to Singapore where I went into town and shopped around for a digital camera and settled on a Lumix-Panasonic with a 10x zoom for about Aus$700, so not cheap, but it’s so compact and light rather than my old Canon A1 with it heavy 200mm lens. Then went for a walk in some gardens and learnt how to use it. I slept all the way back on the plane.
If you would like to contribute the the well being of this world, our world, your world, an easy and effective way to do it is to join a quality environmental group. There are many spread across the world all plugging away trying to make the world a better place for wildlife. We belong to Birdlife Australia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). You can donate your time and or money to these and many others knowing that the world will be a slightly better place because of your effort.