We encountered many wild and interesting animals on our travels, and not all of them were in the youth hostels. Here are some of our top animal moments:
1) Watching a Panda piss like a horse in Chengdu. Its 7am and the forest is swathed in mist. Quietly, delicately, we approach the form of a sleeping animal. Its our first encounter with a giant panda. We watch in stunned silence for some time, then suddenly, it stirs! Yawning and stretching, it gets to its feet and ambles towards the assembled group. The whirring and clicking of cameras reaches a frenzy. What will it do next? The panda turns its back and squats down right in front of us. We gasp with delight. Oh but wait! What is it doing? Oh my god! We hear the sound of gushing water, steam rises from the grass, mingling with morning mist. The panda is having a piss. And not just a little tinkle, its a frickin’ fire hose! He’s putting on a real show now, but I know that this kind of flow is unsustainable. It won’t be long before panda boy has run out of juice and must bring his water show to an early end. Except that he doesn’t. He just keeps going and going….and going. The crowd don’t quite know how to react, At first there is an awkward silence, then nervous laughter…but by the time it is finished, we were all doing the crossword or phoning friends and family to pass the time. So, you may have achieved much with your life, and seen many things…but if you think you’re all that, then let me ask you this: Have you ever seen a Giant Panda piss like a horse? Pissing like a horse on a pile of its own fresh poo? Well, have you?
No. Didn’t think so.
2) The Wiggedy Worm. I made first contact with this crazy little critter at a toilet in Long Sheng rice terraces. This video footage is both rare and hard earned, because lets be real, video cameras in public urinals are always going to get the other patron’s heckles up. It may be some undiscovered species, or possibly an alien from outer space. All I know is that its the Wiggedy Worm and its the craziest little thing that I’ve ever seen.
I played this video over and over many times during our trip. I began realise how the Wiggedy Worm’s travels parallels our own confused, post-modern existence. We too are just trying to feel our way through life, not knowing where we are coming or going. And just like the Wiggedy Worm, despite all of our hardships and the twists and turns, we often end up right back where we started.
3) Bug Bowling in Xian. This one may not please the tree huggers, but it sure 
as hell put a big smile on Si Phong’s face. We found a large beetle basking in the sun in Xian. Just as I was getting in close to line up a macro shot, a small berry flew across and flipped it on its back. I only needed to hear the laughter to know who where the berry came from. It was a shot in a million, and thus bug bowling was born.
4) Seal and Penguin watching in the Otago Peninsula. We spent an unforgettable evening watching fur seals and yellow penguins at the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand. It was birthing time for the seals, so we were lucky enough to see the new born pups with their placentas still attached. We also caught a young sea lion….who’s face was so ugly that it took me a while to distinguish which end was its head and which was its arsehole.
More top animal moments to follow…
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