First, two bits of personal news.On Friday ,I was a guest on the Fate Radio network-Parasight Radio, hosted by Justin Cancilleire.(U.S.) I had a good time doing the show, and as my interview lasted for an hour, there was some great opportunities to get into the subject.So, thanks to Justin!

I have also recently written an article for John Carlson's Paranomalist blog on whether the Orang-Pendek is the same creature as Flores man.John told me that the article had made Coast to Coast , in the U.S, and got nearly 8,ooo hits in the first week it had been published.Again ,this is really good to hear!

On the expedition front, we will now begin ordering our supplies soon, to minimise the delay in getting into the Jungle when we arrive.Time to dust out my kit and get walking with the backpack.Only a couple of months to go now....
Red.

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We are now down to the final few details of the planning of the CFZ Sumatra expedition.
Transport is organised , and the guides and field teams have been finalised.
All that remains is the ordering of the rations, and getting on with the job!
A special thanks to Glen Vaudrey for his hard work on the camera trap appeal.We will of course do our best to get that elusive photo!
For those of you on Face book with me a have some great news.We are hoping to be able to bring you updates of our adventures as they happen-jungle permitting!If you go to my status page, and click on Extreme-Expeditions, you will find the details.Andy,who created the site, is still working on it,but it looks excellent, and there will be plenty more to come.
I mentioned in my last blog how much I was looking forward to being in London.I had a fabulous time, as I always do.
I hope to be there again very soon...

Getting there!

I feel like we are making some really good progress with the expedition to Sumatra. We have ordered and paid for a lot of the equipment we will need , and Andy has done a good job working the finances out.
Importantly, Sahar will now begin to start traversing the area, and looking for recent activity of the creature, in the area where we will be operating.I am hoping of course, for some recent Orang-Pendek sightings or prints..

The Discovery Channel film has gone down really well, and proved very popular, so I am very pleased.Although Olly did say that he thought "his bum looked big" :).I have posted the film on my Facebook site, for anyone who wants to see it.

I will be travelling a lot in the next few weeks.I am in London next week, which I am really looking forward to.
Of course, I will keep you updated if I get any exciting news.........

Article on Cryptomundo

Today, I posted an article on Cryptomundo about the importancce of field research in continuning the quest for scientific evidence for the existence of cryptids.If you have the time to do so, I would encourage you to read it.
In it, I gave two particular examples of why I consider that time is running out for some of them, and given that, why the work is so important, not just for them, but for the eco systems they inhabit.It is important that field research is carried out properly, particularly in relation to the gathering of samples, and I am always happy to help, should anyone have any questions on this for me.
I would add that I have no interest in replying to the recent emails I have recieved from a gentleman in Burkina Faso suggested that we both can share milloins, if only I would send my bank account details to him!
Expedition planning is going well, and both the kitlist and finances seem almost agreed.
I was particularly pleased this week that the show I did for Discovery went down so well, and my kids loved being on it too.I hope to post a link to it on my facebook account soon, if you would like to watch it...

Filming with the Discovery Channel.

I have just been filming with the Discovery channel. For the first scene, they asked if it would be o.k. to film a tracking sequence with my kids, which I was cool with.When I told Oliver(12) about this he said"all the girls will be so impressed at school, Dad" and then quickly added," er not that I'm interested in ANY of them ! " "Yeah sure you're not,Son" I said ;)

Meanwhile, Gabriella (6) has declared that "she loves filming " and is "quite happy to work for chocolate!"!!
I am working on expedition finances for Sumatra now Sahar is better, together with Andy Sansderson. The kit list will follow shortly, but we are making good progress!!

Facebook

Yes folks, I finally joined face book.I have enjoyed playing with it over the last couple of weeks.After all, it can't get me into anymore trouble than sending texts after a night down the pub:)
Now that spring is upon us ,I am going to start upping my running, and finally give up smoking.Yeah its those patches for me!
I am starting to work out some of the objectives for how we operate the expedition in Sumatra,and after I share and discuss it with the team, I will post more on it here .What I can say now though, is that I intend to operate the teams,for the first time ever, from up to three locations,and the array of equipment we are now able to bring looks very exciting indeed!

I am looking forward to the Easter Break.At Easter in the U.K., we seem to have developed a tradition that we must, by law, gorge ourselves on chocolate at Easter.Quite what that has to do with Christ's death and resurrection,I have no idea...I read once that its some sort of Pagan crossover to do with fertility though?
Anyway, however you are spending it, and wethere you are fertile or not,I wish all readers of this blog a really great Easter.....

EdgeScience.

Tenerife was a blast! There will be more no doubt, on the blog to come.For starters though, lets just say my friend Stuart discovered a previously unknown talent for pole dancing,and was really yes really, good at it. Also Anthony, was put `on trial` ,and is now famous in Tenerife!!!!

Anyway, on to the Crypto info.I was concerned this week as the team's chief guide Sahar was hospitalised with a back injury.However, the good news is that he has recovered from that, and will be with us for the expedition later in the year. The team from Oz, has also booked their flights, and will be arriving the day before us in Sumatra.
Yesterday,I also had some really good news.I recently submitted an article for the scientific publication `EdgeScience` magazine. I am delighted to say it has made the front cover! Its out on the 15th April, if you would like to look at it.My article is entitled, `New primate species in Sumatra`.
It was great weather in Tenerife, and just as I arrived back to Manchester it started to brighten up here to.
London on Friday was really really hot! Time to start my Summer fitness training....