
Naturally Adventurous
Charley Hesse and Ken Behrens have travelled all over the globe, and accumulated a lifetime worth of adventure stories, in pursuit of wild places and wild creatures. Both are lifelong birding and natural history fanatics, and professional guides. Charley was born in the UK, but has spent his life living in Japan, Ecuador, South Africa, and now Thailand. Ken was born in the US, and has lived in South Africa and Madagascar for the last decade plus.
Contact Ken and Charley: ken.behrens@gmail.com and cfchesse@gmail.com
Photo Galleries: https://www.ken-behrens.com/naturally-adventurous-podcast
Latest episodes

Nov 20, 2022 • 42min
S3E16: Australia chat with Charley Hesse & Jerry Connolly
Charley chats with Jerry Connolly from The Audubon Shop in Conneticut, all about Australia.
Check out The Audubon Shop's website at:
The Audubon Shop Birder Supplies, Birdwatching Supplies, Madison, CT
and the amazing Birder tripod at:
Tripods · The Audubon Shop Birder Supplies, Birdwatching Supplies, Madison, CT
Don't forget to ask about the Naturally Adventurous discount!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Laughing Kookaburra recording courtesy of Marc Anderson, XC673206. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/673206.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
Feel free to contact us at: cfchesse@gmail.com or ken.behrens@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Nov 14, 2022 • 1h 2min
S3E15: Forest Jarvis top Philippine birding adventures
Ken chats with Forest Jarvis, an American who has made his home in the Philippines. For this week's episode, Forest tells five great stories about his adventures in pursuit of birds all over the Philippines. Want to hear about his using a thermal night vision scope to keep tabs on a half-naked drunk guy who was following him as he pursued a rare and spooky-sounding endemic owl? Give this episode a listen!
You can follow Forest's adventures on his blog: https://forest-jarvis.blogspot.com
or on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/forest.jarvis
Forest is happy to provide advice to birders thinking of visiting the Philippines.
Photo gallery for this episode: https://www.ken-behrens.com/podcast-photo-gallery/naturally-adventurous---season-3---episode-14---photo-gallery
Map for this episode: https://goo.gl/maps/ZeReQt35xpx5khjY9
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Romblon Hawk-Owl recording courtesy of past Naturally Adventurous interviewee Ross Gallardy, XC403714. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/403714.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Feel free to contact us at: cfchesse@gmail.com or ken.behrens@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Nov 6, 2022 • 52min
S3E14: Ken chats with Forest Jarvis about the Philippines
Ken chats with Forest Jarvis, an American who has made his home in the Philippines. This week's episode is something of an introduction to this country that we haven't previously discussed much on the podcast. We wrap up the episode with the first of six tales of Philippine birding adventures, a taste of what's to come next week, in the second part of this interview.
You can follow Forest's adventures on his blog: https://forest-jarvis.blogspot.com
or on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/forest.jarvis
Forest is happy to provide advice to birders thinking of visiting the Philippines.
Photo gallery for this episode: https://www.ken-behrens.com/podcast-photo-gallery/naturally-adventurous---season-3---episode-14---photo-gallery
Map for this episode: https://goo.gl/maps/ZeReQt35xpx5khjY9
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Philppine Coucal recording courtesy of Jelle Scharringa, XC605488. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/605488.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com or cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Oct 30, 2022 • 1h 4min
S3E13: Julian's Driving Stories
Ken chats with good friend of the podcast Julian Hough, in a followup episode to the Charley-and-Ken driving episode of a few weeks ago. Listening to that episode prompted a bunch of memories in Julian, some good, and some downright terrifying. Some of these stories sounded so good that we had to have him back on the podcast to tell them. Hear about how Julian almost met his end in a driving Molotov cocktail after a 5-day trek across India and Nepal on public transport!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Indian Peafowl recording courtesy of Peter Boesman, XC311416. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/311416.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com or cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Oct 23, 2022 • 42min
S3E12: Italy chat with Charley & Ken
Charley & Ken chat all about Italy while on a drive together in South Africa. Apologies for the poor sound quality of this episode.
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Italian Sparrow recording courtesy of Filippo Ceccolini, XC732400. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/732400.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com or cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Oct 15, 2022 • 37min
S2E11: The Sultanate of Oman
This week Charley & Ken chat about the Middle Eastern Sultanate of Oman. Vast deserts, rugged mountains, and gorgeous coastline, all at the biogeographic and anthropological junction point between Africa and Asia.
Crowned Sandgrouse recording courtesy of Fernand Deroussen, XC165545. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/165545.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Feel free to contact us at: cfchesse@gmail.com OR ken.behrens@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Oct 9, 2022 • 51min
S3E10: Language learning
This week Charley & Ken chat about language learning.
Superb Lyrebird recording courtesy of Greg McLachlan, XC355066. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/355066.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Feel free to contact us at: cfchesse@gmail.com OR ken.behrens@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Oct 2, 2022 • 59min
S3E9: Language in South Africa
This week Charley & Ken chat about language in South Africa.
Bokmakierie recording courtesy of Frank Lambert, XC516032. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/516032.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Feel free to contact us at: cfchesse@gmail.com OR ken.behrens@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Sep 25, 2022 • 49min
S2E8: Top 3 South Africa Tour Highlights
Charley and Ken had this chat in person just after their recent South Africa trip wrapped up. They each relate their top three sightings or experiences from the trip. Want to hear about Charley's top African nemesis mammal being vanquished? About a crazy irruption of a rare blossom-munching semi-desert bird? Or hear a Lion give a literally earth-shaking roar? Listen on!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com OR cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Sep 18, 2022 • 44min
S3E7: Jerry Connolly Interview - Part 2
This is the second part of Ken and Charley's chat with their good friend Jerry Connolly. Jerry has had "two lives", one as a pro musician, and one as a bird store proprietor. This week's episode focuses mostly on the music side of Jerry's life. Want to hear about the time Jerry hung out with Keith Richards? Check out the episode!
To order *The Birder* Tripod, with the discount code mentioned during this episode, write to Jerry via e-mail (info@theaudubonshop.com) or call the US phone number of the Audubon Shop (203-245-9056).
Northern Cardinal recording courtesy of Peter Boesman, XC280813. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/280813.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Feel free to contact us at: cfchesse@gmail.com OR ken.behrens@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding