
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

Feb 6, 2022 • 41min
S2E26: South(west) Pacific, an interview with Peter Kaestner - Part 1
This week is the first of a two-part interview with adventurous and accomplished world birder Peter Kaestner. He tells Charley and Ken some stories from his time in New Guinea, including a couple of hair-raising helicopter rides, and a day of birding in the company of cannibals.
One minor clarification: when Peter mentioned Blue-and-white Kingfisher, the species he actually had in mind was Blue-black Kingfisher. Easily confused!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Shovel-billed Kingfisher recording courtsey of Frank Lambert, XC38394. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/38394.
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

Jan 30, 2022 • 50min
S2E25: Oceania with Lisle Gwynn
Charley chats with fellow Tropical Birding guide Lisle Gwynne about his exploits in Oceania.
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Tongan Megapode recording courtesy of Huw Lloyd, XC63005. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/63005.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com or cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Jan 23, 2022 • 42min
S2E24: Herping with Kevin Hutcheson. Gators, haunted houses & fairies!?
Charley chats with herpetologist Kevin Hutcheson about his adventures in pursuit of snakes & salamanders.
Check out Kevin's instagram https://www.instagram.com/culvert_kev/
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Alligator recording courtsey of US Fish & Wildlife Service. https://www.fws.gov/video/sound.htm
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com or cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Jan 14, 2022 • 57min
S2E23: Travel safety
This week Charley & Ken chat about safety and security while travelling.
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Rufous-collared Sparrow recording courtsey of Javier, XC695592. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/695592.
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

Jan 7, 2022 • 55min
S2E22: Top Namibian birds with Charley & Ken
Charley & Ken talk about their top 5 birds in Namibia and the amazing places they are found in.
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Suothern Carmine Bee-eater recording courtesy of Derek Solomon, XC41604. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/41604.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
Feel free to contact us at: ken.behrens@gmail.com or cfchesse@gmail.com
Naturally Adventurous Podcast
Travel Nature Adventure Birding

Jan 3, 2022 • 1h 18min
S2E21: Red-breasted Nuthatch madness, a.k.a. the Woodstock of birding. Ken chats with Julian Hough about birding culture (Part 2)
Ken chats with good friend of the podcast Julian Hough, about birding culture. This week, Julian tells about the British "twitching" (rare bird chasing) scene when he was a young man. Need to see a bird that's 100s of miles away, but you have no car, no money, and you're on crutches? No problem!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Siberian Thrush recording courtesy of Marta Celej, XC666367. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/666367
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

Dec 27, 2021 • 57min
S2E20: Stringing, Twitching, and Getting Gripped! Ken chats with Julian Hough about birding culture (Part 1)
Ken chats with good friend of the podcast Julian Hough, about birding culture. We explore modern birding compared with birding 20-30 years ago, as well as American versus British birding. Julian has some crazy stories about what people will do to climb their way up the birding hierarchy!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
Siberian Thrush recording courtesy of Yann Muzika, XC664515. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/664515.
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

Dec 17, 2021 • 38min
S2E19: Namibia highlights & SNAKES!!!
A chat with naturalist Dayne Braine about some of our Namibia tour highlights and some great Snake stories.
If you wish to support Dayne's book on geckos, contact him directly at: https://web.facebook.com/dayne.braine
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

Dec 10, 2021 • 14min
S2E18: Namibia mini-episode
A brief chat about snakes, scorpions and other dangerous animals with naturalist Dayne Braine who is currently co-leading a Namibia tour with Charley.
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

Dec 3, 2021 • 1h 8min
S2E17: Ken's Top 5 Adventures in Mozambique and Malawi
Ken spent a rugged and adventurous month on the road in southeast Africa. Here he tells the stories of his top five adventures from that time. These include noisy nights shared with hippos and elephants, and being stuck in immigration purgatory between two countries!
If you wish to support this podcast, please visit our patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/naturallyadventurous?fan_landing=true
African Pitta recording courtesy of Gareth K., XC445833. Accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/445833.
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