Wild about Wildlife!

Galapagos

When I went on an African safari in 1979 to Kenya and Tanzania I thought it was a once in a lifetime experience. I never dreamed I would someday live so close and be able to see animals in the wild practically right at my very doorstep!

So in the ensuing years I took every  opportunity to see wildlife in its natural environment.

Brooks Lodge in Katmai

Sami reindeer

Brown bears, moose, and bald eagles in Alaska, blue-footed boobies, iguana, penguins, and giant tortoises in the Galapagos, giant sloths and parrots in Costa Rica, kangaroos in Australia, puffins in Nova Scotia and Alaska, condors in Patagonia, and herds of reindeer running across the tundra in Lapland.
 
 

Glacier Bay

We swam with manatees in the mangroves of Florida, with giant sea turtles in Hawaii, and with seals in the Galapagos. We kayaked with otters in Glacier Bay and sailed with dolphins in the Caribbean. And my all-time favorite, whale-watching! In Alaska, Hawaii, Baja Mexico and off the coast of Maine and Massachusetts.
 

And if I couldn't find them in the wild, I would settle for seeing them in zoos and wildlife parks like the koalas, wombats, and duck-billed platypuses who eluded us in Australia or the stealthy jaguar in the Yucatan.



My mantra since we have moved to South Africa has been, "every day we do not see wildlife is a day wasted!" That of course is a gross exaggeration. There is much, much more to Africa than the animals, but my point is now that I am here, I feel the draw to go on safari again every single day.

Tomorrow we are going back to the wild to Kruger National Park and Thornybush Preserve. Can. Not. Wait!