animals - 3/13 - i should log off

Photo: Water Buffalo

September 30, 2011 By Danny

On Safari in the famed Ngorogoro Crater is where we came across this water buffalo. We had been driving around and although we’ve seen tons of Water Buffalo, something about this guy just caught our eye. He was actually munching on some grass, if you look closely you can see it on his tongue, but the way I managed to capture the picture it looks like he’s spitting his tongue out at the camera.

The crater itself is a rather special place. It is a stunning feature in the African Rift Valley and is filled with all the African mega fauna you could want. We spent one day in this crater and saw just about every animal we could possibly want with the exception of a leopard or cheetah. The lions were so tired they came right up and took a rest in the shade of our car. One day was literally all we needed inside the valley as we didn’t get a break from wildlife viewing all day long.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: We visited the Ngorogoro Crater while on Safari with Peter Tours. Our Safari was 3 days long which was actually plenty. We booked from Moshi (a smaller town near Arusha) and camped, although the Crater has a beautiful lodge on its rim overlooking everything below. The Arusha airport is served by direct, daily flights from Europe but many people will fly into Nairobi, Kenya and go for the 6 hour ride across the border. If you’re doing a longer safari you’ll probably want to check out the Serengeti but for just a short safari the Ngorogoro Crater is all you’ll need.

Photo: Penguins on Parade

September 23, 2011 By Jillian

Fun fact for today, the word for penguin is similar in many different languages: penguin (english), pingüino (Spanish), penguin (French), pinguino (Italian), pinguin (German). Standing near the beach of Argentina’s Punto Tumbo, it was a cacophony of languages, but it all boiled down to one word- penguins!

Punto Tumbo is just south of the famed Valdez Peninsula in Argentina. You probably saw it on the BBC’s Planet Earth video. Between September and April, an enormous number of Magellanic penguins come to lay and hatch their eggs. Magellanic penguins mate for life and it’s the male that returns to the same burrow, year after year to prepare it for his mate. Punto Tumbo is the largest colony of this species of penguins in the Atlantic. The penguins live along the South American coast, from southern Brazil to Patagonia, migrating depending on the season. Although during breeding season it seems like there are hundreds of thousands of penguins, the species is classified as threatened. Oil spills and climate change have drastically decreased their survival rate, and orphaned penguins are often rescued by zoological institutes around the world. The breeding grounds at Punto Tumbo are a protected reserve, however as the temperature of the ocean changes the penguins have been forced to go further to sea for food, decreasing the rate of survival.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Punto Tumbo and Peninsula Valdez are easily accessible from Puerto Madryn. You can take any number of tours from the city, but we chose to use independent transportation (a rental car) so we could set our own schedule and time frame of the sites. Penninsula Valdez is too much for a day trip from Puerto Madryn, be prepared to spend the night.

Photo: Serious Rhino

August 31, 2011 By Jillian

Rhinoceros’ are serious creatures. What do I mean? Well up close they look like that giant bully from 6^th grade gym class that you never wanted to cross. In other words, intensely dangerous. Their skin looks impenetrable, and up close those horns are more intimidating than you’d think. Unlike hyenas or even zebras, Rhinoceros’ never appear to smile, I’m serious! In fact, to me they constantly look like they’re going to attack. Thankfully this one didn’t!

Wildlife Photography Tip: A zoom lens is a must for wildlife photography. Although some animals may allow you to get close, you’re better off keeping a bit of distance. For example, a rhino’s horn is lethal, do you really want a rhinoceros chasing you through the bush? They’re big but I’m sure they can run faster than you for 100 yards. On the upside, rhino’s won’t climb a tree to get you, they’ll just walk around below slamming into the tree truck until they get tired or you fall out. Consider that your life lesson for the day!

We took this photo in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Check out our African Safari guide, which has great tips and advice for helping you plan a safari or wildlife adventure. South Africa is easily accessible from the United States, there are daily flights from NYC and DC to Johannesburg, from there you can easily catch an internal flight to Capetown. We wrote a guide to South Africa that you may find helpful. South Africa is a popular starting point or end point for overlanding Africa (Capetown to Cairo or vice versa). It’s a very popular tourist destination in and of itself.

Photo: Napping

August 17, 2011 By Jillian

According to the National Sleep Foundation 85 % of mammalian species are polyphasic sleepers, or nappers. Humans are in the minority, since our day is divided into only two periods, one awake, one asleep. Sleep is an important part of many cultures, take the Spanish siesta for example. While it drove us crazy in some countries, it was nice to take the break in the middle of the day and relax or unwind a bit.

These sea lions, on the coast of Peru, eschewed fishing for the afternoon and spent the time napping. I can’t say I can blame them! The rich diversity and quantity of marine life off the coast of Paracas, Peru is one of the reasons the sea lion colony exists in the first place. We spent some time snorkeling with sea lions in Mexico, who were a bit less interested in the siesta than their Peruvian counterparts.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

Photo: Giraffes on the plain

August 4, 2011 By Jillian

We had been driving through rather dense foliage since entering the park, half expecting to see elephants plow through the trees, my eyes were tired from darting back and forth. It was the last day of a three day safari in and around Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania and we had seen virtually every animal on the safari “checklist” and plenty of animals that weren’t. If you look closely, the horizon of this picture is dotted with hundreds upon thousands of pink birds. That’s right, flamingos. Anyway, it had been a very interesting educational Tanzanian Safari.

As we came out of the foliage the lake bed spread out before as. The expanse was virtually limitless, we had a hard time spotting animals from the truck because they truly were that far away. Usually when you’re on safari you aren’t aloud to alight from the vehicle, but at this spot our driver told us to get out and stretch our legs. I was definitely looking over my shoulder as we got out, but when we spotted this small group of giraffes in the distance I forgot about potential predators and crept quietly forward. To be honest, this was still shot with a long-range lens, but I love the composition of the picture, it really captures the atmosphere of the expansive lake bed.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Check out our African Safari Guide for tips on booking a safari no matter your budget.

Photo: Water Buffalo

Photo: Penguins on Parade

Photo: Serious Rhino

Photo: Napping

Photo: Giraffes on the plain

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