Best Wildlife Safaris
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Africa Map | Safari Wildlife 2 | Best wildlife by month | Wildlife Safari Pictures
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Wildlife places are selected for quantity and variety of animals, certainty and ease of viewing and splendour of environment. Hire a guide or travel with a tour if possible as they will know where and when to find elusive critters, when and how to protect you where necessary and keep you comfortable . Safaris are expensive and will usually be in organised groups. If available, try a tented camp for the full safari monty.
Big
game, big desert, big dunes: Etosha National Park, Namibia.
There are three inexpensive, walled restcamps in Etosha, each with their own waterhole attracting animals. Namutoni is less successful, Halali's hole attracts a lot of elephants (picture above right) and giraffes, while Okaukuejo is the hands down winner, with superb huts (3, 5, 7 have the best views) and a wonderful waterhole with endless action, occasionally even getting lion kills. Drive-yourself safaris (gravel roads) visiting other waterholes are excellent, with varied, stunning scenery. Cars can be rented in the unattractive capital, Windhoek, about 5 hours drive away. Cape Cross, on the Skeleton Coast also offers 100,000 seals that you can get close to if you can stand the smell, the monstrous red dunes at Sossusvlei are totally amazing and climbable - up to 600m high, and Swakopmund town is pretty and relaxed. You can 2WD drive to all. Best June-September, OK May, October, otherwise incredibly hot. See the Namibia Map.
Big
game safari: Masai Mara National Park, Kenya.
Very best July-October at (3 week) wildebeeste migration; this varies so check it. Good weather December-March. Avoid April-June (big rains). Some say that recently too many jeeps are getting careless and scaring off animals, and Samburu National Park is now better - less busy and more romantic, though not the same quantity and variety of animals. See Kenya Map
Marine
life: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.
A bleak and blasted landscape but the local inhabitants are totally unaffected by human presence and easy to approach and photograph. Strangely it was the unassuming Galapagos finches that triggered Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Best January-March. Avoid July/August (busy, expensive, windy, rough), and September - November (when the waters are coldest, roughest and services are reduced). Best to stay on a boat (smaller ones are better unless you get seasick) that will move between islands at night. 7 nights at least needed. For the very seasick prone there are some land hotels at Puerto Ayora in Isla Santa Cruz, though wildlife viewing will be restricted. See Galapagos pictures, map or tours.
a) Serengeti, Tanzania. The world's most famous big game park and great variety of animals, though jeeps often have to follow specific tracks, whereas they can go anywhere in the Masai Mara. The general infrastructure is not as good as Kenya's. Very best in June - early July before/beginning of wildebeest (more than 2 million) and zebra migration which lasts 3 weeks (check the timing with tour operators). Good also December- February. Avoid March-May (heavy rains). b) Ngorongoro Crater (Conservation Area), Tanzania. Huge concentration of prey and predators, spectacular scenery and no migration. Better than Serengetti but relatively confined so tourist vehicles jockeying for pole postion can be a pain. Best June-October, December-February. Avoid March-May (rains). c) Selous Game Reserve, South Tanzania. If you want to have a walking with animals experience rather than riding one, try this monster game park. Best June-October or January-February for bird watching. Avoid March-May (rains). See Tanzania map
Lemurs,
plus plus: Berenty Reserve, Madagascar.
Best May-June, September-November. Avoid December-March (rains, hurricanes). Madagascar Map | Madagascar Pictures.
Wildlife
and plants in various national parks, Costa Rica.
There are around 70 nature parks, here are a few of the more interesting ones, north to south: - Santa Rosa NP, an old, well developed, dry tropical forest on the NW Pacific coast not far from the Inter-American Highway, contains the largest protected tropical dry forest in the Americas, home to jaguars, tapirs, anteaters, turtles, monkeys, bats, iguanas and more, as well as 260 species of bird. It's a bit of a hike from San José. - Rincon de la Vieja NP, NW, is reasonably easy to access from Liberia and loaded with wildlife, especially monkeys, snakes and coatis. - Palo Verde NP, NW, mostly for 280 species of water birds (best September-March). - Tortuguero National Park on the north Caribbean coast is the spot for visiting/watching green sea turtles, as well as other wildlife. - Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve (nearish to San José), perhaps the most commercial and well developed park, this new scientific upstart is home to 100 species of mammal, 400 species of birds (including the quetzal and the emerald toucanet) and 420 species of orchids. Not only is it a lot nearer to San José (3hrs) than most others, but it also contains the biggest canopy walk - Skytrek (3hrs, 2km/1.25m) including one 400m slide and 80m suspension bridges. It has 24 kms of trails, and 3 huts en route. But it's not called a Cloud Forest for nothing! Blue sky may be in short supply but water won't be... - Cahuita and Manuel Antonio NPs (MA is nearish to San José), on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts respectively, have good beaches, snorkelling with innumerable species of fish and forests of monkeys, iguana, coatis, birds etc. - Braulio Carrillo NP (quite near to San José), on the Northern Plains and loaded with wildlife and colourful plants but oddly difficult to get to and around, though definitely worth the effort. - La Selva Biological Station, also on the Northern Plains and offering plenty of nature in tooth and claw is easy going. - Corcovado NP may be Costa Rica's most diverse park, 200 sq. miles with a large range of habitats from heavy rain forest to seashore jungle, hosting 140 species of mammal from jaguars to tapir, 116 species of reptiles and 285 species of bird, from scarlet macaws thru hummingbirds to fishing bulldog bats! But Corcovado is in the distant SW and difficult to get to (fly to Palmar, then boat on the River Sierpe to Drake village?), very humid and tough hiking, but a superb wildlife experience. Generally Costa Rica is best from December-April. Avoid May-November (rains), tho' May and November may not be too wet and will be much less crowded. See the Costa Rica Map or Costa Rica Tours.
Self-drive
wildlife safari: Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Animals are habituated to cars so a fair number can be seen beside roads, though you won't see massive wildlife groups that you do in neighbouring Namibia's Etosha, or on East Africa's savannah. Beware busy South African holidays and book your rooms in advance. The private lodges are superb experiences if you can afford them - beautifully designed and run, but ironically, because there's less traffic in their private game areas the wildlife is less habituated to vehicles so the private, guided game safaris are likely to be less successful than just self driving on public roads! You can also walk in the park with an armed guard if you so choose. Best June-September, the dry season, when animals are more visible due to shorter grass and malaria is less/not a problem. OK May-October. See South Africa Map
Gorilla
safari: Rwanda, Parc National de Volcans and Uganda, Mgahinga National
Park (same volcano as Democratic Republic of Congo's (previously
Zaire) Virunga) or Bwindi National Park (the worst option as vegetation is thickest here). Mountain gorilla
safaris. Best in January, February, June, July. Kahuzi-Biega Parc (plains gorillas & other wildlife) and Virunga National Park (mountain gorillas), DRC (Zaire), both currently closed due to civil war. n.b take a rain poncho, very fast film or digital camera, a fast lens (2.8 or less) if possible and NO flash! Africa Map
Bear necessities, Alaska: At this time there are also plenty of moose, deer, wolves, whales and marine lifeforms. The weather in this part of the world is erratic but the months for bear-fishing-watching are July-September. Early September provides best weather, best prices and least trouble booking things. See Alaska Map or Alaska Tours.
Best Wildlife by monthJanuary | February | March | April | May | June July | August | September | October | November | December
Wildlife Safari Pictures• Kruger, South Africa Self Drive. • Canada Polar Bears Safari, from Churchill. • Alaska Wildlife especially bears. • Namibia, Etosha Self Drive. • East Africa, Kenya, Masai Mara. • Madagascar Berenty, Lemurs and Chameleons. • Gorilla Trekking, Zaire, Virunga National Park. |
