2012/03/16

Safari West in California Wine Country

You may be surprised to learn you don’t need to travel to Africa to enjoy a safari experience.  All you need to do, in fact, is to take a California Wine Country vacation and plan a stop in the charming town of Santa Rosa. 

While not as well-known as nearby Sonoma (about a 30-minute drive away) or Napa (about an hour away), Santa Rosa has a lot to offer travelers, and you may even want to make it the home-base for your exploration of this northern California tourist destination.

Whether you stay in Santa Rosa or make a day trip to the area, you will definitely want to tour Safari West.  It is so much more than a typical zoo experience!  If you’re skeptical, this video clip from the “Good Morning America” television show should remove any doubt:

The Safari West wildlife preserve covers around 400 acres, and about 400 exotic mammals and birds call the property home.  There are several different tours available – you can even spend the night in a tent there – but the most popular tour is two-to-three hours long and divided into two parts:  a walking tour and a jeep tour.  

While you will learn about all the different species on both portions, the jeep part of the tour will offer some incredible photo opportunities.  Your guide will give tour participants a choice of whether to ride in the jeep’s main cabin or on the roof, but s/he will also rotate participants as need be so everyone has a chance to enjoy an up-close-and-personal experience of the animals and the scenery.  

Without a doubt, Safari West is a California tourism experience you won’t soon forget!

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2012/02/22

Reflections On My Amboseli Safari

Amboseli is a game reserve in south Kenya with a gorgeous view of Mount Kilimanjaro.  The grassy savanna stretch for miles, occasionally interrupted by a winding river, volcanic outcrop and gorge.  But visitors don’t just come here for the gorgeous views, but to try and get up close and personal with the ‘Big 5.’

The Big 5 in Kenya safari terms are Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Buffalo and Leopard.  Spotting any one of these animals in their natural setting is such a thrill.  But really there is so much more to see as well.  From dainty impala skipping across the grassland, giraffe’s silhouetted against the sunset and hyena crying to the moon. 

Our animal spotting trips ran each day early in the morning and again late at night.  Juma our guide was amazing at seeing the game.  Without him I think I would just about have been able to spot a herd of zebra, and not much more.  He also has an encyclopedic knowledge of the plant life and I also learned a great deal about the tradition of natural medicine.  I was also pleased that he kept strictly to the game park roads and never went off-road even if that would afford us a better view. Unfortunately not all game drivers were so respectful of the natural environment. 

As we left the park, I noticed a real estate development being advertised.  Lots and villas were being offered with a view of Mt Kilimanjaro.  It made me recall an article I recently read over at the World Tourism Forum about problems facing countries like Nicaragua when real estate project start to encroach on fragile tourism spots.  I hope the Kenyan government is able to show restraint when offering planning permissions to over zealous developers looking to take advantage of the inherent beauty of the landscape.

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2012/02/15

My Little Unwanted Visitors

If you’re a Gardner like me you will know that there are problems we must all work through together. Bugs are a big one and wildlife is another. Now with bugs there are lots of ways natural and unnatural ways to get rid of them. But wildlife is another matter all on its own.

Now insects only eat relatively small amounts of your garden while wildlife will eat your whole garden or tear it up in one night! So there are many options I have found online. I prefer to stay as humane as possible. There is the option of a wood fence about three feet high to stop the larger animals from coming in your garden. But that does not stop the squirrels and raccoons.

Now I have heard a lot of people talk about using scents around your garden. I have not tried this one but you have to keep replacing them after ever rain. Knowing I would not always do this I knew this option was not really for me either. I was also reading about lighting your garden at night to keep the animals away.

Most of the wildlife that will eat your garden are nocturnal and that even a little light makes them visible to pray. So they won’t go near for fear of their own life. Now this makes sense to me more than any other way I have read. Why not use an animal natural instinct against it without hurting it.

Even better, you can use solar powered garden lights instead of having to run wires all over your yard. Helpful, clean, and saves on your electric! This peeked my interest more than any other ideal. Well as they say that kills two birds with one stone. I get to keep all my veggies to myself and not hurt any innocent animals in the process.

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2012/02/13

Wildlife Vacations in the Everglades

If you enjoy seeing and being close to birds and wildlife, a vacation to the Florida Everglades will be right up your alley. The southernmost part of the Sunshine State features beautiful beaches, awesome Florida fishing, boating, museums, top-notch shopping, amusement parks, historical venues, nightlife, and thousands of great restaurants that serve fresh seafood, southern food, Cuban food, and just about any other types of cuisine you can imagine. And when it comes to lodging choices, you can choose from resorts, inns, bed-and-breakfasts, hotels, motels, and private vacation homes. You might prefer camping on your wildlife vacation. The great thing is that wherever you are in South Florida, you won’t be far from the wilderness of the Everglades.

There are several ways for you to you to tour the Everglades, and perhaps the most popular and thrilling is to join an airboat tour. You’ve most likely seen these airboats on television programs. They speed along the surface of shallow waters and grass prairies. Airboat tours into the ‘Glades are available during the daytime and the night hours, and both types of tours have their advantages. In fact, you might want to schedule two tours – one in the daylight and one at night. This will give you the full Everglades experience.

The Everglades includes numerous different ecosystems and supports many different bird and animals species. Mammals include dolphin, whitetail deer, otter, Florida panther, black bear, bobcat, gray fox, raccoon, skunk, opossum, and manatee. Snakes you might see on your visit to the Everglades include the red rat snake, the diamondback rattlesnake, the cottonmouth water moccasin, the coral snake, the king snake, and the endangered indigo snake. Some of the most famous residents of the ‘Glades are the American crocodiles and the alligators.

Many avian species can be spied in the Everglades, too. You might see bald eagles, herons, hawks, ducks, cranes, pelicans, ospreys, owls, storks, ibises, and anhingas, also known as “snake birds.”

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2012/01/14

Working In Conservation

I work as a maintenance guy – one of quite a few that work for a world wide conservation group. I spend a lot of my time time working overseas, particularly in and around Africa, China and Asia. It is, without doubt, a hugely satisfying job and incredibly varied. Just to give a little background as to how I got into it – I am a trained carpenter, one that (somehow) ended up selling used construction equipment, you know stuff like grinders, large plant machinery and power tools.

There's always work to be done on game reserves

Anyway I had a guy come by the store one day, looking to buy some new (to him at least) power tools. I was showing our stock of used trenchers for sale and I got to asking him what he needed them for. Turns out that he was part of the maintenance team at the state zoo. Next thing he’s telling me they need someone to help casually, was I up for it? Withing about a year I was working there full time, and the move into conservation was more or less a quick side step.

Now I get to fly around the world, usually staying in specific conservation ‘hot-spots’ for weeks and months at a time, whilst me and a team of guys (and gals!) work on maintaining boundaries on nature reserves, doing general maintenance and repairs on buildings and grounds that are home to gamekeepers and rangers that protect the reserves and the animals that live on them.

Nature can always be relied upon when it comes to beautiful scenery

If you’re wanting to get into working for a global conservation enterprise, the best way to go about it is to volunteer. You could do so through education led programmers, or by applying through many of the online portals that have (now) sprung up around the internet. Gaining experience in the field is by far the best way to gain full time employment.

It’s not always an easy job, whatever role you play in the preservation environment. You’re almost always thousands of miles away from home. You rarely get to see your family and friends. Sometimes you’re living in relatively isolated conditions – sometimes very inhospitable ones too! Then there’s the danger aspect – you’re working as part of a team that’s central aim is to protect endangered wildlife.

It doesn’t come much more dangerous than finding yourself in close proximity to a pack of lions or a herd of angry elephants! All the same, it is a fantastic working environment, especially when you’re sat on a game reserve, late evening, listening to the lions in the distance, the odd howl from the coyotes and watching the fabulous sunsets and sunrises.

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