We spent much of our time in the Amazon exploring the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, the largest protected area in Peru spanning more than 5 million acres. This reserve is known for its rich biodiversity – conservation efforts as well as sustainable resource utilization by the indigenous people are helping to protect this important area.
It’s hard to describe the beauty of this reserve which is full of life everywhere you look. Exploring in small river boats, we did not encounter any other tourists and were able to experience and appreciate the wonderful scenery and wildlife. Here are pictures of just some of the wildlife that we saw…
Entering one of many tributaries in a small river boat…
owl monkey
hawk
egret (with lunch)
kingfisher
toucan
brown capuchin monkey
naturalist guide with baby caiman
jabiru stork
grasshopper (just one of MANY)
capibara rodent
(this is the largest living rodent in the world – it’s hard to tell from this picture, but this capibara is probably over 100 lbs)
giant lilies
sloth
another sloth having dinner….slowly
caiman (not fully grown yet)
blue heron
some kind of caterpillar
piranha
sloth
just one spider – but every time I looked down into the foliage, I saw more spiders than I’ve ever seen before
noisy night monkeys (owl monkeys)
blue-and-yellow macaws
South Africa and Botswana
(Dec 2007/Jan 2008)
It’s really impossible (for me anyway) to describe the breathtaking scenery and wildlife of Africa, but I hope these pictures – see below – give you a taste of what we experienced on our trip.
We started our trip with two red-eye flights, finally arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 26 (yes, we spent Christmas on a plane). We spent one night at the Saxon Hotel. The Saxon was the home of Nelson Mandela after he was released from prison, and it was here that South Africa’s former president edited his autobiography, “The Long Walk to Freedom”.
We left Jo’burg the next day to travel to the Tswalu Desert Reserve, a private game reserve located in the Kalahari Desert in the Northern Cape of South Africa. We spent three nights at The Motse, Tswalu’s main game reserve accommodation.
Wildlife in Tswalu: lions, white rhino, giraffe, cheetah, buffalo, baboons, zebra, hyena, wildebeest, ostrich, dung beetles, meerkats, warthogs and many different types of antelope and birds.
On December 30, we departed Tswalu to travel to Cape Town, where we enjoyed the waterfront, Table Mountain, and the Cape of Good Hope. We also spent a day in the Cape Winelands set below the dramatic range of mountains called the “Hottentots Holland.” We toured Stellenbosch, the second oldest town in South Africa after Cape Town. Stellenbosch is also the center of the local wine making industry and is surrounded by hundreds of vineyards. We also drove through the through the Franschhoek Valley.
After celebrating the new year in Cape Town, we traveled to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. This was probably the most anticipated portion of our trip as the Okavango Delta is known as the predator capital of Africa. We spent four nights at Chief’s Camp, a bush lodge situated on Chief’s Island in the Mombo Concession of the Moremi Game Reserve which is a national park. The wildlife wonder freely about Chief’s Camp and so guests are not permitted to walk around the camp at night without an escort. The baboons actually felt quite at home on the roof of our tent, waking us up during in the early hours of the morning with their guttural hoots and shouts.
Wildlife in the Okavango Delta: lions, elephants, hippos, buffalo, giraffe, cheetah, baboons, zebra, hyena, wildebeest, ostrich, jackals, warthogs, monitor lizards, cobras, and different types of antelope and birds.
Africa is a special place – we would return in a heartbeat.
