One nudi looks like an open gas flame blazing underwater. Another one appears on the sea floor like a ghost with rabbit ears. One looks like strings of neon noodles clinging to the reef. Another looks like puffs of tiny white clouds. And one even looks like a little marine rhinoceros with orange-tipped horns. The…
It was a sad day last month when rangers of the Manyeleti Game Reserve, in the greater Kruger National Park, learned of the passing of one of their most magnificent male lions—Sizanani. Christof Schoeman, a guide at Tintswalo Safari Lodge described Sizanani as a ‘True Survivor’ for his amazing ability to somehow come out on…
In a stunning discovery off the coast of Cape Town, three new species of shrimp have been found by amateur freedivers and scientists scouring the shallow intertidal rock pools and kelp forests near Cape Point. Professor Charles Griffiths, a renowned marine biologist from the University of Cape Town who was involved in identifying the new…
When French settlers first arrived in the remote islands of the Seychelles, thick mangrove forests fringed the western shore of Mahe, the largest of the islands in the archipelago. Inside the green coastal forests, giant crocodiles roamed through the tangled branches, as well as many species of fish, crab and birds. The woodlands were a…
With over 7 million people living in the space of 1000 square miles, one would think there’s not a whole lot of space left in Hong Kong for wildlife. And yet, the afternoon I arrived at the Mai Po Nature Reserve, about an hour northwest of the concrete morass of Hong Kong island, all I…
This story is part of Paul Steyn’s #aroundtheworldin30days journey. During his stay in Manzanillo, Paul was hosted by Korrigan Lodge. Follow him as he travels the globe with Ramsar and Star Alliance, in quest to appreciate water and wetlands on our changing planet. More about the trip here. It was my first day on…
“Now we are pilgrims,” joked Will Niceto, my guide, as we joined a cobbled island path that led to the crumbling Inca temple perched on the edge of Lake Titicaca. Beyond the ruin, the still lake gleamed silver under the snowcaps of the towering Andes mountains. “There is a strong energy here,” said Will, a…
Today I begin a journey around the Earth. It’s quite amazing when one puts it like that. Imagine what it would’ve taken to embark on a month-long trip around the world just a hundred years ago; a true expedition across the sea and land. A hundred and fifty years ago, it would not have been thought possible to…
The original version of this story was published on the Timbuktu Travel website. What makes a million wildebeest get up and move at once? What is the sense that triggers them to muster the energy to begin a 1000-kilometre trek—to somehow know that it’s the right thing to do? It’s mid March in the northern…
The Okavango Delta shouldn’t really exist. Let me explain. Consider that most deltas are sprawling wetlands that form at the mouth of rivers as they empty into the sea; such as India’s Ganges pouring into the Bay of Bengal, or the Niger Delta spreading like a fan into the Gulf of Guinea. Now have a…
Rain pummels the sea around my bobbing head. The rest of my body, suspended beneath the swell, clenches in the cold ocean. I take in gasps of salty air and exhale clouds of condensation that rise and disappear into the dark winter sky. It’s a frigid day to be snorkelling on the jagged rocky coast…
The smallest of all the whale species—a dwarf sperm whale—made its way into Cape Town’s waterfront harbour this week. The almost never-seen diminutive whale is smaller than a dolphin, and not much bigger than a man, which is amazing when you consider that sperm whales reach 52 feet in length—about the size of a bus. Dwarf…
The strange creature is half antelope and half bird. Painted in jet black, frozen in flight on the wall, the animal has the hind legs and tail of a buck, and the magnificent wings of a raven that spread out from its shoulders. Above the flying figure, a long scaly reptile with crocodile-like ridges stretches…
It’s not often that guests on a safari will participate in a mission to rescue a wounded elephant. But then again; this is Africa. It was early morning at Kenya’s Ol Donyo Lodge in the Chyulu Hills when two guests spotted an injured elephant Tusker wandering in the thick bush near their lodge room. He…
I love to wake up in the bush to the chorus of a new day. My mind is clear from a night of rest and the morning bird song carries far in the fresh air. It’s like nature is broadcasting in Dolby Digital, and my senses feel almost superhuman. During a walking trail in the Luangwa Valley…