Animals from A to Z on safari in Africa
With animals for every letter in the alphabet, Tanzania is the picture-perfect place for a family safari. You’ll likely see lots of antelopes everywhere you go. Look for baboons in the national parks and see if you can spot fleet-footed cheetahs in the grasslands. Tiny dik-diks hide in the bushlands but you can’t miss those huge elephants when they’re lumbering nearby. Flamingoes flock in Arusha and giraffes stick their necks out wherever there are tall trees. Watering holes and rivers are where the hippos are, impalas are everywhere, jackals’ cackles give them away, kudus stay away from hungry lions, as do chattering monkeys and mobs of meerkats. Nyalas prefer forested places, ostriches defend their turf in Tarangire, porcupines have been seen in Kilimanjaro, quails are found on farms and black rhinos can be spotted in Ngorongoro Crater. Cat-like servals and horned topis are common on savannas, vultures lurk near food and wildebeests and zebras migrate across the Serengeti together. The only one missing is “u” – you!
Wildlife that only lives in the Galápagos
On the islands time forgot you’ll find birds and marine life you won’t soon forget because many of them only live in the Galápagos! The islands were named after the Galápagos Tortoise (“galapago” means “tortoise” in Spanish). They are the largest tortoises in the world and can live more than 100 years. Seen on island shores, the marine iguana is the only living lizard on the planet that dives in the sea to forage for food. The flightless cormorant is found on Fernandina and Isabela islands and is the only cormorant in the world that can’t fly. Darwin’s finches aren’t really finches but evolutionist Charles Darwin called them that when he discovered their beaks weren’t like any others he saw anywhere; their beaks had adapted to the type of food they ate in the Galápagos. The only penguins that live north of the equator in the wild, Galápagos penguins enjoy swimming near Pinnacle Rock off Bartolomé Island, one of the few places they nest. Galápagos fur seals make their homes on the rocky shores and often welcome visitors ashore with a friendly face and playful pose!
Soar over the Serengeti in a balloon Wake up before the animals do as you climb aboard a private hot air balloon at dawn for a ride over the savanna and open woodlands of Serengeti National Park, “the place where the land moves on forever.” From your perch in the sky, view herds of animals like zebras, giraffes and elephants as they start their day in the wilderness, then touch down for your own breakfast in the bush!
Tanzania: A Grand Family Safari, page 16 Call your travel agent or Tauck Bridges at 800-468-2825
Visit a tortoise breeding center The giant Galápagos tortoise spends its days grazing on grass, leaves, and cactus, basking in the sun, and napping nearly 16 hours a day. There used to be a lot of them in the Galápagos until hungry pirates, merchants and whalers of old killed so many of them that they are endangered and have to be protected today. Visit a breeding center on San Cristóbal dedicated to reviving the species so they can once again thrive on these islands.
Galápagos: Wildlife Wonderland, page 20
tauckbridges.com 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
