Safari Notes

Spectacular Selous Game Reserve As a child, I and my family spent some years in Iringa, Tanzania and areas around it - Iringa is a town with beautiful surroundings and an excellent climate. Not far - South East of Iringa, is one of the most breathtaking, wonderful and pristine wilderness and game reserves in the world: the Selous Game Reserve. Selous ( pronounced Seloo , is named after Englishman, Frederick Courtney Selous - conservationist, hunter, explorer and author)   is the largest g ame reserve in Tanzania and due to its uniqueness, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reserve is approximately 55,000 square kilometers - about 21,236 square miles (that is four times the size of the Serengeti, more than three times the size of Swaziland and more than twice the size of Rwanda; almost five times the size of Qatar; larger than Costa Rica or Netherlands or Denmark or  Bhutan or Switzerland; and more than twice the sizes of  Massachusetts or Vermont or New Hamps...

Africa Coral Reefs It is not only the Great Barrier Reef that is in danger of disappearing. Found mainly along eastern and southern Africa, stretching from the Red Sea to Madagascar to South Africa - Africa's coral reefs are no better off. The threats are many: climate change is one   - which cause rising sea temperatures and cyclones which are destructive to reefs. Bleaching (when either the algae inside die, or the algae leave the coral) and toxic pollution from industrial waste and other human activities, such as uncontrolled fishing, mining, shipping and tourism, are other factors that are causing the destruction of the reefs. The ongoing oil and gas exploration and drilling along eastern Africa, is another major cause for the reefs being more threatened.

Sudan Wildlife Had it known peace and stability, the Sudan - where some of the greatest animal concentrations are in and some of the greatest animal migrations take place - could have been one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the world. Many say the greatest animal migrations on Earth take place in South Sudan. Researchers, who only recently could be able to study South Sudan's wildlife, are still very surprised and at times astonished that so many animals still survive in the wild.

Virunga National Park contains within 790,000 hectares the greatest diversity of habitats of any park in Africa: from steppes, savannas and lava plains, swamps, lowland and montane forests to volcanoes and the unique giant herbs and snowfields of Rwenzori over 5,000m high. It is. Thousands of hippopotamuses lived in its rivers, its mountains are a critical area for the survival of mountain and lowland gorillas, and birds from Siberia overwinter there. UNEP More on Virunga: UNESCO , EoEarth , Wikipedia , WWF , NationalGeographic , AWF , 7Wonders , Books , YouTube Photo: NationalGeographic

In the most unlikely of places on Earth, is one of the greatest natural wonders: Lake Baikal . Immense. Breathtaking. Fed by hundreds of rivers and steams. It holds an estimated, incredible 20% of the world's fresh water; and harbors more endemic species of plants and animals than any other lake in the world. The lake itself, the wildlife and vegetation - has from time, immemorial filled explorers and tourists with awe and wonder. More on Lake Baikal: UNESCO , Facts , ILEC , UNEP-WCMC , Baikal, Way To Russia , Geographia , Magic Baikal , Royal Society , Books Image: Greenpeace

The Maasai Mara or Masai Mara. For those who love wildlife, no other place is as fascinating and unforgettable to be in and watch animals, as the Africa's greatest wildlife reserve. It is here that, each year, the largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet, takes place.  More on the Masai Mara: masaimara.org , Magical Kenya , masai-mara , masai-mara.net , Explore Kenya , kilimanjaro.com , Mara Conservancy , The Mara Count , Wikipedia , Books , Photos

It reminds you of the Okavango in southern Africa. It is as extraordinary and as spectacular, in its own way, as the Great Barrier Reef. It is the immense river delta, unlike no other: the Pantanal, which extends from central-western Brazil,  through eastern Bolivia and to eastern Paraguay. With its extraordinarily concentrated and diverse flora and fauna, and a landscape spanning a variety of ecological sub-regions, the Pantanal stands as one of the world’s great natural wonders . More on the Pantanal: Pantanal.org , Nature.org , Mre,gov , Amazon Adventures , National Geographic , WWF , Panda.org , World Wildlife , UNESCO , UNEP , Earth Watch Expeditions , Save Nature , Ladatco , Expedition Pantanal , The Pantanal of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay , Wikipedia , Books , Scholar   Image: Google

The Great Barrier Reef How long can one of the world's most striking, most remarkable, most wonderful and most unique natural wonders survive the destructive carelessness and neglect of Man? Australia's Great Barrier Reef is rapidly dwindling in size and may completely disappear. Several factors are conspiring to degrade the reef: tropical cyclones, attacks from the coral predator the crown-of-thorns starfish, and rising water temperatures. Incredibly, all these destructive forces are apparently, mainly, caused by human activity and impact. The cyclones and the rising water temperatures affecting the Great Barrier Reef and most other parts of the world, are related to man-caused global warming. More intensive farming along the coast and inland, adjacent to the Reef; and urban runoff, are feeding the predatory Crown of Thorns Starfish , which is the Reef's most aggressive destructive force. Very few living creatures can reproduce so many as this starfish: each femal...

Few places on Earth are as spectacular and extraordinary as the Okavango in Botswana: 6,000-square-mile maze of lagoons, channels, and islands. The River Okavango, unlike most major rivers in the world, does not empty its waters in the sea; but in the sands of the hot Kalahari desert, into an oasis for all life forms in that dry of deserts. When it does that, each year, the many life forms in the desert are quenched and enlivened. More on the Okavango: Greatest Places , ecoafrica , Okavango-Delta , go2africa , SA Places Image from: Google