Favorite Exotic Wildlife Safari Travel Destinations and What to Expect

Not every wildlife safari travel destination delivers the wildlife to the door of your vehicle and shows you the most exotic wildlife in the world, here's some of the best that I've been on. Many are offered through tour companies that take you into the places where they are found. Many times the travel can be strenuous, lasting for long hours exposed to the weather. Before going, check the weather conditions and dress warmly, or for hot weather, bring sun tan lotion and protection from rain, hats, water, and wear shoes that provide adequate traction. And bring your camera. The results will often amaze you.

Dangerous Tigers of Bandhavgarh National Park, India

We visited Bandhavgarh National Park in India, one of the few places to see wild Tigers on an Natural Habitat Adventures tour. Safari's at Bandhavgarh take visitors that stay in tent camps on jeep drives through the park. Drivers are equipped with headphones that allow them to hear of any sightings or soundings from any of the other drivers in the park. Soundings include the barking of deer followed by monkey calls that take up the warning and the growling, whining of a tiger for his mate when they are apart.

Shortly after we visited, an injured tiger attacked a tourist in a jeep. The drivers prefer to take visitors near to a tiger on the back of an elephant, providing much more safety and better views than from a jeep. We were good about tipping our driver for spotting tigers with the reward that we were taken by elephant to see a mama Tiger and her two kittens that were dashing about through the woods and so impetous that our mount jumped and trumpeted a number of times. Arrival and departure was by bus from nearby Khajuraho, India.

See my slideshow "Wildife Experiences from Around the World Offer Different Habitat Experiences" for some of the best photographs.

The Big 5, 7, 9 Game Animals at Mala Mala, South Africa

Mala Mala is a private camp that borders on Kruger National Park in South Africa. Our tour through Natural Habitat Adventures provided three days at Kirkman's Camp, a small lodge with two rooms per cabin houses. We were able to wander the grounds during the day with no concerns and watched giraffes appear and monkeys play in the trees while identifying birds, but were warned that the night before a pride of lions had slaughtered a cape buffalo outside the cabins in everyone's hearing and sight for most of a sleepless night. We managed to see the promised Big Five, Big Seven and Big Nine and receive our certificate saying so including seeing White Rhinocerous, Cheetah, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, African Elephant, Lion, Wildebeest, Hyena, Water Buffalo, Warthogs and a special visit by a Pangolin batted about by a lion who wouldn't unroll for us. Animals were seen on day and night tours on road and off road on jeeps. Arrival and departure was by airplane from Johannesburg, South Africa.

See my slideshow "Whale Watching and Sea Life Safari Photographs from the San Juan Islands, Washington" for some of the best photographs.

Stunning Variety of Whales, San Juan Islands, Washington, USA

We took our Whale Spotting safari through San Juan Safari's and had a good four hours viewing whales, dolphin, sea lion, and other wildlife along with the scenic beauty of the San Juans. Expect a four hour ferry ride from Seattle on the Victoria Clipper as one of the options for getting to Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, followed by boarding the safari boat and heading out into the inner passage to spot Orca. Expect to see orca and other whales performing a number of behaviors while you madly try to keep your video camera from wobbling with waves and snapping photos at just the right time. Boats are required to keep their distance, but sometimes the whales show up unexpectedly close.

Last Remaining Large Game Animals, Spain

In Parque Nationale de Cazorla, we planned our own wildlife safari to find some of the last large mammals in Europe including Spanish Ibex, fallow and red deer, wild boar and we were lucky enough to spot one female mouflon from a distance plus a good number of birds and a squirrel. [1] We had a lovely drive through the National Park but found it much larger than expected and that our two nights and one full day was inadequate for the experience. Hiking trails were plentiful, food was somewhat restricted. Arrival and departure were by private rental car via the town of Cazorla which sits amidst huge olive groves and has a small castle.

See my slideshow "Wildife Experiences from Around the World Offer Different Habitat Experiences" for some of the best photographs.

Where the Wild Walk Down the Highway, Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory, Canada

One of the coolest places to see Elk, moose, Dall Sheep, mountain goat, deer, bear and other wild animals is in Kluane National Park, in the Yukon Territory. Even though it's less well-known than Banff and Jasper, it was made a World Heritage Site in 1968 and has awesome mountain scenery and glaciers. Access for us was by private vehicle via Highway 1 the Haines Highway. We mostly just had a peekaboo view of the park at Burwash Landing where we spotted Dall Sheep and mountain goat on the highway, moose, elk, deer and bear on the roadside and spent the night at nearby Whitehorse.

See my slideshow "Wildife Experiences from Around the World Offer Different Habitat Experiences" for some of the best photographs.

[1] Ernest Garcia and Andrew Paterson, "Where to Watch Birds in Southern and Western Spain", A & C Black, 1994
[2] William Henry Burt, Richard Philip Grossenheider, "Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide to Mammals", Easton Press, 1976
[3] David MacDonald, Priscilla Barrett, "Field Guide to Mammals of Britain and Europe", HarperCollins, 1993