37
Line up with penguins
in South Georgia
Stepping onto Salisbury Plain
on the island of South Georgia, it takes several
minutes to absorb the scene: a quarter
of a million king penguins, as far as the eye
can see. Adults nest, preen, moult and shriek.
Thousands of chicks in ‘nurseries’ huddle
against the sharp wind, waiting for their fluffy
brown overcoats to develop into black-and-
white dinner suits. They are adapted
to survive temperatures as low as -50 ̊C
in this, the last southern outpost before
Antarctica (www.responsibletravel.com;
22-daycruisefrom`6,00,700).38
Come close
to polar bears
in Canada
Churchill has been a fur-trading
post, a military base and a port,
but is today far better known
for nature. The Canadian
town is the self-titled ‘polar
bear capital of the world’.
Nowhere on Earth can you see
polar bears so close, so
reliably and in such great
numbers. They can be viewed
by helicopter or from tundra
buggies that trundle out into
the elemental landscape of snow,
rocks, stunted Arctic willow
and frozen water (www.frontiersnorth.com;
tundrabuggytourfrom`24,740).39
Walk among
butterflies in Mexico
Though it’s a handsome insect,
the monarch butterfly’s fame is really all about
numbers: winter colonies in Mexico can include
millions of individuals, perhaps even a billion.
Monarchs are also known for their epic
migrations, which carry them as far north
as Canada to breed. How they are guided
remains a mystery. The Monarch Butterfly
Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO site 96.5km
from Mexico City, where a number of monarch
colonies are open to visitors – the largest,
reached on horseback and foot, is at El Rosario
(www.visitmexico.com).40
40Spot the whale
in Argentina
The Valdés Peninsula in
Argentina is one of South America’s finest
wildlife reserves. The undisputed main
draw, though, is the endangered southern
right whale: this is a prime breeding zone
for them between June and December.
A side attraction is the resident pod
of orcas, which has learnt how to belly-surf
ashore to snatch the occasional sea lion
(www.bottazzi.com.ar; boat trips from ` 2,650).43
Outstare
musk ox in Greenland
Greenland’s raw beauty strikes
travellers from the moment
they step off the plane.
The wildlife reveals itself more
gradually. For those who know
where to look, the ice-carved
valleys around Kangerlussuaq
in the west are a haven for wild
animals, including the mighty
musk ox. The twisted horns
and thick coats of these huge
animals evoke the Ice Age
with good reason – they’ve
walked the tundra for close
to a million years. It is thought
that around 10,000 of these
shaggy beasts now live
in the area, compared
with only 500 humans
(www.greenlandoutdoors.com;
one-day ox-spotting hike ` 7, 5 0 0 ).41
Follow the
sardine run
in South Africa
South Africa has no shortage of wild
superstars, among them southern white
rhinos and great white sharks.
But arguably the country’s greatest
natural spectacle comes courtesy
the modest sardine. Some time
approximately between May and July
most years, millions of sardines migrate
along eastern shores to follow nutrient-rich
currents. Individual shoals, sometimes
more than four miles in length, are a magnet
for predators that include Bryde’s whales,
coppersharks,Cape gannets,
commondolphins and African
penguins (www.
offshoreportstjohns.com;
three-day diving
and full-board
accommodation
package from
` 86,580).42
Seek out the white-winged
wood duck in Nameri National Park, Assam
As you peer through the tall branches of the forest in Nameri,
you’ll spot all or most of the following: hornbills, nuthatches, lorikeets, minivets,
and woodpeckers. You might even spot the peregrine falcon that, in a dive, has been
clocked at an astonishing 389kmph. Yet, birders don’t make a beeline for Nameri
for any of the above-mentioned species, but rather for the relatively sluggish white-
winged wood duck. Categorised as endangered, it’s highly elusive so you’ll need
to be really lucky to spot it. If it’s not your lucky day – well, there are over 300 other
avian species to seek out (www.namerinationalpark.com).
PHOTOGRAPHS: PHILIP LEE HARVEY/LONELY PLANET, MARK KOSTICH/GETTY IMAGES, JONATHAN GREGSON/LONELY PLANETHEINZ-PETER SCHWERIN/123RF (ELEPHANTS), ANDREA IZZOTTI/123RF (SARDINE), T KRISHNA PRABAKAR (BIRDS).
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