Laura Kiniry | Good Nature Travel Blog

The Baobab Tree: an African Icon and Longtime Legend

With its bulbous shape and a canopy that resembles an upside-down root system, the baobab tree is an iconic symbol of the African continent. Its origins are...

Laura Kiniry

Nat Hab’s 2023 Sustainability Report Shows We Really Do Have the Power to Change the World

In July 2019, Natural Habitat Adventures pulled off the ultimate travel experience: the World’s First Zero Waste Adventure, a week-long excursion through...

Laura Kiniry

Six Pygmy Wildlife Species and Where to Find Them

When it comes to wildlife, the term ‘pygmy’ refers to animals that are smaller in size than their more typical counterparts. In many cases, these reduced...

Laura Kiniry

Why National Parks Matter (And How You Can Help Protect Them)

The summer that I worked in Montana’s Glacier National Park was one of the best experiences of my life. For three months, I lived within the park’s Many...

Laura Kiniry

Six of Africa’s Most Elusive Animals

If you’ve ever been on safari in Africa for any length of time, there’s a good chance you’ve seen some of the continent’s most iconic wildlife, including...

Laura Kiniry

Dynamic Duos of the Animal Kingdom: From Zebra & Wildebeest to Oxpeckers & Rhinos

When it comes to on-screen wildlife friendships, the bond between Timon and Pumbaa from Disney’s The Lion King is a classic. The wise-cracking meerkat and his...

Laura Kiniry

The Truth About Plastic Pollution and How We Can Stop It

In February 2017, residents on the Norwegian island of Sotra found a Cuvier’s beaked whale stranded on a beach in southwestern Norway. It wasn’t the first...

Laura Kiniry

Five Endangered Keystone Species Making Comebacks

In 2019, an independent researcher caught sight of a tiny creature on a trail camera in Northern California’s Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. Scientists were...

Laura Kiniry

Three Ways to Visit the Antarctic Peninsula

We were kayaking among patches of floating ice, penguins porpoising through the waters between us, when our guide got the call over the radio. "Who here is...

Laura Kiniry

Six Spectacular Animals to See on a Scotland Adventure

When it comes to Scottish wildlife, there’s one creature in particular that attracts more tourists than any other. ‘Nessie,’ as she’s known, is an enormous...

Laura Kiniry

The Origins of Coffee and the Case for Sustainability

Around 850 CE, an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi was maintaining his livestock when together, they happened upon an unusual plant with berries. The animals...

Laura Kiniry

Iceland’s Greenhouses: Creating a Sustainable Food System

Every year on the first day of summer, Iceland’s Horticultural School (part of the country’s agricultural university in Hveragerði) opens its doors to the...

Laura Kiniry

Croatia’s & Slovenia’s Top National Parks for Nature Lovers

When a group of local and government organizations got together to create a pilot portion of the Via Dinarica—a network of long-distance hiking trails...

Laura Kiniry

Africa’s Amazing Birdlife

On a recent safari trip in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park, the “Big Five” animals associated with Africa’s national parks were nowhere in sight. That’s when I...

Laura Kiniry

Save the Turtles! Celebrate World Turtle Day

The roads in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, can reach peak capacity during the summer months, but it's not just because of vehicular traffic. Each year beginning...

Laura Kiniry

How to Get a Picture of a Wild Himalayan Snow Leopard

In the autumn of 1973, wilderness writer and naturalist Peter Matthiessen joined preeminent field biologist George Schaller high in Nepal's Himalayan...

Laura Kiniry

Yosemite: Beyond the Yosemite Valley

When naturalist and conservationist John Muir first happened upon California's Yosemite Valley in 1868, it was love at first sight. He was taken with its...

Laura Kiniry

Top National Parks in Southern Australia: Tasmania, Kangaroo Island & the Great Ocean Road

I’d been on Kangaroo Island for less than an hour when I spotted my first bit of wildlife: a koala perched high in the branches of a blue-gum eucalyptus tree....