546 stories
“While on a Natural Habitat Adventures trip to Mexico to witness the incredible wintering of monarchs, there was one profound moment that I will never forget. To understand that moment, we need to go back many years to a cute little blond-haired girl who nurtured a monarch caterpillar to a chrysalis.
“We loved being at Base Camp Greenland. Being based there enabled us to see East Greenland up close and personal! Walking on the tundra, riding in the Zodiacs, kayaking, seeing the glaciers and endless mountains, and living in an incredibly well-conceived camp were all wonderful experiences.
One summer morning, while camping on an island far off the beaten path in Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, naturalist Richard Nelson and a friend set off in kayaks and paddled toward the mainland shore.
If I asked you to name your favorite National Park Service (NPS) places, you’d probably immediately mention parks such as Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park and Glacier National Park.
“Most stories begin one of two ways,” book author and immersion journalist Ted Conover once said. “A stranger comes to town, or the hero leaves home. Either way, they tend to go by road. The road contains the excitement of the unexpected.
“Imagine a trip to the North, ostensibly to see the northern lights… my friends and I envisioned just that. We got all the way to Churchill, Manitoba, and were there for seven days, but the lights did not cooperate! Knowing it is a natural phenomena, we knew this was a chance.
On the roof deck of our yacht, the Letty, this urbanite views the stars in their full brilliance for the first time in a year. As I lay there, space and time conflate – presently I gaze into the past as time flows on in this magical place, the Galápagos.
“It is hard to say which part of our Ultimate Alaska Wildlife Photo Safari was my favorite since the whole experience was just amazing. Denali where ‘the mountain’ was out for a full day was magical! But the visit to Brooks Camp with the brown bears was mind-blowing!
The most memorable part of my Galapagos trip, without question, was the snorkeling. Initially, I was a little scared of this element of the trip because I’m not exactly a fish in the water, but the instruction of the expert guides, safety equipment in the water, and buoyancy of the wetsuits made the experience stress-free.
“A bank of fog lingered far off in the distance along the Antarctic Peninsula, leaving us with sunshine and blue skies on the morning of a day that would turn out to be one of the best of my life.
“Just when we thought that our Natural Habitat Tanzania Migration Photo Safari could not get better, we were proven wrong with our Ngorongoro Crater Extension.
“I think my favorite moment was seeing the polar bears for the first time. They are so majestic, and as they come closer to the Polar Rovers, it’s exhilarating. Seeing all the little cubs was pretty amazing, too.
