Asia & The Pacific
Imagine a land where Hawaii, Alaska and Colorado have collided in an unexpected mosaic. Glaciers wind down into coastal rain forest filled with giant tree ferns, waterfalls feed turquoise rivers, alpine parrots fly over mountains heights while spinner dolphins leap in the sea, and golden hills are covered in vineyards and orchards.
Videos
I count glaciers among my favorite things. They come in beautiful shades of blue, they’re cold and they’re ephemeral. But how can I describe something as old and massive as a glacier as short-lived and momentary? Because you really won’t see any one glacier twice in its same state.
Travel Tips
Being an inveterate introvert, I avoid large crowds—well, really, even groups of people numbering 15 or more—like the plague.
Conservation
While travel has the potential to positively impact the places visited—infusing money into local economies, supporting local artisans and conservation projects, and promoting understanding across cultures—it also has the capability to destroy the very things we seek to experience and explore.
Asia & The Pacific
Wildlife overpasses save the lives of hundreds of animals—such as deer, elk and pronghorn—every year. But if an overpass isn’t available and you’re a creature that stands just about a foot tall and weighs less than three pounds, what’s the safest way to cross a busy road? Perhaps to go under it.
Asia & The Pacific
New Zealand has always seemed to me to have a wild heart. Despite all of its domestic sheep and introduced birds and plants from Europe, it is still predominantly a place of beguiling beaches, captivating caves, dazzling fjords, gorgeous glaciers, long lakes, magnificent mountains, verdant valleys and active volcanoes.
Asia & The Pacific
Though perhaps not best known for its avian highlights, the South Pacific island of New Zealand is actually a birder’s paradise.
Asia & The Pacific
In the United States, it often seems, there is only one method for dealing with “problem” animals. Whether it’s Canada geese, grizzly bears or wolves, our first impulse is to eradicate them. That’s not always the strategy used by other countries, and a case in New Zealand is a prime example.
Travel Tales
Upon completing a New Zealand nature adventure, Nat Hab traveler Linda Ayres was inspired to compose the song lyrics shown below. (The words are intended to be sung to the tune of Johnny Cash’s famous song, “I’ve Been Everywhere.”) We’ve Been Everywhere (New Zealand) We’ve been everywhere, man. We’ve been everywhere.
Nature & Wildlife
Whales are complex creatures with very large brains. We are only just beginning to understand small portions of their highly developed cultures. Among the many things we don’t know about them is why they beach.
Asia & The Pacific
The islands of New Zealand are lands full of surprises, contrasts and sensory overload! These differences are found in the varied landscapes, from glacier-covered alpine peaks to subtropical rain forests to sparkling, 21st-century cities contrasted with the vibrant and ancient Maori tribal culture. Even the weather ranges from fierce snowstorms to balmy sunny weather.
News & More
On Saturday, the world celebrated Earth Day 2017. This one took on a different demeanor from Earth Days in our recent past. Reminiscent of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, this year it coincided with the international March for Science.
