Exploring Nature: Wonderful Memories

I’ve done a lot of traveling in my time. All the states including Alaska and Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Africa, England, Ireland, Bermuda and South America all come to mind. Plus Australia and New Zealand.

My advice to would-be travelers is to start as soon as you can because if you wait too long, you might become infirm or keel over and not go anywhere at all.

Here are six of my alltime favorite travel memories: 1. Gliding along in a dugout canoe on the Okavango Delta in Africa and seeing hippos in the coffee-colored water. Our guide, Eddie, informed us that hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal. “They just bite you in two,” he said.

2. Also in Africa, seeing a male lion up close and personal while riding atop a Land Rover on safari. This golden-tan, full-maned lion had yellow eyes and the thought crossed my mind that he could easily hop up on the vehicle and enjoy me as a tasty snack. I have never been more aware that I am basically a big piece of meat.

3. Crossing the North Sea from England to Ireland, I was euphoric to be headed for new and exotic sights. Plus, I was happy not to be seasick like a few other miserable folks. Later, I thoroughly enjoyed kissing the Blarney Stone and visiting the Guinness Brewery in Dublin.

4. Seeing the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in South America. Perched atop a tall mountain, the massive stone temples and plazas are marvels of construction done completely by hand and without mortar. They were discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1919, after the local folks abandoned them for centuries.

5. Being soaked by spray from Victoria Falls, a mighty torrent going over a tall chasm in Africa — twice as high and twice as wide as Niagara Falls. They are called “the water that roars” for good reason and there are multiple rainbows from the continual mist.

6. Seeing the Bermuda petrel, a rare and almost extinct seabird, off the coast of Bermuda. And seeing it on a boat where our chief guide was David Wingate, a living legend who rediscovered the bird on a small island after it was thought to be extinct. This was a case of my guide being more of a treasure than the rare bird he showed me.

These are six wonderful memories, and I hope there will be a few more. But if I only see chickadees in my backyard, I won’t complain. I’ll always have some wonderful memories.