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Best place for nature watching ? (1 Viewer)

A

albatross02

Well-known member
Hallo,

which is the best place for nature watching, if You not interested in special area like birdwatching ?
I mean travel somewhere and look round what kind of plants and animals interesting there.
Maybe countries in Afrika have the best possibilities, but they are not so safe and is not so easy for traveling ?

Best regards
Dieter
 
India is safe, friendly, easy to travel, full of tame big mammals, with rainforests, deserts, Himalaya, wetlands, coast, steppes, dry forests...

Indonesia is also safe, friendly, rather easy to travel, has both Asian and Australian faunas, and every island is different and some smaller ones are very briefly or not at all explored by biologists...
 
I'm not long back from The Gambia, no big game but lots of birds & nothing to jump out & eat you when you're watching them! The country has a good tourist infrastructure with inland travel being relatively easy & is one of the safest countries in the world with violent crime being exceedingly rare. The great advantage of The Gambia is cheap package holidays are available from Western Europe (including Germany) & it serves as a great introduction to Africa.
If your interested check out The Gambian Birdwatching & Conservation Group at: www.gambiabirding.org/
 
New Zealand

Hallo,

last 3 vacantions I been in New Zealand.
There is possible to see Takahe on Tiritiri Matangi.
Almost the half kind of penguins live in NZ.
On South island is possible to see parrot on the glaciers, the cheeky Kea.
Kakapo is only to see on Codfish island, for goverment workers, with special permit.
The most interesting in NZ is the big amount of tree fern. I think there is no other place with so much tree fern ( maybe Chile ? ).
In the forest are lots of moss and artic beech ( rain until 8000 mm per year ).
There is also Giant Moss ( Dawsonia superba ), which can grow up until 70 cm.
In the north are still Kauri forests. In think Kauri forests are nowhere else.
The highlight is also Kaikoura. The town is on the coast, where are the mountains over 2600 m high.
The water nearby the coast is more than 2000 m deep. So is good place for Spermwales ( saw 4 ). Also 3 different kind of dolphins are there.
I saw a group of 200 dolphins ( this breeding place for dolphins, 100 - 400 dolphins are normal ). I saw pictures with lots of dolphins, but I thought is was only created, but not really exist pictures. But I saw this with my owns eyes. This pleace is also well known for seabirds ( I would call it non plus ultra for seabirds ). In one trip I saw Salvins mollymawk, Giant Petrel, Gibsons wandering albatross, Antipodean wandering albatross, Northern Royal albatross, Southern Royal albatross. If You have good luck, You see also Skua.

Best regards
Dieter

http://www.hiddenforest.co.nz/lichens/index.htm

http://www.oceanwings.co.nz/albatross/ocean_gallery/
 
also vote for Indonesia

lovely people - so many islands - great diving, birds and other wildlife

the Amazon is hard to beat especially for mammals like Jaguar, Tapir, Capybara and numerous monkey species. Caimans and annacondas in the rivers....etc

as you say parts of Africa are a bit dangerous for independant travel at the moment but it may change

Tim
 
BC Canada

Hallo Owen,

BC I like also very much. I was in July 2001 in Whitehorse ( Yukon ).
From there, I traveled to Alaska, Kluane Lake ( Yukon ) -> biggest population of grizzly bears. Only 280 km from Whitehorse is Atlin ( called Switzerland of Canada, on the depest lake in Canada ). But Vancouver island is also very nice and other parts around Vancouver.
But I did not see Orca yet.
I like big trees ( e.g. Douglas Fir ) covered with lots of moss and artic beech. Blue berry bush are tall as people.
I hope some Canadians and travellers insert pictures about the beautiful spots of Canada ( suppose most of beautiful spots not known outside Canada ).


Best regards
Dieter
 
Last edited:
How about Alaska? Magnificent scenery, landscape, mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, glaciers, unique and abundant wildlife, variety of birds (including many vagrants from Asia), etc. I'm planning to travel in Alaska next year.

Costa Rica could also be a great location for observing nature. It's a relatively safe country for tourists, with excellent health system and services. Its lush rainforests support a variety of unique wildlife and birds as well.

Tim
 
Alaska

Hallo Tim,

where do You live ? The flag looks like Korea.
Alaska is really good. The landscapes are very spectacular. Near Haines are 3.500 m high mountains at the ocean.
Possible to see is bears, porcupine, whales and even hummingbirds.
You have to look for the right saison. In July in South Alaska was a lot of rain.
Yukon is different, because the high mountains of St. Elias.
I think also the area of Denali and the north of Alaska has different weather.
Costa Rica I do not know yet.


Best regards
Dieter
 
Hi Dieter. My nationality is South Korean, but I live in Oregon, USA. Have you done any birding in east Asia (China, Korea, Japan, etc)? Korea may not support the greatest variety of species compared to other locations, but you can find some unique migrants and arrivals from Japan during the winter. You'll also find huge flocks of baikal teals on lakes and reservoirs.

I do agree with you on Alaska. Looking for a right season is vital, or else it could spoil the trip. Having it rain all the time during your trip wouldn't be quite enjoyable. I guess Alaska has a variety of climates in different landscapes throughout the region.

Tim
 
Alaska and Asia

Hallo Tim,

in Asia I saw only Gede Pangrango NP, 85 km in south of Jakarta.
It is mountain moisture forest, with 400 different birds. I did not saw so much, because deep forest, but I saw Gibbons.
I think there are a lot unknown nice landscape and birdplace in US ( maybe more unknown area are in Canada ). I hope the people here will insert nice pictures under location.
Some weeks ago I saw a report, about a person on Mississippi. He live only from the food which give the river. There was beautiful landscape around the whole year.

Lots of birds I saw also in Australia.

In Bolivia I was only for mountain climbing ( spectacular far view in high desert, suppose 300 km ). In Amboro NP I have not been yet ( 840 different birds ). Now this country is very unstable, some people said now is good time for Argentine.

Best regards
Dieter
 
Hi, Dieter, welcome to BirdForum!

You seem to have seen a huge part of the world! :t: Are you more interested in unusual and relatively unknown places with perhaps just one or two things that make it unique, or are you interested in a wide variety of species?
 
Variety of species

Hallo Katy,

You guess right, I am not a birdwatcher.
I travel in nice places and look round what is interesting like landscape, animals, plants and so on. I do a little bit trekking, climbing, hiking and sometimes cayaking.
We have some interesting birds around Berlin, some parts have 260 different birds. But almost all areas crowded, remember we have over 80 Million people ( almost one third of USA ) in an area which is smaller than California.
The people in empty area like Canada, Australia or South island of New Zealand are much more relexed.
We do not have so nice unspoiled landscapes, high mountains with long glaciers, hugh lakes, endless forests or rain forests.
If You hear how much countries people from Europe visited, think how big are ower countries and how big are Your federal coutries.
My favourite place in Germany is island Ruegen.
But the most spectacular rocks Wissower Klinken are crashed this year, caused from weather.

http://www.fotos.reiselotse.info/se...te&sessionid=f23d537dfdf419081aaa4ffa166609bc

Best regards
Dieter
 
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