Andasibe National Park, Madagascar The drive from Tana to Andasibe was a little rough – lots of passing on one lane roads, and very, very, windy roads. We were both glad when the four hour drive was over and we arrived at the Vakona Forest Lodge. We were in room #1, which was conveniently […]
Traveling Light Getting to Madagascar from the US takes a bit of time, especially if you are on frequent flyer tickets. We’d booked forever in advance so we got business class tickets and were flying Houston – DC – Johannesburg – Antananarivo. There was a hurricane in the Atlantic, so we were watching the weather […]
(Location: San Gerado del Doto, Costa Rica) We’re not birders. Well, I’m definitely not a birder. Andy says he’s not a birder. In any event, we found ourselves driving halfway up the Pan American highway in search of the Resplendent Quetzal. Neither of us are feeling that great at this point in the trip. Let’s […]
(Location: San Vito, Costa Rica) From Pavones, we drove (well, were driven) two hours back to Golfito, and then another very hilly, windy hour to Las Cruces Biological Station. There is one reason to go here: birds. We were only here for one night, and had the whole place to ourselves. We did a two […]
(Location: Pavones, Costa Rica) No one had heard of this place. We were pretty close to Panama. There were small planes that seemed to land and take off in the middle of the night. Where the heck were we ?? From the Osa Peninsula, we took a private ferry to the other side of the […]
(Location: Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica) Getting to the Osa Peninsula isn’t easy. It was a very bumpy flight, in a very small plane, from San Jose to Puerto Jiminez. There was a bit of confusion at the airplane landing place (not really an airport, per se) – the lodge had arranged transportation but none of […]
Location: Socorro, New Mexico Bosque del Apache – unless you’re a birder, you’ve probably never heard of it. I don’t remember how we became aware of this National Wildlife Refuge located an hour and a half south of Albuquerque. The best time of the year to visit is from early November to mid-February, so it […]
For Christmas 2009, we traveled to Japan with two targets: snow monkeys and red crowned cranes. I’ll leave the birds for a separate post. We flew from Chicago to Tokyo on JAL, and got a screaming deal of first class tickets with points. It was Christmas day and the airport was deserted. We were the […]
In November of 2008, we traveled to Churchill, Canada hoping to see polar bears. We traveled with Frontiers North, and spent 5 days at their Tundra Buggy Lodge. Getting to Churchill from Chicago is pretty easy. We flew direct to Winnipeg, overnighted at the airport Sheraton, and then continued on the 1.5 hour charter flight […]
In July 2007 we visited the Alaska for one reason: bears. We wanted to go in 2006, but when we inquired in late February, they were already booked so we reserved a year and a half in advance. The six hour flight from Chicago to Anchorage did not provide a meal or snack, but the […]