Safari USA; Where to See Wild Animals in America

by Neil Woodburn on

Somewhere on most everyone’s list of Things to do before they Die is to go on Safari in Africa. Unfortunately because of the cost and logistics of getting to Africa, most people will actually die before crossing this off their list.

There are some alternatives, however.

How about going on Safari in America?

Kathy Baruffi and Nancy Schretter have put together a nice little list in USA Today of 10 great places to go on safari – in the USA.

I was happy to see that the list (for the most part) does not include safari theme parks where the animals are trapped by fences, but rather those places where one can easily view wild animals wander past on their way to the local watering hole.

The suggestions range from Denali National Park in Alaska (“grizzly bears, sheep and moose”) to the Florida Everglades National Park (“manatees, crocodiles, deer, wild hogs, alligators, roseate spoonbills, great blue herons, hawks, eagles”).

Sure, it ain’t the Serengeti and you’re not going to see lions chomping down on unlucky gazelles, but it’s the next best thing.

How to Get Really Close to Tigers

by Jonathon Morgan on

Ever been on safari, and wished you could get up close and personal with animals? Normally that’d be too dangerous, but one German performance artists has found a novel solution for keeping himself self while out in the elements.

He’s protected by a giant ball of steel wire. Not only that, the design of the ball allows him to move at will — propelling himself and the contraption simply by shifting his weight in a walking motion.

It’s part of a 220-mile publicity stunt to raise awareness for those who need psychiatric help. Seems a little random, but according to Arnd Drossel, the artist: “the whole concept is about finding the courage to do something and inspire courage in those who have lost their confidence along with much else.”

Drossel envisioned the idea after suffering a personal low, and realizing how little help there was for people in bouts with depression. So he enlisted the help of psychiatric patients around the area to build his unique traveling device, then set off at a pace of nearly 13 miles a day.

If nothing else, it certainly appears to have the tigers’ attention.

[via Spluch]

Scourist Rules

by Erik Olsen on

Not sure how many people remember the numerous times we’ve blogged about Mr. Jon Rawlinson, but it’s time we did so again. Jon sent me an email recently that kind of sat there waiting for me to click on it. There was a link there that looked enticing, but for some reason, I just kind of let it languish there in unclicked limbo.

Well, no longer. And boy was I missing out. Jon is the man (well, one of them) behind an amazing, fabulous, wonderful new site called Scourist. What does that mean, exactly? Well, he means that they are “scouring” the earth in search of adventure. But more than that, they are shooting gobs of video, cutting it all into nice bite-sized segments ,and posting the stuff online.

I’ve been sitting here checking these videos out and if I looked in the mirror right now, I’d be looking at a very green face. I am OVERCOME with envy at this moment because of all the things I would like to be doing in this world right now, shooting video in an African game park is definitely near the top of the list. Top of the list would be hanging out ,martini in hand in Hef’s jacuzzi, but that’s another kind of dream.

I urge you to go and spend some time on Scourist now .It is really one of the best travel video sites I’ve seen in a while.

And this time we REALLY mean it .