Back in April I posted about My Top 5 Animal Encounters. We’ve also had many other awesome animal experiences over the years, these were just our top 5. If you’ve read the post then you’ve probably come to the conclusion that we love animals/ animal encounters. These kind of experiences can end up being the highlight of a trip!
When I came across the article Coolest Up-Close Animal Encounters on Travel + Leisure, I was looking forward to seeing what encounters and experiences they came up with.
Here is the list:
- Polar Bears-Churchill, Canada
- Jaguars– Pantanal, Brazil
- Elephants– Chobe National Park, Botswana
- Crocodiles– Kakadu National Park, Australia
- Lions– Serengeti Plains, Tanzania
- Bengal Tigers– Bandhavgarh National Park, India
- Grizzly Bears– Katmai National Park, Alaska
- Hippos– Lower Zambezi River, Zambia
- Komodo Dragons– Komodo National Park, Indonesia
- Mountain Gorillas– Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
- Whale Sharks– Bahia de Los Angeles, Mexico
- Orangutans– Tanjung Puting Biosphere Reserve, Indonesia
- Killer Whales– Johnstone Strait, Canada
- Pandas– Minshan Mountains, China
- Iguanas– Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
- Sea Turtles– Molokai, Hawaii
- Wolves– Yellowstone National Park- Wyoming
- Black Rhino– Kunene, Namibia
- Macaws– Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru
- Ring-Tailed Lemurs– Anja Reserve, Madagascar
While I’ve only taken part in one of these exact encounters from the list (highlighted above), I’ve had similar experiences to a few others. (Elephants in various parks in Africa, lions on the Masai Mara, Hippos in Kenya & Uganda & swimming with turtles in Barbados.)
Which experiences from T+L’s list would I most like to do? If I could pick 3 of these experiences to do, I’d go to Churchill to see the polar bears, India to see Bengal tigers and Mexico (or elsewhere in the world) to swim with whale sharks.
Have you taken part in any of these amazing animal encounters? If so, which did you do. Which encounters from the list would you most like to do?
Find out more about each of these close-up animal encounters, click here.
My husband also did the swim with the manatees in FL. He loves it so much, he wants to do it again.
Angela- That sounds pretty amazing! It was safe to get close to a mother and its calf? I don’t recall seeing that option when we went to Moorea.
Nanette- I totally agree with him! The manatee swim is incredible and we plan to do it again when Lucas is a bit older.
The best animal encounter is hands down, swimming with Humpback Whale in Moorea, French Polynesia!! We swam very close to the mother and calf whales, and it was a surreal experience!