Shot of the Day: Wet footed elephant by the Chobe river
Posted by Emma Torry on May 27, 2009 at 09:42 AM
This shot by frederic.salein depicts a scene that travellers to Botswana dream about encountering. Amazing light plus a stunning animal.
Check out AliceAfrica's two week African adventure travel itinerary here. For more information about the Chobe National Park click here.
Travel+Leisure has rounded up India's best wildlife safaris.
This caught my attention as I was lucky enough to visit Rajasthan's Ranthambore National Park last March. In just two days and over two safaris I saw four tigers. One solitary male and three cubs. It was, quite simply, incredible.
The male was walked right in front of our jeep after waking up from his afternoon siesta (see photo above). We spotted him again later in the afternoon with a kill. The three cubs were playing in the afternoon sun as their mother was away hunting.
If you decide that Ranthambore is a must for your India travel itinerary there are several fantastic luxury tented safari options. The Oberoi and the Aman have both set up shop on the outskirts of the park. A cheaper option is Ranthambhore Bagh run by Aditya and Poonam Singh. This is where I stayed and, although not as luxurious as the Aman or Oberoi, it is fun and relaxed with food that's out of this world.
Here are Travel+Leisure's "10 Amazing Indian Safaris":
Hemis National Park, Ladakh
Best for: Snow leopards, Tibetan argali sheep, Ibex, Urial (a wild mountain goat), Blue sheep, chukhar, snow cocks, golden eagles. More...
Sasan-Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat Peninsula
Best for: Asiatic Lions, leopards, hyenas, pythons, jackals. More...
Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan
Best for: Tigers, spotted deer, wild boar, jackals, painted storks (300 bird species overall), plus impressive ruins, forts, and temples. More...
Kaziranga National Park, Assam
Best for: One-horned rhinoceros, tigers, (wild) elephants, wild buffalo, monitor lizards, and water birds like the bar-headed goose, grey-headed lapwing, and spot-billed pelican. More...
Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh
Best for: Tigers, swamp deer, mongoose, leopards, wild boar, golden jackals, 300 bird species. More...
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats
Best for: Giant Malabar squirrels, (wild) elephants, guar (giant bison), bird life. More...
Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Rajasthan
Best for: Storks, cranes, eagles, and hawks, pythons, porcupines, wild boar, nilgai (literally 'blue cow'), India’s largest native antelope. More...
Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh
Best for: Tigers, leopards, nilgai, hog deer, wild boar. More
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, boarders Bhutan and Assam
Best for: Tigers, water buffalo, rhinos, (wild) elephants, golden langur (a rare orange-furred monkey), Bengal florican (an endangered two-foot-tall bird). More...
Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand
Best for: Tigers, wild elephants (as opposed to the ones you can ride), crocodiles, 600 species of birds. More...
Photos:
*Kaziranga Rhino _IGP4259 by Ken McChesney via Flickr (Creative Commons); Bharatpur by yaatra via Flickr (Creative Commons); Corbett Tiger Reserve signage by Dena v.d.Wal via Flickr (Creative Commons); golden langur by spo0man via Flickr (Creative Commons)*
Bend it like big ears
Posted by Emma Torry on November 20, 2007 at 12:48 PM
300 trunks, 600 flapping ears and 132 legs on a football pitch… Yesterday the annual elephant festival took place in Surin, Thailand. More than 300 elephants and their handlers attended the event, the highlights of which included an 11-a-side football match and darts throwing competition.
Elephant fans can check out video footage of the animals’ football skills here.
Since logging was banned in Thailand in 1989 the country’s elephant handlers, or “mahouts”, have been forced into training their statuesque friends to perform tricks for tourists. The elephant festival is an important annual event for them both in terms of income and as a reunion / homecoming.
Other highlights on the elephant event calendar include:
February 2008
Elephant Polo Tournament, Sri Lanka
March 2008
Elephant Festival, Jaipur, India
Paripally Gajamela, Elephant Pagent, India
April 2008
- Elephant Races, Don Village, Vietnam
September 2008
- Ganesh Festival, Pune, India (ok, so it not elephants per se, but a celebration for the elephant-headed god)
