My Wildlife Travel!

I was just reminiscing few of my past travels and what amazes me is how much I have enjoyed being around wildlife. I have loved the experience of going to Wildlife Safaris and getting so close to the Wildlife that you almost start feeling a connection with the innocent animals out there. Here are some of my travel experiences where I got opportunity to get real close with the wildlife and really enjoyed it.

Zebras, Natural Bridge Wild Life Ranch –

A wildlife safari in San Antonio, Texas, Natural Bridge Wildlife ranch allows you to ride in car along the 250 acre forest area which has many different species of animals that get really close to you. I really enjoyed feeding the zebras, they surrounded our car so closely and it was such an great experience. I called them the “Marty” from Madagascar.

Giraffes, Timbavati Wild Life Park – Located in Wisconsin Dells, Timbavati Wild Life Park offers Safari Train which takes you around the wild life and stops occasionally where you can get closer to the animals. The best part was feeding the Giraffes who had such a long tongue which made me nervous at times.

Dolphins, Discovery Cove – Swimming with the Dolphins in Discovery cove was an unforgettable experience. The dolphins are one of the friendliest animals and their expressions are just so adorable. You also get to kiss the dolphin at the end which is one great kiss to remember forever.

Horse Back Riding, Texas – Bandera, Texas is the Cowboy Capital of the world and horse riding in Bandera is one of its own kind. The cowboy horse rider drives you a mile to the horse stables in a vintage van. Riding the horses through the forest trails that go uphill, downhill, narrow creeks and streams of water is a very enjoyable experience. Put on your cowboy hats and boots to absolutely relish the ride. We spotted wild deer and birds on your way to the ranch too.

Birds, Discovery Cove – Another amazing experience in Discovery coves was feeding the birds in the aviary. The birds would fly and sit on your arms, shoulders to eat the food. There were just so many different kind of colorful birds and it was a delight to get so close to them. There were peacocks and owls which were a little scary to feed but the little ones were just so lovable.

Baby Alligator, Everglades National Park –During my recent visit to the Everglades National Park, we enjoyed watching the Alligator show. The show was about a brief introduction about the Alligators followed by the audience getting to hold the alligator baby which was intimidating yet a very joyful experience.

I so wish to go to South Africa next to experience wildlife safari there. Do you love wildlife? Have you had any exceptional experiences with the wild? Is it in your bucket list? Do share, I would love to read.

Blast from the Past, Wisconsin Dells!

Every year my parents visit me here in the United States and we usually plan our annual travel trip during the summer. Last summer, we traveled to Wisconsin Dells because it is at a driving distance from Chicago and there are just so many fun activities to do out there especially during the summer. In small towns such as the Dells, we prefer staying in bed and breakfast over a hotel. It feels more homely and you also get to enjoy breakfast first thing every morning. Our Bed and Breakfast was Victorian style old home with a pool right by the breakfast patio. We really enjoyed the home cooked delicacies every morning. The inn had a huge backyard that overlooked the Dells river. The evening we reached there we enjoyed sipping coffee in the backyard and then crossed over the road to walk along the river walk.

We spent our first day in Dells exploring the river area with Upper Dells Boat tour. Our guide gave us brief descriptions of rock formations and sandstone cliffs overlooking the Dells river. The boat took us to two scenic locations where we got down and explored the areas on our own. We walked down the mysterious pathway of witches gulch and enjoyed watching the dog jump over the stand rock. We did a short hike through the forest and reached back to board the boat that took us back.

We ended our first day in Dells enjoying delicious wraps at a local restaurant in Downtown Dells. Downtown Dells was walking distance from our Bed and Breakfast and that was one of the best part that we did not had to deal with any other means of commute. My parents loved our trip to the Dells and it is definitely one of the best destinations in the US for family vacation. We also went river tubing, jungle safari and horse canyon riding in the Dells which I can’t wait to share in my next post 🙂 Family vacations are just the best, where did you recently travel with your family? Do share. I would love to know.

My trip to Door County, Wisconsin. A lifetime adventure!

My recent trip to Door County, Wisconsin was one of the most adventurous trip I had in recent years. Door County is about 4 hours’ drive from Chicago and is an absolutely beautiful destination to visit during the summer. Some of the places I loved there are Sister Bay, Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Sturgeon Bay. All of these Bays and Creeks are small towns with their own little downtown surrounded by lake.

I always tend to plan for some activities especially when I take a trip in the summer when there is so many water activities to do. The plan this time around was to try out Sailing and Kayaking in the caves. Sailing in the calm water of sister bay was quite an amazing experience and went very smooth. We went sailing during the sunset and caught sight of the beautiful sun setting along the shores while the captain of the sail boat fired a canyon to salute the sunset. We also got to see the inside of the sail boat which was about 100 years old and had a small kitchen and few beds downstairs for the travelers who sailed long journeys in the boat and had to spent several days in it.

We headed out next day for Kayaking in the caves which turned out to be an incident that I will perhaps not forget for my entire life. We started to kayak and were struggling to kayak from the very beginning and the journey was 4 miles to the caves. The waves were huge and our kayak kept wandering in the direction of the wind. Our guide kept coming back to keep an eye on us while other all groups continued to move ahead. And then came the nightmare, guess what.. “Our boat toppled in the middle of nowhere” that too with our phones in the pocket :(. We ended up clinging to the toppled kayak waiting for our guide to come rescue us. I still remember that moment when my slippers slipped out of my feet into the deep lake and I could not even look if someone was coming to take us to the shore. Luckily, we had over life jackets on and also knew how to swim so ended up laughing at ourselves in the middle of nowhere.  Thanks to the guide who finally came up to us and saved over lives. However the bad news was after all this drama, we were just sent back to the point we started. I so wanted to still see the caves so we just drove to see the caves in the water which was absolutely mesmerizing.

Here are the very few pictures of me in Door County that I transferred before our phones were water damaged. I will remember this trip forever and I will not give up on Kayaking until I am able to do it now. We are heading towards Munising in Michigan next month and going to go Kayaking again. After all you got to do what you want to. Have you ever had a mishap during one of your trips? I would love to read 🙂