The International Symposium on Birding & Aviation Conservation, organized by Holbrook Travel (Gainesville, FL; 800/451-7111, www.holbrooktravel.com), is taking place Jan. 5-7, 2017, at the Selva Verde Lodge & Rainforest Reserve (www.selvaverde.com), located in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica.
Two days after flying from Miami to Johannesburg, and prior to taking a 2-week cruise to Mombasa, I began a 9-day private tour in South Africa on Nov. 30, 2015. My tour arrangements had been made through Southern Destinations (46 Main Rd., Claremont 7735, Cape Town, South Africa; phone, in the US, 646/291-8992, www.southern destinations.com) with the help of Candice Petersen.
In a chest-deep pool, visitors to Australia can pet, play with and feed a platypus at the zoo Healesville Sanctuary (Badger Creek Rd., Healesville, Victoria, 3777, Australia; phone +61 3 5957 2800, www.zoo.org.au/healesville).
The “Wade with a Platypus” activity, limited to two people per visit (children under 12 not permitted), must be booked in advance and takes place at 11:15 a.m. Mon., Wed. and Fri.-Sun. Including park entry fee, it costs AUD175 (near $132) per person. Healesville Sanctuary is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, and entry costs AUD32.50 ($25).
After dining at the Little Zoo Café (Sukhothai Ave 99, Muangthongthani, Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand; phone +66 92 448 1116, www.littlezoocafe.com), guests can visit a few animals, including fennec foxes, meerkats and a raccoon. The animals, in a separate room, can be visited by only six people at one time. Guests must sanitize their hands and remove their shoes first.
Purchase of food in the café is required of anyone wishing to visit the animals. Meal prices start at THB165 (near $5). The café is open daily, 10:30 a.m.-7p.m.
Visitors to Tokyo, Japan, can spend an hour or more playing with harinezumi (hedgehogs) at the pet store Harry (Harinezumi) Café (Tokyo, Minato-ku, Roppongi 6-7-2 IWAHORI Building 2F; phone +81 03 3404 8100, www.harinezumi-cafe.com/cafe-english). Up to 30 hedgehogs of multiple species call the café home at any given time.
For years I dreamed of seeing the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, creatures with whom we humans share almost 98% of our nuclear DNA. I also was intrigued by Rwanda’s social and economic recovery following the devastation from the 1994 genocide.
I was in Bulgaria and, briefly, Romania for ten days and nine nights during the last half of May 2016. I joined a week-long tour but first spent two days in Sofia, adjusting to the time zone and also going on a day tour to Rila. Half of my trip was in the Rhodope Mountains and half in the Black Sea coastal area and countryside.
In northern Norway, guests of WolfLodge who meet certain requirements can interact with wild (but human-acclimated) wolves in an enclosure in Polar Park (N-9360, Bardu, Norway; phone +47 77 18 66 30, http://polarpark.no/polar-park-english.html).
Located in the park, WolfLodge has one double and five 3-bed guest rooms; two bathrooms that are shared; a common area with a kitchen, living room and fireplace; large skylights for viewing the northern lights, and large windows for watching the wolves roaming the grounds.
12 days, 9 nights (includes 2 days’ transit) to learn about East Africa conservation issues, Nov. 2-13, 2016, and March 23-April 3, 2017. Highlights: From Kilimanjaro, transfer to Arusha/in Tarangire National Park, up close with elephants/Lake Manyara National Park, home to flamingos, tree-climbing lions/in Serengeti National Park, Leakey digs at Olduvai Gorge/Ngorongoro Crater. $5,799 ppdo (2-6 people). Custom departures, $5,599-$6,699, based on group size. Single supp., $549; custom, $799. Deeper Africa (Boulder, CO; 888/658-7102, www.deeperafrica.com).
