Safari and Wildlife

Gorilla trekking in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda and the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda was an adventure, an adrenaline rush and the thrill of my life.

Like most people, my wife, Joan, and I prefer to travel during good weather, so before we decide when to go on any trip I look up the weather for our destination(s) in “Fodor’s World Weather Guide” by E.A. Pearce & C.G. Smith (Helicon Publishing. $17.95) or on the Internet, then I make a table like the one (on the next page).

We and another couple enjoyed an amazing 5-day safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa, staying at four different park camps. Our safari, in September, was carefully planned and smoothly executed by Dries de Bruyn (De Camdeboo, 10 Swart St., Eldoraigne 0157, South Africa; phone [012] 653-2178 or e-mail driesdebruyn@mweb.co.za). (Pronounce “Dries” like “trees and “Bruyn” like “brain.)

Antarctica. What an adventure! Yes, it’s far away and it’s expensive to get there, but, as the last of the seven continents, for us, Antarctica was calling. So when my husband, Jerry, and I received literature from Galapagos Travel (783 Rio Del Mar Blvd., Ste. 49, Aptos, CA 95003; 800/969-9014 or 831/689-9192) about a trip there in January ’07, we decided to check it out. We had traveled with Galapagos Travel in June ’04 and we trusted them to pick an ecologically minded ship with a good itinerary.

by Richard Shally, Walnut Creek, CA. Photos by Henk Ten Dam, Netherlands

by Sarah Rosenbloom, Chicago, IL

by Julie Skurdenis, Contributing Editor, photos by Katie Skurdenis-Lalli

Our family of four took a 10-day trip to Egypt, Nov. 16-27, 2006. We booked it with Prem Sharma of Somak Safaris (2700 East Imperial Highway, Ste. N, Brea, CA 92821; 714/985-3456, www.somaksafaris.com). (We had also traveled through Somak in 2004, to Tanzania.)

by Beth Habian, Features Editor