Nature

Subscribers were invited to write in about places, outside of the US, where they've had rewarding sightings of birds. (We cannot accept more submissions.)

In addition to the types of birds they saw, we asked travelers to each tell us where they were and the year/month/time their visit took place. We also wanted to know how difficult it was to reach an area, what equipment would be recommended and what the weather was like.

We've printed responses about sites in the Americas and Africa. This month, in part 5 of the series, we're in Australia, and we'll wrap things up with other areas next month.
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There is amazing bird-watching at Lamington National Park, lying on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range near the Queensland/New South Wales border in AUSTRALIA.

The nation of Chile created two new national parks in 2018.

• In the south-central region on the Corcovado Gulf, Parque Pumalín (www.parquepumalin.cl/en) comprises 715,000 acres of Andean and coastal terrains and includes endangered flora and fauna. Numerous hiking trails and campsites are located within the park.

On its 12-day round-trip cruises from Bergen to Kirkenes, Norway, from October through March, Hurtigruten (888/387-2566, www.hurtigruten.com) guarantees that if the northern lights are not seen during the cruise, each passenger will qualify for a free 6- or 7-day cruise.

Subscribers were invited to write in about places, outside of the US, where they've had rewarding sightings of birds. (We cannot accept more submissions.)

In addition to the types of birds they saw, we asked travelers to each tell us where they were and the year/month/time their visit took place. We also wanted to know how difficult it was to reach an area, what equipment would be recommended and what the weather was like.

We printed responses about sites in Latin America in the last three issues. This month, we're in Africa.
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Friends my husband, Al, and I were visiting in SOUTH AFRICA in April 2013 took us to Pilanesberg National Park, about three hours northwest of Johannesburg.

It was a beautiful fall day, with the temperature in the 70s.

On May 11 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a park ranger was killed and three people were abducted while visiting Virunga National Park (July ’18, pg. 19). As a result, in early June the park was closed to visitors until at least 2019. The chief warden said that the park would remain closed until he could guarantee the safety of visitors. An international security firm was hired to help restore safety. 

Virunga National Park is home to DRC’s only population of mountain gorillas.

If you enjoy travel to pristine wilderness areas and observing wildlife up close, an expedition trip to the Arctic or Antarctic should be on your travel list.

When my wife, Betty, and I traveled to Antarctica in 2015, our trip didn’t include a visit to the Falklands (Islas Malvinas) or South Georgia. After travel discussions with others, we realized that we had missed out on exceptional bird, sea mammal and landscape viewing opportunities.

As we had enjoyed our two previous polar experiences, our next decision was whether to consider another, more inclusive Antarctica trip or focus only on an expedition visit to the Falklands and South Georgia.

Many polar expeditions spend only two to three days each in the Falklands and South Georgia, either on the way to or returning from Antarctica. Uncooperative weather and sea conditions can easily reduce the number of off-ship excursions when you have only a few days to visit each area. We decided that if we really wanted to increase our chances for as many viewing opportunities as possible, we needed to maximize the number ofdays in each destination.

With this in mind, we found that Poseidon Expeditions (Providence, RI; 347/801-2610, www.poseidon expeditions.com) offered the itinerary that matched our interests and price range ($25,000 for two, excludingflights).

In November 2017, we embarked on a 13-day expedition that started in Puerto Madryn, Argentina, and ended in Ushuaia. The expedition schedule included 2½ days in the Falkland Islands and 5½ days in South Georgia.

Jiuzhaigou, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sichuan Province, southwestern China, reopened to the public on March 8, seven months after it closed due to damage from a magnitude-7 earthquake. 

Due to the danger of future quakes, visitors now are limited to 2,000 per day, and each must show proof of insurance before entering.

The Fuego Volcano, 25 miles southwest of Guatemala City, Guatemala, violently erupted on June 2, spewing out a pyroclastic flow that buried villages around the mountain, killing at least 25 people. More than 3,000 people in the area were evacuated, with about 1.7 million people around the volcano experiencing ash falls.

Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in the Americas, last erupting in February of this year. However, that eruption was small and caused no injuries.

11 days, 10 nights in western CANADA. Departures Aug. 7 & 25 & Sept. 1 & 8, 2018. Highlights: In Vancouver, British Columbia, Stanley Park/town of Whistler/Gold Rush Trail/Helmcken Falls in Wells Gray Provincial Park/SkyTram in Jasper National Park/Banff National Park/Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park/Lake Louise. From £2,589 (near $3,514) ppdo. Single, from £3,408 ($4,626). Canada As You Like It (2 Oxford House, 24 Oxford Rd. North, London, England, W4 4DH, U.K.; phone +44 20 8742 8299, www.canadaasyoulikeit.com).