I love it when my fellow bloggers and I strike a creative chord. Prompted by a photo of the Northern Lights my friend Melynda of Your Wild Child posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, she, myself and Michele of Fun Orange County Parks decided it would be fun to create and compare our “Top 10 Nature Sights I Want to See” lists.
You can see Melynda’s list here, where she’s also linking up with others who want to play along.
In putting my list together I realized that of all of Mother Nature’s many treasures, I most enjoy her wild creatures.
I’ve seen the sun rise over the Grand Canyon, seen it set from a beach in Waikiki; I’ve spied majestic granite formations in Yosemite National Park and stood amidst the most beautiful trees on the planet in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. I’ve seen the White Cliffs of Dover and been humbled by the sheer size of Alaska’s vast wilderness.
But none of these things have moved me the way I’ve been awed in the presence of a wild animal.
There was the polar bear that got close enough to stand up and sniff me as I stood safely aboard a tundra buggy in Churchill, Canada. (I actually heard the bear sniffing!). And the brown bears I watched devouring salmon from 50 feet away in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. Oh yeah, and the pack of wolves I watched howl right outside the bus I sat aboard in Alaska’s Denali National Park.
These moments have had a profound impact on me. And I long to share such experiences with my kids. We’ve already had a few gems – the ladybug migration we witnessed this summer in Yosemite, the spider we watched spinning a web in our front yard a couple of months ago, and the hummingbird who stopped by to rest for a while right outside our kitchen window.
But today I’m dreaming bigger. Here goes:
10. Emperor Penguins in Antarctica
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| Photo by ianduffy |
9. Bandhavgarh National Park, India
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| Photo by Koshyk |
8. The Amazon Rainforest
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| Photo by alextorrenegra |
7. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
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| Photo by futureatlas.com |
6. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
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| Photo by Noel Feans |
5. Polar Bears in Churchill, Canada (with kids this time!)
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| Photo by treeday77 |
4. Everglades National Park
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| Photo by http2007 |
3. Yosemite Valley From the Top of Half Dome
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| Photo by mariachily |
2. Orca watching in the San Juan Islands
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| Photo by *christopher* |
1. Yellowstone National Park (for the bears & wolves, of course!)
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| Photo by USFWS Endangered Species |
How about you – what’s on your list of top nature sights to see? I’d love to know!
@Cat: I enjoyed your list, too – putting together this list was a lot of fun!
Great list! I'm not sure how close I'd like to get to some of those animals. It's fun to see the different lists and see who likes sites, something to do, animals to see and so on.
@Mel: Thanks for playing "hostess" for a little blogger fun!<br /><br />@Rebecca: I'd never considered creating a travel company. Hmmm ….<br /><br />@Michele: You now know why I haven't yet reached the top of Half Dome. I've got some fears to overcome first!
Great twist on the list! It makes my knees wobbly to think of topping Half Dome. People do it all the time, though. I watched a Huell Howser on the topic. Have you seen that one?
Let's go! Please start a travel company with these itineraries for families! I'd go with my kids!
Great list! I love seeing animals, too. And I can attest that the view from Half Dome is amazing, if a little dizzying, and there is nothing like watching wolves stalk elk through the snow in Yellowstone. <br /><br />So many places to go–so little time!