Tag: Wildlife

Uyuni, Bolivia tour – Reserva de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa national park is no slouch – it’s make-believe-land

I must admit, I was expecting a bit of a letdown after the salt flats on day 1 of the 3-day Uyuni tour but the wildlife reserve brought it. A little bit of everything including snowcapped volcanoes, eerily shaded lagoons, desolate deserts, steaming hot geysers, perfectly warm hot springs (enjoyed for hours on night 2) & altiplano wildlife (flamingo, (formerly endangered) vicuna, ostrich). The tour was incredible but in the harsh environment careening across vast expanses (sometimes salt) on previously barely worn tracks (I’d never call them roads), it was a normal occurrence for our big 4×4 with massive tires to breakdown for a bit. One of those massive tires sprung a leak once too. But we were never stopped for more than 30-45 minutes as our driver / guide also proved to be a capable mechanic & when he needed assistance, other drivers gladly jumped into help. In the middle of nowhere, folks come together.















Turns out I’m a bit obsessed with flamingos. On one lagoon, I estimated a thousand. On this lake, maybe 5k. The red lake below tracks them with chips so they know there are 18k. Woah. They are skittish little things. You get too close, they get nervous & fly off. So I was purposely gettin a bit too close for the shot fully expecting them to freak & fly off so I was prepared with video to capture their escape. It was amazing.

https://youtu.be/KxJctpWoFFw






More flamingos. Can’t help it.

https://youtu.be/5mTV5MhW-p0

For the Andaman Sea, skip Thailand & visit Langkawi, Malaysia

So while the Andaman Sea Thai islands were a bit overrun w tourists, all one needs to do is head a bit south to the Malaysian island of Langkawi. It’s actually 190 different islands but dominated by one main island as most are uninhabited. It’s real lovely & quiet. Datai Bay, on the main island & locale of my hotel, is listed as top 10 beaches in world by National Geographic & it’s the prettiest, widest, longest, nicest one I’ve seen yet. It also seems to have the most wildlife as monkeys are everywhere as are those damn monitor lizards, which I’m getting very accustomed to & don’t even bat an eye when I encounter them now. This rare, nearly endangered, flying monkey species called the colugo come out at night & I’ve been lucky enough to watch them fly from tree to tree over dinner. I spent the week relaxing, kayaking, paddle boarding, reading & treating myself to decent (but still Malaysian) food & a couple spa treatments. Real tough week.

It’s not everyday you have a sign on your patio door warning you to close it due to monkeys. Yes, they’re around.

 

This warning sign is on the other side of the path circling the pools. You’d think it was a joke but no, one was chillin 5 feet from me in the trees while I was laying in a sun lounger. It’s like they’re NBD anymore. I met guests who ran into 2 large wild boars the other night. After 7pm, brown bats begin dive bombing towards your head “inside” the open-air resort. And this is a 5-star luxury accommodation… or animal kingdom. It’s freaking wild. Literally.

 

View from my balcony

 

The beach

 


Monkey time


My view from the best mani/pedi of my life. Sitting outside in open air w a great breeze, overlooking the Andaman Sea & monkeys w their babies playing in the trees. Pretty fabulous.