Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going: Molly Edmonds
Jun 20th, 2011 by wwftravel
Molly during her visit to Honduras. © Molly Edmonds
The festivities commemorating WWF’s 50th anniversary this year celebrate not just where we’ve been as an organization, but also where we’re going. That theme has inspired our newest blog series – but we’re taking it more literally!
Over the course of the summer, we’ll introduce you to WWF employees as passionate about seeing the world’s wild places as they are about protecting them. They’ll tell us where they’ve been and where they’d like to go.
First up, Molly Edmonds, climate communications intern.
How did you catch the travel bug?
I’ve been traveling since I was little, but only outside the country as an adult. Since I took up an interest in bird watching, I have been traveling all over the U.S. and Latin America to do it.
What’s been your top natural spot to visit?
Pico Bonito National Park in Honduras. It’s incredible: tropical and montane cloud forests, abundant birdlife and monkeys! There’s a lodge that sits at the edge of the park boundary with views of the high peaks and a network of forest trails. In this “sky island” there is intermingling of northern and southern Central American species, and the diversity is staggering.
What’s the most remote place you’ve visited?
Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. We stayed in an eco-lodge, only accessible by boat. You travel down a river and then follow the Pacific coast until you arrive at the lodge.
What are your top three dream nature destinations?
Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park, Machu Picchu in Peru; and Tanzania, especially the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Thinking back over your trips, tell us about one of your best observations of an animal?
At Machias Seal Island, off the coast of Maine. We got to sit in a blind and watch puffins and razorbills up close. They landed on the roof and scampered around the rocks in front of the blind – only a few feet away. With binoculars they seemed larger than life and we got intimate looks at them.
What’s one item you never leave home without?
Binoculars! Never know what you might see.
What’s your favorite travel tip?
Keep a plastic bag with you in your pack. It can be used for all sorts of things, especially helping you pack out your trash.
Love this blog, what a great idea! I will have to put Pico Bonito on my future travel list.
Great tips, I hope the plastic bag is one that is re-used (ie bread bag)!
She seems like an interesting person! We need those kind of hard-working caring people for working for the WWF and protecting our planet.