Dean's sister, Jennie Tatooles, stands on the equator. © Dean J. Tatooles

By Dean J. Tatooles
WWF Travel Guest Blogger

One of the world’s foremost wildlife destinations, Kenya dedicates a great deal of its land to nature reserves. Our guest blogger Dean J. Tatooles recently traveled across Kenya and shares with us 10 of his lessons learned.

1. Despite studies to the contrary, I saw water swirl clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of the Equator. On my way through the Great Rift Valley to Nakuru, I stopped in a small town called Nanyuki, which is directly on the equator. My intent was to find out whether water really swirls in one direction above the equator and the opposite direction below—or it’s a myth, as many in the scientific community contend.

In Nanyuki, I encountered a “professor” (or at least that is what he called himself) whose job was to answer this very question for curious tourists. The Professor took me 15 feet north of the equator, funneled water into a bowl and floated a matchstick on it. Sure enough, the matchstick circled clockwise. We then walked 30 feet south, positioning us south of the equator, and repeated the experiment; the matchstick swirled counterclockwise.

And what happened when we stood directly on the invisible line that bisects the Earth? The matchstick remained perfectly still.

2. Watch lions’ tails closely. If a lion lashes its tail up and down several times in a row, a charge is imminent. It’s a great clue, especially when you’re observing an animal that spends about 20 hours a day lounging around, to conserve energy.

3. Keep one hand for yourself and give one to your safari vehicle. If you ever traveled on a ship in choppy water, you know what it feels like to get tossed around. Traveling off road in a safari vehicle can be similar. While in the Maasai Mara, I went airborne out of the top of our Landcruiser when we traversed a concealed ditch. Luckily, the only major injury was to my ego!

4. If required, obtain a visa before you leave. Tourist visas are available for Americans and other visitors at the airport in Nairobi. I would suggest, however, that you try to acquire yours ahead of time through the Kenyan Embassy or a consulate. Visa lines upon arrival can be outrageously long—as I experienced.

5. Elephants, too, are “righty” or “lefty”. I have traveled throughout Africa and observed that elephants in east Africa have much longer tusks than those of their counterparts in southern Africa. One of the theories conveyed to me during my recent visit was that savanna elephants (unlike those found in the forest) don’t often come in contact with trees—which may stunt the growth of their tusks. And, like humans, elephants are right or left dominant. This is evident in that the right or left tusk is worn down more than the other.

6. Bring a long camera lens with you. Travelers always complain that the animals shown in their photos look so small. My advice is simple: Take a camera with no less than an 80mm to 200mm lens with you on your trip. You won’t be sorry. As a wildlife photographer, I rarely shoot any animal images in Africa at less than 80mm.

7. Kenya has some of the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten. People have frequently asked me, “What do you eat in Kenya?” Interestingly enough, Indian food! Kenya has a long, rich history of Indian culinary culture from its days as a British colony. Spicy curry dishes are common, and rice is almost a staple.

8. Whenever possible, fly between destinations. If you plan to travel to various wildlife reserves, I recommend flying between destinations. Roads are extremely rough in Kenya, and travel times between each park can be up to nine hours.

9. Locking the doors at your lodge isn’t to protect you from other people. One afternoon in Amboseli National Park, a male baboon paid a visit to my room. I had closed the door but failed to secure the latch. Bad move. The door swung open as I was getting ready for my next safari outing, and the baboon came right in, making a beeline for the sugar packets next to my coffeemaker.

10. Wear sunscreen. We all know that Africa is warm, but Kenya takes in even more direct sun rays because of its position on the equator. Even when overcast, you should frequently apply sunscreen to avoid looking like a scarlet-chested sunbird, like I did.

• Travel to Kenya with WWF, September 7-14, 2012.

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy:

• Kenya or Tanzania: Which to choose?
• Ten things to take on your African safari
• School of Thought: 10 things Micronesia taught us

Most animal young seem to have a universal attribute as well: an urge to prove themselves by testing their limits. And that can cause them to take on more than they can chew — literally.

That’s certainly the case with these two cheetah cubs in the African desert, who sneak away to hunt without their mother and tackle what they think will be an easy meal. The problem is, they didn’t count on the gemsbok (or oryx) calf having a protective mother, too.

Watch this short video of one gemsbok mom who demonstrates that helicopter parenting can, at times, be of value in the wild. And then I hope all of you animal mothers “out there” have a happy upcoming Mother’s Day, from Colorado to the Kalahari!

-Candice Gaukel Andrews

© Natural Habitat Adventures. Reprinted with permission.

A large flock of mostly Northern fulmars surrounds the fluke of a humpback whale in the Aleutian Islands. © Scott Dickerson / WWF-US

When I tell people I work in the Arctic, they often ask why I’d want to live in such a cold, dark and remote place. So, I love to surprise people with stories of what this amazing region is really like.

Yes, the Arctic is remote. But it is also rich, colorful, vibrant—and teeming with life.

There are so many places where you can experience the Arctic’s amazing abundance. There’s the breathtaking view of the ocean off the eastern Aleutian Islands, where you can sometimes see the air sparkling with the sun-filled mist of over 40 spouting humpback whales.

Or you might find thousands of northern fur seals gathered on the beaches of the Pribilof Islands, barking and snorting in the sea air. Or thousands of walruses resting on the northern coast of Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula.

If you visited tiny Hall Island during the short summer in the Bering Sea, you’d be surrounded by hundreds of crested auklets rising into flight around you.

And that’s just a sample of the sheer abundance of Arctic wildlife. Over 200 bird species and 50 marine mammals live just in the Bering Sea region alone—many in large concentrations. It’s one of the last places on Earth where it’s possible to literally be surrounded by crowds of wildlife.

Sometimes you can find life in very unexpected places too, like deep at the chilly bottom of the Bering Sea where cold-water coral as colorful as tropical coral has been discovered.  Or under stretches of sea ice where tiny plankton live and are released into the ocean, nourishing the food chain.

Another remarkable example of the Arctic’s vibrancy is the astounding wildlife migrations that occur here. Gray whales from Mexico, humpbacks from Hawaii, and birds from every continent travel to this region to feed and breed. And let’s not forget wild Pacific salmon, which swim up to 1,000 miles to spawn and fill the rivers. That migration benefits humans too—the Arctic’s rivers and oceans are among the world’s largest sources of seafood.

And of course, there is life and inspiration to be found in the Arctic’s people—especially its indigenous people. For thousands of years they have survived and thrived here, creating a respectful balance between nature and human needs.

All of this amazing life right here in America’s “backyard,” is why I work at WWF. We have a huge opportunity for conservation here. The Arctic still has relatively little development and vast areas of intact habitat. We need to protect its productive ecosystems from the impacts of climate change and the growing development pressures that are rapidly transforming the region.

That is why we need Americans to care about the Arctic and be willing to support conservation efforts here. If that happens, we can protect this extraordinary place for both wildlife and many generations of people living in and beyond the Arctic.

-Margaret Williams, Managing Director of WWF’s Arctic Program

• Travel to the Arctic with WWF.

In addition to wildlife, Namibia is known for its stunning sand dunes. © Helen Morf / WWF-Canon

Sem Shikongo works to develop Namibia’s tourism industry sustainably and responsibly. He shares his thoughts on the country’s commitment to conservation and how it affects tourism.

What is so significant about the fact that 42 percent of Namibia’s land is under conservation management?  
This shows real commitment to conservation, management and sustainable utilization of natural resources as per the Namibian constitution. It is pushing boundaries and standing out amongst the rest.  It is important to recognize that all natural resource-based production systems depend on the functioning of the ecosystems for their performance, including the fisheries, agriculture and forestry sectors, which are all key pillars of Namibia’s economy. Therefore, seen in this light, 42 percent becomes very significant indeed.

What does this mean to conservation?  
This is a real plus to conservation, it shows adaptive management, it shows co-management and it shows the commitment and passion of the Namibian people toward their environment and their land. It means working towards achieving and maintaining that balance between conservation and sustainable use and making sure that the environment and nature is respected, managed and sustainably utilized. Conservation is not only the responsibility of government but of all Namibians and this has been demonstrated as that 42 percent is managed by a variety of stakeholders all in the interest of long-term sustainability.

How has conservation impacted local communities?  
As a country we have gained a worldwide reputation for our innovative approach of linking conservation to poverty alleviation through our communal area conservancy program and pro-poor tourism initiatives. This is founded on the dynamic policy adjustment that devolved rights of wildlife and tourism to many of Namibia’s most marginalized and poorest communities. These rights have provided local communities with unprecedented incentives to manage and conserve their areas and wildlife, which have resulted in mass recoveries of wildlife populations outside national parks and reduced poaching throughout Namibia.

Does 42 percent make a difference in terms of the tourism experience?  
The 42 percent land under some form of conservation management has unlocked enormous tourism development opportunities especially in communal lands, and this has definitely increased the tourist experience. Culture and human interaction at a personal level has increased, and amazing adventures have been unlocked.  This 42 percent of land combines wildlife and unique landscapes all set within majestic and unspoiled wilderness, and together it is making Namibia potentially one of the most competitive tourism destinations in the world.

What next?  Will we be able to say 45 percent or 48 percent of Namibia is under conservation management in the coming years or is there a danger that it could slip backwards? 
All indications are that there is no return, there is always something new out of Namibia. Perhaps new innovations based on the best practices generated since Independence may indeed lead to us seeing this number increase.

Travel to Namibia with WWF.

© Namibia Tourist Board. Reprinted with permission.

The main lodge building houses dining areas, a bar and a library. © Latika Rana

It was a common summer fire in Bandhavgarh National Park, a protected reserve for tigers in the heart of India. But for Latika Rana, the fire was especially memorable, not for the damage to the forests or risk to tigers and other wildlife, but for the outpouring of help from the community.

“Everyone, from the laundry man to shop keepers to guides and lodge owners, were there to help,” said Rana, a wildlife biologist and co-owner of the Singinawa Jungle Lodge near another of India’s reserves, Kanha. “The park belonged to them, and they worked as one with the forest department to save it from summer fires that year. This sense of ownership and being a stakeholder is what will keep the tiger alive against all odds.”

Rana infuses the same philosophy of community-based management and protection of natural resources into the Singinawa Jungle Lodge that she and husband Nanda co-run. Their lodge, which WWF members will visit during the Wildlife of India tour in December—demonstrates how tourism, wildlife conservation and community involvement are harmonious efforts.

“I would like to work more closely with the communities living around tiger habitats,” Latika Rana explained, “and show through example that eco-tourism can support conservation in India.”

Nanda and Latika Rana on the property. © Latika Rana

Numbering more than 100,000 at the turn of the last century, tigers have lost more than 97 percent of their population and 94 percent of their home range in just 100 years.  As few as 3,200 individuals are left in the wild, and they live in increasingly isolated pockets of Asia and the Russian Far East.

India, which is home to half the world’s wild tigers, announced last year that its tiger population has increased to 1,706 from 1,411 since the last tiger census in 2007.

Rana has worked with a number of non-profit organizations to help boost these numbers even more. She said she became a lodge owner “by circumstance.”

“The lodge allows me the financial base and reason to spend large quantities of time in the field and to work with local communities, who are the true guardians of the tiger,” she explained in an interview.

Her husband Nanda, meanwhile, hails from Nepal and has spent more than two decades studying tigers. “Singinawa” derives its name from a Sherpa word meaning “protectors of the sacred forest.”

Sitting on 58 acres, the lodge is comprised of 12 secluded stone and slate cottages, each of which was built around existing trees. There are a variety of mammals and reptiles and hundreds of species of birds that reside in the land surrounding Singinawa. Most famous are tigers, of course, but there are also guar, dhole, Indian wolves and leopards.

Each cottage includes a private veranda, en-suite bathroom and fireplace. © Latika Rana

More than 60 percent of Singinawa’s staff originates from surrounding communities. The Ranas provided them with tourism training skills, and a number of them were involved in the actual construction of the lodge.

The Ranas have married ecotourism and conservation in a number of other ways:

• They helped restore land previously used as a landfill by planting thousands of bamboo plants and hundreds fruiting and flowering trees, and also worked on efforts to rid local lands of an invasive weed species.
• They instituted eco-minded practices at the lodge, including cultivating home-grown fire wood used to heat public places, installing water heaters that run on waste instead of electricity and powering external lighting by solar power.
• They prohibit the use of all plastics on resort property as much as possible.

And their work with communities is impressive, too. For example, the Ranas purchased 18 acres of land for the Singinawa Foundation’s “model farm,” which educates villagers about the use of indigenous plants to augment their incomes and improve lifestyles. They also work closely with children on the concepts of eco-friendly living, sustainable lifestyles and conservation issues, including the protection of tigers.

“The tiger and the forests it inhabits are a source of inspiration,” Rana said. “I cannot imagine a world without them.”

-By Dean J. Tatooles, WWF Travel Guest Blogger, and Elissa Leibowitz Poma, WWF Travel Manager

Learn More
Visit India with WWF
WWF’s Save Tigers Now Campaign with Leonardo DiCaprio

© Steve Morello / WWF-US

The plight of polar bears in the wild is intensifying each year. As Arctic sea ice levels decrease to record lows, polar bears are very quickly losing the habitat that is vital to their survival, becoming iconic symbols of threats to wildlife from a changing climate.

To learn more about polar bears and the effects of climate change, we invite you to join World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures for a special presentation on Wednesday, May 2 at 3 p.m. EDT.

WWF experts Margaret Williams (Managing Director, Arctic Program) and Nick Sundt (Director, Climate Change Communications) will be joined by NHA’s Founder & Director Ben Bressler to explore the importance of polar bears, how climate change is affecting them, and how WWF is working to protect their habitat. Plus, learn how you can see polar bears in their natural environment alongside WWF experts on our Changing Realm of the Polar Bear tour, which WWF and NHA are partnering to run in November 2012. Time for Q-and-A with these experts will be included.

Reserve your space now. Don’t miss this unique chance to hear the latest on crucial polar bear conservation efforts!

A gray whale and her calf swim within 50 feet of Jill and the other participants of WWF's Baja voyage. © WWF-US / Jill Schwartz

We hit the trifecta. After an 18-hour boat ride through the wild waters of the Pacific, we reached Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The water was still. The sky was solid blue. We were told by our guides that dozens of gray whales, each just a few weeks old, were in this part of the bay and at the stage of their life when they wanted to do what all children want to do: play.  It was the perfect set-up for whale watching.

An unforgettable experience
I left our small cruise ship and boarded a heavy-duty raft with eight others. It wasn’t long before we saw the dark flesh of a gray whale—one of the world’s most iconic species. Just 50 feet from our boat, the whale breached. Nobody on my boat had ever been that close to a whale. This time of year, it would be difficult to get much closer, as the mother whales (cows) were still very protective of their babies (calves).

Then just minutes later, the cow and her calf slowly danced through the water, coming within mere inches of us. We watched—mainly through our camera lenses—what seemed to be their morning ritual. Despite her enormity (four tons), the cow delicately broke the surface, fiercely blowing water through her spout. A few seconds later, her calf did the same, a bit more clumsily, and then emerged again to roll over her mother. A true sign of love.

Soon the whales were swimming and playing under, around and alongside our boats. For nearly 30 minutes, my fellow travelers giggled and screeched as they experienced these amazing animals. Despite the fact that the whale was far superior to me in weight and strength, I was giddy, not fearful.

“Why are they coming so close?” I asked Sharon, a naturalist on our trip.

“Because they trust us,” she said.

And it was in this beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime moment, that I started to feel very sad.

A safe haven at risk
If these whales trusted us enough to come that close, how could we betray them? The cold waters of Alaska—to which they were heading for the summer—are under threat. The three-month journey the whales have taken from Baja to Beaufort, Alaska, for hundreds of years has always ended in healthy waters.

That tradition may end soon. Shell Oil Company plans to break ground in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea this summer. This action—if allowed by the federal government—would likely open America’s Arctic up to oil and gas drilling by dozens of other companies.

Science tells us that exploring and drilling for oil in Alaska would be disastrous to the region’s whales and other wildlife, dirtying the water and bringing noise pollution that threatens the survival of many species. And science confirms that marine life thrives when industries are kept out of the water, including in Mexico.

We should trust that science. Much like whales trusted us on a sunny January day in Baja California.

-Jill Schwartz, Director of Program Communications at WWF

• Join WWF’s Among the Great Whales expedition in Baja California, January 19-25, 2013.

© Zegrahm Expeditions

Join Zegrahm Expeditions on an expedition to Ireland and the British Isles aboard the 110-passenger Clipper Odyssey, May 22 – June 4, 2012.

During this two-week voyage you’ll discover cliffside monasteries and lookout towers of the Celtic monks, islands hosting a variety of seabirds, charming fishing villages, 17th and 18th century English fortresses, and rolling hills studded with shimmering lakes.

Limited space is available, so book soon!

A polar bear crosses an ice flow in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway © Steve Morello / WWF-Canon

Between the ash-colored sky, misty rain and snow-covered shoreline, I struggled to make out the polar bears that our captain insisted were straight ahead of us. No matter how much I strained, toggling between binoculars and naked eye, all I observed was thick, milky nothingness.

But as our small boat slowly motored in the choppy water along Edgeøya—an uninhabited island in the high Arctic of Svalbard, Norway-three hulking forms suddenly appeared. One polar bear was walking away and disappeared into the mist almost as quickly as it had appeared. Another bear was curled up asleep.

And a third bear was right there – right there! How could I not see her? She was moseying at a nice clip, seemingly purposeless but probably searching for morsels to eat.

Run-of-the-mill stuff in the life of a polar bear, but this was something special. This bear was wearing a satellite radio collar.

Tracking polar bears
Of the 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears left in nature, only a handful are tracked by scientists in this manner. Finding her was a rare and random moment in the wild. (And, incidentally, we know it was a female; male polar bears cannot be collared, because they have wider necks than heads and the collar would slip right off). We watched her for as long as we could—about 30 minutes, the most we could tolerate sitting in a rubber boat in 18-degree rain. Once we returned to the expedition ship, I went online immediately so I could follow her on WWF’s Polar Bear Tracker.

Her. I mean, Izzy.

Izzy is the name researchers at the WWF-supported Norwegian Polar Institute gave to this particular bear. She was six years old, found 15 months earlier with a male cub close to where I observed her. In fact, Izzy never strayed far, as I learned tracking her online from my desk in Washington, D.C. She kept to a range nearly 1,400 square miles—tiny for wanderlust-filled polar bears, but not unheard of.

During the months I tracked Izzy, I worried about her. Was she eating? Getting out onto the ice? Was her cub still alive? Soon I had real reason to worry: Izzy stopped showing up on the Polar Bear Tracker. Her satellite collar may have fallen off, or the sensitive electronics embedded within may have petered out. That happens frequently enough.

But I also know there are worse fates that could befall Izzy and other polar bears in the wild.

Polar bears under threat
Did she starve to death? Less sea ice because of climate change means less surface area for polar bears to hunt for

seals. Certainly bears die of natural causes, but did her health wane because of exposure to pollutants that waft into the Arctic now via air currents? At least she is in a protected area and hasn’t suffered the impacts from increasing human use of the regions resources, as some of her arctic brethren have.

I still go onto the Polar Bear Tracker from time to time, hoping Izzy shows up again. If scientists found her once, and if I found her once, surely she could be found again and re-collared. She could still be out there, in the thick, milky nothingness.

-Elissa Leibowitz Poma, Manager of WWF’s Travel Program

Look for polar bears on a WWF tour:

• Land of the Ice Bears, June 15 – 25, 2012
• Tundra Lodge Adventure, October 15 – 21, 2012
• Classic Polar Bear Adventure, October 26 – 31, 2012
• Changing Realm of the Polar Bear, November 10 – 16, 2012