« Living With Predators - Crocs | Main | Chocolate Fountains: A Catering Necessity »

May 20, 2005

The Earth's Last Wildernesses

I recently read The Atlas of Wild Places: In Search of the Earth's Last Wildernesses by Roger Few and noted the places worthy of adding to my list of places to visit before I die.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, most of the wild places covered in the atlas are barren, isolated and not very inhabitable. I find that I am more attracted to the areas with wildlife, interesting cultures, or really stunning views as opposed to large empty spaces no one shows much interest in.

Each plot of wilderness is accompanied by some stunning photography of local wildlife and landscape, as well as maps and diagrams of the area.

The Pantanal of Brazil
Amidst photographs of cute baby capybaras and swampy pools of the croc cousin, the caiman, Roger Few illustrates how the landscape of the Pantanal transforms with the seasonal floods. Piranhas patrol beneath the murky water as large waterfowl like the jabiru stork patrol above it.

More reading: Brazil: Amazon And Pantanal (Traveller's Wildlife Guides)

The Tibesti Mountains of Chad
The Saharan Desert is not just a barren land of sand dunes. The Tibesti Mountains cover a wilder area than Switzerland, a landscape of sandstone rock towers and ancient volcanos. Few creatures can live in this hot, dry place. Cute litte birds called sandgrouse live here. One self preservation tactic: they can use their belly feathers to soak up water to carry to their young.

More reading: Michael Palin's Sahara

The Serengeti of Tanzania
No fences. No boundaries. The Serengeti is one of the last places on Earth where African game seems to thrive. Like a shot out of the Lion King, the grasslands of the Serengeti are food for the one and a half million wildebeest that make their great migration across northern Tanzania annually. Talk about a circle of life, the grasslands teem with wildlife - zebra, gazelle, buffalo, elephant, lion, hyena, and more!

More reading: Mara-Serengeti: A Photographer's Paradise

The Okavango Delta Of Namibia and Botswana
Nestled between Namibia and Botswana, the Okavango Delta is a floodplain of the Okavango River. But the area is slowly drying out, and someday the delta will no longer exist. For now, the lush oasis, with its brilliant wildflowers and lush green vegetation, attracts thirsty game from far and wild, making it a great place to spot wildlife.

More reading: Frantz Lanting's Okavango: Africa's Last Eden

The Swedish Lapland
Jagged peaks, glaciers, snowfields and fjords make up the expansive mountain range of the Lapland, which separates Sweden and Norway. Some elevated areas are so rugged that nothing will grow but lichen, and some areas north of teh Arctic Circle allow no plant growth at all. The Swedish Lapland is also a great place to view the Northern Lights. The Sami people are nomads that live in the northern regions of Lapland fishing and herding reindeer.

More reading: Adventure Guide to Sweden

The Bialowieza Forest of Poland
Ancient forests used to cover most of Europe, filled with game and fowl and, unfortunately, lumber. the Bialowieza Forest is one of the last, small plots of old growth. Small herd of buffalo, wild tarpan horses and wild boat now roam in this sanctuary of briar and bramble.

More reading: The Rough Guide to Poland

The Royal Chitwan National Park of Nepal
In southern Nepal, nestled between the Indian border and the snowcapped Himalayas, the Royal Chitwan National Park is a marshy wetland. This is a haven for abundant waterfowl - hornbill and ibis, storks and herons, and my personal favorite - the kingfisher. In the marshy waters, you'll also find the unique water-loving Asian rhinoceros and a rare fresh-water dolphin. And let's not forget the tigers!

More reading: Royal Chitwan National Park: Wildlife Heritage of Nepal

The Sundarbans of Bangladesh
Speaking of tigers, the jungle along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, where mangroves and brackish swampy marshes is called the Sundarbans. This is an area governed by the tides and has similarities to a Louisiana bayou with its shrimps, lobsters, crabs, snakes and frogs - not to mention some serious predators: saltwater crocs, massive pythons and more Bengal tigers! Some locals believe that wearing a face mask on the back of the heads helps keep them safe from tiger attacts.

More reading: The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans

The Highlands of Irian Jaya
Irian Jaya is the western half of New Guinea in Indonesia. Roger Few depicts this wild place as relatively uncharted - an area of significant geological interest not to mention a Mammalogist's dream - where new species of mammals are still being discovered.

More reading: Islands in the Clouds: Travels in the Highlands of New Guinea

The South West National Park of Tasmania
Lastly, it's marsupial madness at the South West National Park. Here, we zigzag our way through jungle-like forests that seem to grown horizontally, and encounter duck-billed platypi, Tasmanian devils and perhaps even the Tasmanian tiger!

More reading: National Parks of Victoria, South Australia & Tasmania

* Note about the pictures: With the exception of the platypus, which I snagged from the Australian government wildlife program, all pictures were taken by me, just not in or of the locations mentioned. I made my best attempt at matching pictures I have taken to the locations we are talking about here, to illustrate what lives there and what the landscape is like.

Posted by sorsha at May 20, 2005 8:15 PM