Capturing the Moment

Map of Yellowstone   Yellowstone Wildlife Safari   I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in Africa, leading safaris from Kenya down to Cape Town. One of the big draws of traveling all the way to Africa is to see and experience a place where big animals still roam, and the predators still rule.    So imagine my surprise when I found out that you could have a similar experience right here in my backyard, a place called Yellowstone National Park. After leading adventures in British Columbia this spring I flew into Jackson Hole, Wyoming to meet up with my dad and Cheryl to go on an American wildlife safari and this is what we saw.... in one day.    To get to Yellowstone from Jackson you drive north through Grand Teton National Park and after an hour and a half you enter the south entrance of Yellowstone. Before we got to the entrance we had already come across a major traffic jam cause by a grizzly bear near the road. We got out and w...

   I find myself once again in Seattle at Fishermen's Terminal, on the verge of cruising up to Alaska's famous Inside Passage for a summer aboard one of the UnCruise boats. I can't help but look back through some of my old pictures and remember all of the amazing encounters and experiences I've had these past two years as an expedition leader. And I can't help but imagine what lies in store for this summer.   I've witnessed massive calving events at different tidewater glaciers. I've seen the salmon run so thick that I could literally reach in and grab one with my bare hand. I've seen hungry mama bears teach their cubs how to catch fish. I've seen eagles spar in mid-air and puffins get a running start as they take off from the water. I have walked inside a cave made completely out of ice under a glacier. I've been woken up in the middle of the night to experience the incredible lights of the Aurora Borealis. And I've been surrounded ...

Bus Safari through Denali  After taking the scenic train up to Denali from Anchorage, Heidi and I were ready to get deeper into the wilds of the park and check out some of the animals and hiking opportunities. It is an unusual set-up in Denali. There is just one road that winds through the park and you are not allowed to drive yourself. You have to get on either a tan tour bus, or a green jump-on jump-off safari bus. If you get a green bus you can have it drop you off wherever you want and set off on a hike. The freedom to go anywhere definitely embodies the Alaskan spirit, but makes you think twice when you are hiking through bear country.  On day 1 we took the green bus as far as we could. Wendy, our driver, was great about giving narration along the way as well as stopping and pointing out wildlife. We were looking for the Big 5; Moose, Caribou, Bear, Wolf, and Dall Sheep. We got pretty lucky and saw four out of the five. The wolf was the elusive one but we knew th...