We just joined the Viking World Cruise in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

We will be on board the Viking Sky for the cruise around Africa and disembarking in Lisbon.  

My lectures will introduce guests to some of the unique ecosystems and wildlife of SE Asia, Mauritius, and continental Africa. Here's a sampling of my lecture topics:

"Dodos to Lemurs: Contrasting Creatures of Mauritius & Madagascar" Explore the evolutionary marvels of Mauritius and Madagascar, where isolation in the same sea has sculpted wildly distinct wildlife wonders from dodos to lemurs." 

 

“African Wildlife Up Close & Personal.” Experience the rich ecosystems of the Okavango Delta and Kruger National Park through a photo safari. 

 

"Apex Predators of Africa" Discover the fascinating role of the largest carnivores in Africa… and their valuable ecological roles in “top-down” structuring of the ecosystem. Without Lions, would their prey survive? 

 

“Southern Coast of Africa—Where the Sea Saved Humanity.” Gain insight into how modern humans survived on this coast more than 100,000 years ago. 

 

“In the Realm of the Great White Shark.” Explore the fascinating lives of these top marine predators and the ecosystems they help create. 

 

“Namib & Kalahari Deserts—Ecosystems & Adaptations.” Find out how wildlife—elephants, lions, oryx and more—and the first affluent human culture evolved. 

"Sun, Wind, and Water: Africa's Green Energy Safari" Embark on a thrilling safari through Africa's renewable landscape, where the power of sun, wind, and water is driving an energy revolution. 

 

"Some of the Most Fascinating Creatures from Our Travels!" Embark on an exciting journey with our real-life wildlife adventures. Discover fascinating facts about egg-laying mammals, the world's most perilous birds, massive sea-going reptiles, and much more. 

“The Remarkable Story of How We Cracked Open Planet Earth.” Learn how one remarkable woman mapped the seafloor, helping to reveal surprising scientific secrets about Earth’s dynamic crust. 

"Canary Islands: Remarkable Ecosystems and Adaptations" Dive into the natural tapestry of the Canary Islands, where volcanic origins have given rise to ecosystems and cultures as unique and dynamic as the islands themselves.

You can follow along on our journey! Visit AnimalsFYI.com and follow the links.

Happy Travels!  Go Wild!

George

World Explorations Speaker

African Wildlife Up Close & Personal

Here's a presentation I gave on board the Viking Sun for the last leg of the 2019 Viking World Cruise while off the west coast of Africa.  A very big thank you to all the wonderful people we met on board the Viking Sun!!  You were an amazing audience and it was a great privilege to share the voyage with you.



At the beginning of the video I refer to Point Zero - located at 0 lat 0 long.  I was very impressed that the Captain made a point of crossing the Equator at Point Zero, even though it added several km to the distance sailed. I also found it rather amazing that you will find a weather buoy anchored to the sea floor via a 5 kilometer long rope!  I will provide photos and some more info on this intriguing location in an upcoming post.

Thanks for visiting and happy travels!

Cheerio, George

South African ports and Canary Islands: Viking World Cruise

In a few days I will be presenting my upcoming Lecture series on board the Viking Sun. We will join the ship in Durban, South Africa and sail around the Cape of Good Hope, visiting East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.  From there we will sail along the West coast of Africa and Europe to London, England.  This will be the last leg of Viking's World Cruise.

I will be showing a couple of short Google Earth fly-overs that I've prepared for my presentations - here's a sneak preview!

The first one is a short intro to the South African ports from Durban to Cape Town.


The second video is a short fly-over of the beautiful island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.  Some of the roads are simply amazing as they traverse the rugged terrain and explore the stunning scenery shown in this video.  Well worth a visit if you get a chance!


Thanks for visiting!  Happy travels... with just the right amount of adventure!!
Cheers, George

Celebrating 25 million views of my Photos

I'm a huge fan of 360' photos and have posted over 1,000 of them on Google Maps...taken in various locations around the world.  Turns out I'm not the only one who enjoys taking 360s for a spin!!  My Google Map photos have received over 25 million views, so I'm taking a moment to celebrate.  Try spinning these to take a look around.

My most popular photo is the one above with over 3 million views.  This was taken in Auckland, New Zealand in the Winter Garden at the Auckland Domain.  Here's a close-up satellite view of this location.



Here are my next two, most popular 360' photos:



Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa, with over 1.3 million views.



Central Plaza del Socorro, Ronda, Andalusia, Spain - see the excellent RondaToday website for a detailed explanation of the historic significance of this site.  The statue in the fountain is Hercules holding two lions, with the pillars of Hercules behind him.  You can zoom in closer with your mouse (lucky he's wearing a strategic piece of loincloth!!)

Here's a link to my full set of photos as they appear on Google Maps.  Happy Travels!!

Cape Town 360 Photo

My 360 photo taken in Cape Town, South Africa, is proving very popular with over 100,000 views in a couple of weeks.  Take it for a spin by moving your cursor around on the image!!