Top-10 List: Our Favourite Travel Animal Experiences
[ more Top-10 Lists ]
This list is our own personal top-ten favourite experiences with animals based on what we have seen and experienced in our travels. We have seen so many different animals as we have travelled the world and picking just this top ten was very hard.
[updated in 2021 with the Kangaroos on the beach – how Aussie is that!]
1. Kruger Safari in South Africa
We loved loved loved our time in Kruger National Park in South Africa in 2016. Our wildlife experiences here surpassed all our expectations. Our first day was the best, including this encounter with bull elephants fighting next to the road.
2. Crocodile Enclosure, South Africa
It is no surprise that our second favourite animal experience was also in South Africa. We had the chance to go inside the crocodile enclosure at the PheZulu Safari Park, and have a bite to eat under the watchful eyes of a large number of crocodiles (and the watchful eyes of a ranger!).
3. Sacred Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali
A highlight of our stay in Bali was walking to town each day through the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest. The babies are very cute, and the older ones can be too if you don’t tease them with food.
4. Turtle Farm, Bali
It was very cool to hold a baby turtle. We also visited a turtle farm in Sri Lanka.
5. Quokkas on Rottnest
The iconic and friendly quokkas are very photogenic on Rottnest Island, off the coast from Perth, Western Australia
6. Riding a camel, Jaisalmer, India
Three days, two nights travelling around the Sam sand dunes in near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India, on the back of a camel, with nowhere to wash and no change of clothes. Yes it was fun.
7. Killer whales, Monterey, California, USA
When we went on a whale watching tour off Monterey California, we did not expect to see so many different types, including a pod of orcas – killer whales!
8. Up close and personal with a sloth, Costa Rica
We had some amazing animal experiences, but the most memorable was spotting in sloth in Costa Rica.
9. Bathing with an elephant, Pai, Thailand
We did not expect that the elephant would roll over in the water and tip us in, but it was excellent fun. In Pai, Thailand
10. Kangaroos on the beach in Esperance, Western Australia
The kangaroos are very friendly at Lucky Bay, near Esperance, Western Australia. A very Aussie experience
* missing out on the top 10 are: spotting a toucan in Costa Rica, deer on the beach in Costa Rica, spider in Guatemala, Swimming with sharks in Belize, Dodging the cows, India, Snorkelling in Gilli islands, Spotting an Irrawaddy dolphin in Cambodia