5 Amazing Animal Encounters Around the Globe

If you were to ask me when I was 12 years old what I wanted to be when I grew up I would have given you one of two answers depending on our trust level. The polite, reasonable response would have been that I wanted to be a zookeeper and work with monkeys, bears and Elephants. I could compare flights and fly around to my favorite zoos working with different habits and animals. However, if you were a friend who was exposed to my imagination and wild dreams, you would have known that I really wanted to live in the rainforest like the Swiss Family Robinson crew.

As I got older I grew out of both of these ambitions. I would get depressed visiting zoos and seeing all those animals caged up, and I also realized that living in a rainforest wouldn’t help me at all with the ladies. While my career path changed, my love for animals remained the same. So, as I began working and traveling around the world I started collecting a list of where I could experience authentic animal encounters without caging or living with them. Below I listed 5 amazing animal encounters that I’ve heard about that I want to experience before I die.

Koalas in Australia

Australia is known for it’s most famous residents, the kangaroo and Koala bear, and I’ve been itching to visit them in their natural habit ever since I went to the San Diego Zoo a few years ago.  Australia as a whole is on the top of my travel list, but more importantly, the Koala Conservation in the East Coomera area of the Gold Coast is a project established by the Gold Coast City Council to teach people about the local koala population and help them understand how they can take simple measures to help support koala conservation on the Gold Coast.

Elephants in Thailand

Elephants are one of, if not my absolute favorite animal on this planet. They are as powerful as they are majestic and who doesn’t smile when they see clumsy baby elephants stumbling around. There are a few different places in Thailand that offer Elephant encounters on different levels and the most well known places are around the popular expat city of Chang Mai (Elephantstay and Elephant Hills).

Gorillas in Uganda

I have a few travel friends who have experienced this first hand and they’ve all came back telling me what an amazing encounter it was. I’ve had some experience with monkeys myself while volunteering at a monkey rescue center in Puyo, Ecuador, but I don’t think that holds the same intensity level as witnessing these massive beasts up close.

You can actually trek through the mountains of Uganda tracking local gorilla communities and watching them in their natural habitat. A great example of the authenticy of this experience is the viral Youtube video of the guy who got “Touched by a Wild Mountain Gorilla” on his adventure in Uganda, Africa.

Tigers in India

Endangered. Dangerous. Beautiful. Pick one of a million reasons why seeing tigers in their natural habit in Northern India would be absolutely awesome. I choose all of the above. Just like Australia is doing for Koalas and Thailand is doing for Elephants, India is doing for the endangered Bengal tigers. With nearly 30 tiger reserves throughout the country, you now have the opportunity to witness these incredible creatures with your own eyes. Two great witness points are Jim Corbett National Park and Ranthambore National Park.

Whale Sharks in Mexico

I don’t know how I would feel about this last one to be honest with you. Just like I love the idea of cage diving with Great White Sharks in South Africa, I don’t know if swimming with Whale Sharks, would scare me from ever going back into the water after knowing what’s below me. Whale Sharks are absolutely massive, weighing up to 15 tons and 46 feet in length, and you can swim right along side them if you choose down in Mexico. While it wasn’t on my list of adventures in Mexico this past trip, I definitely want make the trip back to Cancun to completely freak myself out for this once in a lifetime animal encounter.

What would you like to see in its natural habitat?

Gareth

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!