Author: Harriet Denison

7. Ranomafana National Park, Our First Rainforest

Driving north from Isalo National Park, the landscape changed from desert to lush green rice fields as we climbed into the highlands. After visiting a paper making craft shop in Fianaransoa in southeastern Madagascar, we continued another 33 miles to the Hotel Thermal in Ranomafana National Park, which was 168 miles south of Antananarivo. Tourists […]

8. A Country Market and a Bit of Culture

On our way to Perinet Reserve, we stopped to visit a local market and experience some local culture. Of course, we searched for birds in the fields, towns, and cities along the way. In spite of the denser population in the highlands of Madagascar, birds congregate in marshes, ponds, and fields close to towns. About […]

9. Birds, Kids and Lemurs at Perinet Reserve

We arrived at Perinet Reserve after a long but interesting drive from Ranomafana National Park. Located three hours east of Antananarivo in central Madagascar, Perinet Reserve is one of the easiest rainforest parks to reach from the capital. This reserve is now a national park called Andasibe-Mantaida National Park to acknowledge that the original, much […]

10. Leaving Madagascar

On our last morning, I awoke with a sense of sadness and disappointment that our wildlife tour in Madagascar was coming to an end. My traveling companions felt the same. We had a few precious hours to enjoy this unique and environmentally rich country, so I jumped at the opportunity to see one last endemic […]

8. The Feathered Thief at Cradle Mountain

In 1982, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the Tasmanian Wilderness as one of the first Wilderness World Heritage Areas, a designation intended to preserve the world’s cultural and natural heritage. The Tasmanian Wilderness protects one of the most extensive and last intact temperate wilderness regions on earth. This treasured wild […]

Hogar de Ancianos, Costa Rica

First Day at Hogar de Ancianos On my third day as a Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer in Costa Rica, my assigned site is closed for a holiday. Margeth, the CCS program intern, suggests I accompany Rosa, another volunteer, to El Hogar de Ancianos since I expressed an interest in seniors. Hogar is the last home […]