Laura Kiniry | Good Nature Travel Blog

The Magical Serendipity of an African Safari

“I’ve got something special to show you,” said our guide Issac. I couldn’t imagine what it could be. We had already spent the last few hours exploring the...

Laura Kiniry

Meet Iceland’s Magical Creatures

While traveling along Iceland’s South Coast, our group came upon a rocky outcrop on the side of the road. “Over there is where the elves live,” said our guide...

Laura Kiniry

What’s the Difference Between Hyenas and African Wild Dogs?

On a recent morning game drive in Botswana’s Chobe National Park, our group happened upon a pack of wild dogs. “Are those hyenas?” someone in our vehicle...

Laura Kiniry

Six of Africa’s Most Elusive Animals

If you’ve ever been on safari in Africa for any length of time, there’s a good chance you’ve seen some of the continent’s most iconic wildlife, including...

Laura Kiniry

Sailing South: Five Famous Antarctic Expeditions

The first time I saw Antarctica, I cried. It’d been a couple of days aboard ship cruising the notoriously rough waters of the Drake Passage, but when I raised...

Laura Kiniry

3 Ways to Explore Iceland’s Natural Wonders

It was just off the coast of Grímsey, a tiny Icelandic island about 25 miles north of the country’s mainland, that I spotted my first puffin. Easy to identify...

Laura Kiniry

The Baobab Tree: An African Icon and Longtime Legend

With its bulbous shape and a canopy that resembles an upside-down root system, the baobab tree is an iconic symbol of the African continent. Its origins are...

Laura Kiniry

Tracking Jaguars with the Onçafari Project: Conservation Travel in Brazil’s Pantanal

It was in the early morning when we first spotted Aracy, positioned near a small waterhole in Brazil’s southern Pantanal region. We followed her through the...

Laura Kiniry

5 Indigenous Climate Activists You Should Know

Indigenous activists have always been front and center in protecting the Earth and its resources, and we can all learn from their deep spiritual, cultural and...

Laura Kiniry

This Nonprofit is Working to Protect Howler Monkeys from Costa Rica’s Power Lines

The first time Chris Martin heard a howler monkey's cries, he thought it was a jet plane taking off. Martin was an epidemiology student visiting Costa Rica’s...

Laura Kiniry

New Study Shows the Positive Impacts Conservation has on Biodiversity

It was the early evening when we spotted our first jaguar, a male named Timbó, who was lounging in the tall grass of Brazil’s Pantanal, waiting for night to...

Laura Kiniry

Meet Schoolteacher Stacey Leffler, a Recipient of Nat Hab’s Monarch Butterfly Scholarship Grant

With its native wildflowers, paved bicycle trail, and two small lakes, Ohio’s Sylvan Prairie Park may not look like much to outsiders. But for seventh-grade...

Laura Kiniry

How to Get a Picture of a Wild Himalayan Snow Leopard

In the autumn of 1973, wilderness writer and naturalist Peter Matthiessen joined preeminent field biologist George Schaller high in Nepal's Himalayan...

Laura Kiniry

5 Safari Destinations Outside of Africa

The first time I saw a blue-footed booby in the wild, I was memorized. It was on North Seymour Island in the Galapagos archipelago, and the aptly named avian...

Laura Kiniry

Meet the All-Women Volunteer Firefighters Making a Big Difference in Borneo

For years, wildfires have plagued the landscape of Indonesian Borneo’s Ketapang Regency, threatening its communities and the region’s flora and fauna, which...

Laura Kiniry

The Galapagos Tortoises Reviving an Island’s Ecosystem

When English naturalist Charles Darwin first arrived in the Galapagos Islands in 1835, he noted the differences in giant tortoises from island to island....

Laura Kiniry

Renowned Whale Research Scientist Ari Friedlaender Joins Nat Hab Travelers in Antarctica

Seeing a whale in Antarctic waters is nothing short of extraordinary. Thousands of humpbacks, fins, orcas and minkes spend the continent’s summer months...

Laura Kiniry

A Tale of Two Condors

On a late May day in 2020, a rare sighting occurred. For the first time in nearly 50 years, California condors had landed within Sequoia National Park, along...