Olaf Malver | Good Nature Travel Blog

Mr. Snuffy | Olaf’s Corner

This is an unreal tale about an unusual creature in a far-away jungle... About 25 years ago at my old travel company, a member of the sales department picked...

Olaf Malver

Andaman Encounters | Olaf’s Corner

Kayaking the Seven Seas has given me plenty of fantastic wildlife encounters to marvel at, but what floated some hundred feet in front of my boat in the...

Olaf Malver

Thank You, Palau | Olaf’s Corner

With long flowing hair, a bronzed muscular body and dressed only in salty paddling shorts, my co-guide, Ron Leidich, lectured us with focused authority. The...

Olaf Malver

Paddling the Beauty in the Dark | Olaf’s Corner

The young Buddhist monk in a saffron-colored robe offered his blessings to me and my kayak. He wished us good luck on our journey through the big cave under...

Olaf Malver

Children: Our True Hope in Conservation | Olaf’s Corner

In these uncertain days of environmental onslaught of our planet’s wild places and species, I have a hard time looking into my own children’s eyes without...

Olaf Malver

Ugo in Shark City | Olaf’s Corner

“Cool, man—shark city!” bellowed Ugo while chumming the waters 30 feet away. We listened to him from the boat deck high above while hanging on to the long...

Olaf Malver

A Lonely Grave on the Russian Frontier | Olaf’s Corner

Our small group of explorers stood quietly in a semicircle facing the crenelated black stone slab of an unassuming grave. The raised white Cyrillic letters...

Olaf Malver

Salty Asterix of the Antarctic Seas | Olaf’s Corner

It was a dark and stormy night in the northern Antarctic Ocean… We were two days out of Port Stanley in the Falklands and the freezing wind ripped through the...

Olaf Malver

Diesel—Dead Twice | Olaf’s Corner

It became impossible to keep the heavy sled straight on the newly frozen river. The 13 panting Greenland huskies in front of us repeatedly veered off to the...

Olaf Malver

My World Travel Companion, Fred | Olaf’s Corner

There is an interesting photograph hanging in our hallway that reminds me of a very special traveling companion named Fred. The wooden-framed picture shows a...

Olaf Malver

Biophilia: A Passionate Love for Nature | Olaf’s Corner

There is nothing more satisfying than when our travelers experience “that one magic animal encounter moment in the wild," whether it is a few seconds of eye...

Olaf Malver

Thank You, Butterflies! | Olaf’s Corner

Our home library in Georgia is brimming with all kinds of dog-eared books about adventure, conservation, economics and science. The exception is a dozen of...

Olaf Malver

Majestic Mountains and the Death of a River | Olaf’s Corner

The Cordillera Andina is arguably the most impressive contiguous mountain range in the world, stretching 4,500 miles from the coastal plains of the Venezuelan...

Olaf Malver

Lenin’s Kittiwake | Olaf’s Corner

A black-footed kittiwake swooped in from the Arctic Ocean and landed on the bald head of Lenin, the Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political...

Olaf Malver

Hello, Nature! | Olaf’s Corner

There is a story about the colorful character named Bob in the Broughton Islands. If you are lucky, you can see him for yourself. You just need to get into a...

Olaf Malver

Follow Your Kinski | Olaf’s Corner

My traveling buddy and I had just spent a horrible night north of the Guatemala border. All the cheap hotels in the dusty Mexican outpost of Tenosique were...

Olaf Malver

San Blas, Panama—Where Women Rule! | Olaf’s Corner

"Vamanos, mujeres!" That was the insistent invitation from a large Cuna mamacita brandishing a grinning mouthful of golden teeth and a half chewed-up cigar....

Olaf Malver

Sleepless in Tanzania | Olaf’s Corner

The small and rickety aluminum shelter at Barranco Camp shook each time I took another sleepless turn on the hard cot. The noisy movements kept my two...