Olaf Malver | Good Nature Travel Blog

Te Ika Nui in Milford Sound, New Zealand | Olaf’s Corner

The islands of New Zealand are lands full of surprises, contrasts and sensory overload! These differences are found in the varied landscapes, from...

Olaf Malver

The Punta Arenas Necropolis at World’s End | Olaf’s Corner

Natural Habitat Adventures' primary focus is to bring our guests into the greatest of nature places, where animals are aplenty and respectfully viewed in...

Olaf Malver

Madagascar Adventure! | Olaf’s Corner

Jonathan did not look well, as I leaned him gingerly against the tall baobab tree under the sweltering Malagasy sun. His sweating face was pallid, his eyes...

Olaf Malver

Carpe Diem on Portugal’s River of Sweet Wine | Olaf’s Corner

If some wise old Gypsy woman ventured to read the cracked lines and hard blisters of my palm, she could clearly find that two activities have dominated my...

Olaf Malver

A Greenland Fish Tale | Olaf’s Corner

A successful tourist season at our East Greenland Base Camp was over. With all packed up, we bid goodbye to our wonderful Greenland staff and were ready for...

Olaf Malver

Polar Bear Alert in Greenland | Olaf’s Corner

The three sets of polar bear footprints on the tundra slope in East Greenland were very fresh. Two sets belonged to a pair of younger cubs and the third...

Olaf Malver

That Magic Otavalo Overload | Olaf’s Corner

The rickety bus from Quito to Otavalo in Ecuador was bursting with a rich cacophony of Otavaleños women chattering in Quechua, yellow chickens clucking...

Olaf Malver

Elephant Grand Central Station | Olaf’s Corner

In the wildlife drama that is a Botswana safari, this looked like a virtual demolition zone. We had just stepped out of our kayaks, scouting for an optimal...

Olaf Malver

The Lion’s Share | Olaf’s Corner

A muscular straw-yellow lioness suddenly appeared in the headlights of the old Peugeot, forcing us to a halt. She nonchalantly glanced over her shoulders with...

Olaf Malver

Saving Giant Turtles in Indonesia | Olaf’s Corner

“Kura-kura!” yelled the little village boy as he came running out of the dark tropical night and into our jungle camp. Two of our Papuan boatmen from our...

Olaf Malver

Shipwrecked in Myanmar—No Problem! | Olaf’s Corner

Myanmar’s tropical sun laughed from a happy blue sky, but the mood of our travel group was introverted to the point of being somber. This was fair enough,...

Olaf Malver

Pushed Around on South Georgia Island | Olaf’s Corner

The persistent nudge was annoying. A very large body was trying to push me off the camping mattress. Snugly wrapped in my sleeping bag, I drowsily realized...

Olaf Malver

Galapagos—A Natural History Classroom for All Ages

The whole family was already out of their berths at the rapid rise of the equatorial sun, and their six-year-old daughter was on the aft deck, dutifully...

Olaf Malver

You Just Never Know! An Anxious Journey Down the Okavango | Olaf's Corner

Croc ahead! Our front boatman named C-Company signaled by pointing to the left riverbank – and a few of the paddlers up front noticed a long, black form...

Olaf Malver

The Achuars’ Amazon – Time to Pray? | Olaf's Corner

Our lanky teenage-looking pilot closed his eyes and prayed quietly before takeoff into the immense, emerald-green void of the Ecuadorian Amazon. His murmurs...

Olaf Malver

The Vast Vastness of Mongolia | Olaf's Corner

It was with a mixture of mild excitement and deep trepidation that I packed my guide bags for the Mongolia expedition this summer: Leading a trip full of...

Olaf Malver

A Little Volcano Grit Won't Ruin an Adventure in Kamchatka! | Olaf's Corner

It’s not unusual, when I’m off on an adventure in some far-flung corner of the world, to be eating some unfamiliar fare… But this gritty feeling inside my mouth was something else entirely. How did I get these minute lava particles between my teeth? Oh yes, it must be that huge volcano erupting some 9,000 feet above my head! I spit out the grit, and grin — I’ve just had a taste – literally – of the enormous eruption of Mt. Karymsky on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far-eastern Russia…

Olaf Malver

A Piece of Trash, With a Message to Treasure — Happy Holidays! | Olaf’s Corner

A shiny red bauble that hangs on Olaf Malver’s Christmas tree — found in a most unlikely spot — is a reminder of what ecotourism can bring to communities and the guests that explore the natural environs around them.