Our first day on Kauai was to explore the surroundings of the resort. Walking at the golf course, I spotted a Laysan albatross. The partner was sitting on a nest about 100 feet away incubating a single egg.

The Na Pali coast on Kauai is spectacular. Every time I see the jagged coastline, I am inspired and take a lot of photos. Yesterday the waves were crashing on the rocks and backlit by the setting sun it was a photographer’s paradise.

On the north side of Kauai almost at the end of the road, you can find the Limahuli Garden and Preserve, a valley full of native plants and birds, about 50 of them are on the verge of extinction.

Hibiscus kokio subspecies saintjohnianus is endemic to the island of Kauai

At Kealia beach which is Kapaa’s premier surfing beach, the surf was up

Travelers beware: in many countries exotic animals are used as tourist bait. On our recent trip to Mexico, a man with a darling, but exhausted, lion cub approached us on Playa del Carmen’s main drag. Offering a photo opp with us holding the precious cub, the young man was eager to make some pesos. The cub, with its droopy eyes, lacked the energy you would expect from a cub, only a few months old. On display for tourists, it probably had little time to rest or get the exercise needed to grow properly. We said no to discourage this use of exotic animals, but quickly realized that we had made a mistake before. We hadn’t given it a thought when we had been approached to photograph a small monkey, but a lion cub caught us in our tracks.

Please watch out for scoundrels using wild animals as tourist attractions and don’t pay them.

We didn’t photograph the captive cub but thought you would enjoy this photo of a happy, healthy cub in its native environment in Botswana.

                                                                                                 Indri, the largest lemur

As a professional travel photographer, Wolf has traveled to over 160 countries around the world. We continue the countdown of his top 10 favorite destinations.

Wolfgang’s Top 10 #4 Madagascar

by Michelle Alten

As whispers of morning sun seeped through the slats of Wolf’s thatched hut, he heard them: the long eerie calls of indri. Wolf was on the fringe of Perinet Reserve in Madagascar. The indri, the largest of the island’s lemurs, wailed back and forth, their voices piercing the sleepy dawn as though they were warning that morning had come. It was the early 1980s and Wolf had come to the island for the first time. By day, he stomped through the forests of Madagascar in search of lemurs, chameleons, frogs and other island denizens.

As he traveled around the vast island off the southeast coast of Africa, he was astonished by the numbers of endemic species. A range of ecosystems, including rainforests, semi-arid spiny forests, grasslands, and dry deciduous forests provided ideal habitats for animals that couldn’t be found anywhere else on earth. Wolf wandered the rainforests, photographing indri lemurs, with their panda-like coats, and the elfin mouse lemur, no bigger than a kitten. In the more arid spiny forests he found ring-tailed lemurs straddling trees or scampering along the forest floor. Boldly colored chameleons, slinking through the tropical vegetation, became ideal subjects for his photography. Madagascar’s unusual ecosystems and some 150,000 endemic wildlife species quickly made the island one of Wolfgang’s favorite places.

Since his early jaunts to Madagascar, Wolf has witnessed an ongoing battle between man and nature on the island. Rainforest, cut down and used for charcoal for cooking, has rapidly disappeared with the deforestation leading to erosion. For Wolf, Madagascar became a place to document the struggle as well as the determined efforts to save the forests. The subject is so intriguing that he will return to lead a photo tour in September 2012.

http://www.wkaehlerphoto.com/photoTourTitles/Madagascar_2012.pdf

On Wolf’s early trips, he stayed in tipsy huts with dirt floors and no running water. Today, while some accommodations are simple, there are also comfortable resorts that appeal to adventure travelers.

What is being done to preserve the forests and habitat of Madagascar?

This article talks about a loan from the World Bank aimed at protecting the habitat and biodiversity in Madagascar.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0622-madagascar_world_bank.html

This article explains how the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) seeks to protect forests in Madagascar.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0929-hance_mad_cites.html

Poverty in Madagascar

Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries. This article talks about how the skyrocketing price of rice has impacted Madagascar’s people.

http://povertynewsblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/madagascar-where-rice-is-becom

By Michelle Alten

There is a problem with where the buffalo roam and it is this: these migratory mammals don’t understand that they are supposed to stay in Yellowstone Park. During our Yellowstone trip, I spoke with activists talking to visitors about the government sanctioned hunting and hazing of buffalo near the park’s boarders. Here is the problem: nearby ranchers are concerned that bison may spread brucellosis to their livestock, but the Buffalo Field Campaign contends that there are no documented cases of such transmission. (Although there have been cases where elk passed brucellosis on to cattle.) In order to prevent contact between buffalo and cattle, the government allows buffalo to be hazed, captured, and killed. According to the field campaign, hunters killed more than 3,750 buffalo since 2000 when they approached or crossed the park boarders. The dilemma continues as to how to protect a species that wants to roam.

To learn more about the Buffalo Field Campaign visit: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/

This article discusses the situation last winter: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/04/yellowstone-buffalo-slaughter

The Natural Resources Defense Council summarized the problem in 2008. http://www.nrdc.org/land/files/buffalo.pdf

A few months ago I posted a blog about opting out of the phone book delivery.  I was in my garden and a van was delivering phone books.  They skipped our house.  A part of a tree is saved.  Yeah! 

http://blog.wkaehlerphoto.com/index.php/2011/02/03/opt-out-of-yellow-pages-white-pages-phone-books-delivery-national-yellow-pages-opt-out-site/

Anyone who has wandered a Sub-Antarctic Island beach and encountered Rockhopper Penguins cannot resist the feisty little creatures. Only thirteen to fourteen inches tall, these striking birds with spiky head feathers, make up for their small size with boundless energy and exuberance. On our adventures in the region we watched them gathering pebbles for their nests, bouncing out of the surf and springing up rocky hillsides, and jousting with their neighbors.

We were sad to learn that a recent oil spill near Nightingale Island, of the Tristan da Cunha Archipelago in the Atlantic, has already harmed an estimated 20,000 of these endangered penguins. The Rockhoppers may face an additional threat, possibly greater than that of the oil spill, if rats from the wrecked cargo ship go ashore. The ship, which has split in half and is leaking fuel, was carrying soybeans from Brazil to Singapore. The accident raises important questions: why was the cargo ship sailing so close to the islands and this fragile ecosystem? How can we prevent future accidents that can seriously harm already struggling bird species?

These articles give good coverage of the oil spill based on what is known so far. According to International Bird Rescue Research Center, rescue efforts are being led by The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.

“Oil Spill in South Atlantic Threatens Endangered Penguins,” New York Times

By John Collins Rudolf, Published: March 22, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/science/earth/23spill.html

“Major oil spill in the South Atlantic threatens Rockhopper Penguins,” National Wildlife Federation Website

http://blog.nwf.org/wildlifepromise/2011/03/major-oil-spill-in-the-south-atlantic-threatens-rockhopper-penguins/#

Catastrophic South Atlantic Oil Spill Threatens Endangered Rockhopper Penguins, International Bird Rescue, March 21, 2011

http://intbirdrescue.blogspot.com/

Panoramic image created with Windows Live Photo Gallery

Çaraca

During our sunny days at Çaraca, we hike trails through the tangled forest. In the morning, we hear the calls of Titi monkeys. We creep slowly along a path, watching for any movement in the trees. Stunning bromeliads with purple blossoms cling overhead in the quiet forest. Suddenly, shaking branches give away a band of five monkeys. Perched in the canopy — some with tails entwined — they nibble on fruits and seeds. As we watch through our field glasses, we spot two babies well camouflaged as they cling to their parents’ bushy fur. The monkeys, with curious black faces and amber eyes, peer at us as Regina, our guide, explains that the Titis’ Latin name, Callicebus nigrifons, means beautiful monkey.

The Titis, along with other wild denizens of Çaraca , have benefitted from the protection of their habitat since a Franciscan brother came and founded a seminary here in the late 1700s. Today, as a preserve, Çaraca provides a home to three species of primates, the Maned wolf, and numerous species of birds like Cinnamon tanagers, Pale-throated serra-finches and Saphire-spangled emerald hummingbirds. But wildlife outside the preserve is not always so lucky. Environmental groups are concerned that mining is threatening what little remains of the already endangered Atlantic forests.

During our visit at Çaraca , we learn of efforts to create a new national park. A movement to form National Park Aguas da Serra do Gandarela hopes to protect more of this important ecosystem beyond Çaraca — especially from mining.

Movement to Create a New National Park: For more information see: http://www.aguasdogandarela.org/ (You will need to click on translation since the website is in Portuguese.)

You can read more about our experience in Çaraca by visiting an earlier post on this blog.

To read further blogging on the issue see: Global Voices, “Standing Against Mining in Gandarela,” http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/06/27/brazil-standing-against-mining-in-gandarela/

For more photos please visit:  www.wkaehlerphoto.com

Did you know that you can opt out of the delivery of phone books? I just did to help to save trees. Here is the link:

www.yellowpagesoptout.com

I also found a link to a website explaining how to opt out of junk mail: 

http://www.newdream.org/junkmail/optout.php