I’ve always liked zoos; in fact, I was a junior zookeeper when I was in seventh grade, living in Santa Barbara, California. However, nothing quite compares to seeing animals in their natural habitat — in the wild (albeit some are in wildlife preserves.) The photo of the hippo (above) and the other photos of African animals were taken by my dad in Tanzania. I think they are fantastic and I feel as if I’ve seen the creatures myself. Someday I will get to Africa, until then, I’ll look at photos.

The other photos are various pictures I took on our travels.

Tanzania, Africa. A mother lion and her cubs.

Tanzania, Africa. An elephant herd.

Tanzania, Africa. A large male elephant.

Tanzania, Africa. A hyena cub.

Tanzania, Africa. I’m not sure that I’d be psyched to see a snake in the African bush — especially a green one.

Exmouth, Western Australia. It was always exciting to see kangaroos when we lived in Australia — until we started driving in the bush at dusk.

Adelaide, South Australia. We saw this koala shimmy up the eucalyptus tree with such speed that it was shocking. I had only seen them sleepy and rather inactive. After this guy went up the tree he began barking and making a huge ruckus. We could only guess he was trying to impress the ladies.

Exmouth, Western Australia. My kids, Eddie and Kasey, spotted this emu and tried to wave him down as he wandered around by the caravan park where we stayed.

I believe he was as curious as the kids and ambled over to us.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. These sea birds are not shy. They are used to being fed fish remnants from fishermen or from tourists.

Exmouth, Western Australia. This cute little guy was skittering along the sand.

Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Sting rays blend right into the sand. Impressive camouflage unless you happen to step on one.

Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. By far the most exciting animal I’ve seen in the wild was a whale shark. They are so beautiful and amazing. I wrote a post on swimming with whale sharks.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. Elk are huge and this guy was no exception. He looked quite powerful, especially with the mountains in the background.

My backyard in Colorado, USA. This little fox kit was one of a litter that was born and lived in a den in the land behind our yard. They were all quite curious and often came close to the house.

Utah, USA. I’m actually quite glad that all we saw was the warning sign for bears at this campsite. However, I have seen bears on a few occasions while I was in a vehicle.