I have a long and increasingly questionable habit of traveling ridiculous distances to get closer to animals that could be bitey or otherwise seriously fuck up my vacation. Sharks, crocodiles, snakes, enormous lizards and assorted wildlife that most reasonable people are perfectly happy watching from behind several inches of zoo glass apparently register in my brain as “things I should photograph in the wild.”
That’s basically how Things That Might Bite became a focus of DESTINATIONS UNKNOWN.
There’s something fascinating about seeing wildlife where it actually belongs. No cages. No carefully landscaped enclosure. No helpful little sign explaining that Kevin the crocodile enjoys afternoon naps. Just you, the animal and the sudden realization that you’re visiting its neighborhood, not the other way around.
Of course, wildlife tourism is always a gamble. Sometimes you fly halfway around the planet, wake up before sunrise, bounce around in a shitty vehicle for six hours and see absolutely nothing except birds and the ass end of an antelope disappearing into some bushes.
But when everything actually cooperates, holy shit.
Swimming beside an enormous shark, watching elephants cross directly in front of you or realizing the suspiciously log-shaped object ten feet away has teeth creates a very different kind of travel memory than another afternoon wandering around a museum.
I’m not a zoologist, wildlife biologist or anyone remotely qualified to explain why getting closer to something with significantly larger teeth than mine is a good idea. I just know that seeing animals in the wild produces some of the most unpredictable, ridiculous and genuinely incredible experiences I’ve had while traveling.
Sometimes they cooperate. Sometimes they disappear. Sometimes they look directly at you and make you reconsider your exact position on the food chain.
Because apparently seeing an animal capable of killing me and thinking “I should get a little closer” is also part of my personality now.
