Jaunted

Quirky Travel / Animals / Bats / Africa Travel / → All Tags

Are You Batty Enough to Vacation in Zambia?

Plenty of people go to Africa to see animals, but most are looking for exciting safari animals like lions or maybe rhinos. But if you head to Zambia in November, you can experience something that the experts consider to be near the top of the wildlife calendar for unique experiences.

You might be surprised to learn that this wildlife fantasy come true is actually the migration of a million fruit bats. Apparently they show up every November in Kasanka National Park in Zambia at just the time the fruits on the local trees ripen – smart bats.

Tourists get to climb to a 60-foot high tree-top "hide" to watch the bats, and sunset sounds especially creepy – the sky becomes black with bats as they head off for their evening meal. There are expensive-sounding tours run out of Britain for £3,599 ($6,000) per person just for the week, and at that price we wonder if the tourists might just be a bit batty already.

Related Stories:
· Rhino Travel: Kenya is Back in Black [Jaunted]
· Minimal Impact Lion-Spotting in Botswana [Jaunted]

[Photo: Shek Graham]

Animal Travel / Animals / Bats / Africa Travel / → All Tags

Go Batty In Pemba and Save a Creepy-looking Animal

When you read a story about wildlife these days, the news is usually bad. As the human population swells on this planet, animal species are increasingly pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching, habitat loss, and pollution. That's why it's refreshing to hear some good news on the animal front every once in a while. A nifty item on msnbc.com points out that a huge, scary-looking bat on the Tanzanian island of Pemba has made an amazing recovery in recent years, after being reduced to just a handful of specimens in 1989. Today, thanks to two new forest reserves - and the local population's growing distaste for roasted bat - the Pemba flying fox is back, with conservationists estimating that between 22,000 and 37,000 animals are currently making a home on this picturesque island on the northern end of the Zanzibar archipelago. Island residents hope that the big bats, which can have a wingspan of nearly six feet, will lure eco-tourists from the safari camps on the mainland. We're not sure how anxious travelers will be to get up close and personal with critters like these, but it's nice to see that ugly animals are finally getting some protection. After all, why should cuddly koalas get all the conservation funds? Fortunately, visitors to the island these days will find plenty to do beside bat-watching, from a tour of a clove plantation (this is a Spice Island, after all) to a sail among the barrier islands on a dhow.

[Photo: AP]

Related Stories:
· Giant Bat Returns from Brink of Extinction [msnbc.com]
· Animal Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Bats / Travel Hell / → All Tags

Rabid Vampire Bats Suck

We're a little late in finding out about this, but if we didn't know, maybe you didn't either: over 1,300 people in northern Brazil have had to be treated for bites by VAMPIRE BATS -- 23 people, mostly children, have died from the rabies that the bats often carry. Deforestation and a large increase in the numbers of succulent bat food (i.e. cattle) may be to blame for the horror. Kind of puts that bedbug problem into perspective, doesn't it?

Related Stories:
·   Rabid vampire bats kill in Brazil [BBC]