Last night, I watched a video on YouTube that took my breath away. In it, a man on a gorilla watching tour in Uganda has a group of wild gorillas crowd around and literally start petting him. All you can do is watch this video and say ‘wow’ as the man is surrounded by these strong, majestic animals. Watch it – you won’t be disappointed.
This made me think about those ‘moments’ in travel (usually unexpected) that leave you looking back in amazement. Whether they’re simple wow moments, holy s**t moments or beautiful moments, I’ve been lucky to experience many of these throughout my travels.
For my first ‘moment’, I thought I’d stick with wildlife and share a wow moment I experienced a few years ago. This picture was taken at the Tiger Temple, a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand. During this visit, I had the chance to touch one of most powerful wild animals in the world – the tiger. When it was taken, my heart was in my throat. One wrong move and I could have been in big trouble. I look at this picture and all I can think is – wow, I can’t believe that actually happened!
Petting a really big cat!
To be totally honest, I didn’t do much research before visiting the tigers and I don’t think I’d return. There’s been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the animals being improperly treated and if this is really the case it’s not something I’d want to support. That being said, this was still such a crazy moment, I thought it was worth sharing.
February 6, 2012 at 6:04 pm
Hey Lindsay,
The video with the gorillas is indeed very special… the man took the submissive body position that Diane Fossey demonstrated to the world so many years ago in the movie “Gorillas in the mist”. I wonder what she would think if she would see the video.
Are you sure the tiger in the picture wasn’t totally drugged? Sure looks that way
See you in Brazil sometime.
Raf
February 6, 2012 at 11:28 pm
Hi Raf,
I’m glad you enjoyed the video as much as I did. I still can’t image what his experience with those gorillas must have been like!
And yes, the tiger was suspiciously calm… If you read my note at the bottom, it’s not somewhere I’d necessarily return to – but an amazing experience non-the-less. See you in Brazil one of these days
Lindsay
April 2, 2012 at 2:54 pm
That video IS amazing. I love that look on the mans face after they just left – that thrilled, unbelieving, elated look. Love your pick too, I don’t know how you got up the nerve to touch the tiger- braver then I am!
April 19, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Glad you enjoyed the video as much as I did. Seeing gorillas in the wild has definitely been added to my list of things to do
As for the tigers – it’s hard to image now that I was actually that close to them! I look pretty terrified in a few of my photos.