A little travel inspiration is always a good thing – at least, that’s my motto.
After my most recent guest post here at Untemplater – in which I chatted about the two-and-a-half years I spent globetrotting – someone asked me to name the most fascinating wildlife I saw in my journey.
So for my follow-up post, I’d like to share some stories and photos of the craziest animals I encountered during my 17-country tour of the world. Hopefully these images will motivate you to map out your own adventure.
Platypus
Before I went to Australia, the only “platypus” I’d ever heard about was a cartoon duck who made a guest appearance on The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. (Anyone else remember the Platypus Duck song?)
Turns out, platypuses aren’t ducks at all. They’re much weirder.
They’re a mammal that lays eggs (yeah, I didn’t know that was possible either.) They swim like a beaver, have a beak like a duck, and spit venom that’s deadly to humans. What?
I saw them in Tasmania – the same place I saw another famous cartoon animal, the Tasmanian devil.
Echidna
Another egg-laying mammal (who knew there were so many of these?), the echidna is covered in spikes like a porcupine, shuffles slowly like a tortoise and inhales ants and other small insects through its long snout. Like the platypus, it doesn’t resemble any other creature – it shares a mishmash of characteristics from a wide smattering of animals.
In honor of how strange this creature is, the echidna is named after a mythological Greek immortal nymph who is half-woman, half-snake.
Blue-Tongue Lizard
Who knew an animals’ tongue would be such a defining character trait? And yet, when you see the blue-tongue lizard, you can’t help but focus on how strange its mouth seems. It’s captivating.
Apparently, these lizards stick out their dark tongue to scare away predators. I understand why.
Komodo Dragon
Every animal I’ve listed so far has hailed from Australia, and with good reason. That island nation is filled with wildlife curiosities, from dingoes and thorny devils to kangaroos and wallabies.
But to be fair to the rest of the world, I’d like to list at least one animal from southeast Asia.
No, it’s not the common monkey – although those are everywhere. In fact, this creature is decidedly uncommon. Like the creatures of Australia, it has predominantly evolved in isolation on an island, making it rare in the eyes of the rest of the world.
It’s the legendary Komodo dragon.
Komodo dragons look positively prehistoric – the moment I saw one, I had the sense I was staring at a dinosaur. It’s a fitting comparison since they’re one of the oldest living animals on earth, with fossils dating back 3.8 million years.
They’re the largest lizard on earth, stretching 10 feet long, and much of their success is thought to be thanks to the fact that they’re the only carnivore on their Indonesian islands. In other words: the Komodo dragon is king of its castle. Oh, and did I mention they’re cannibals? When food is scarce, the Komodo dragon eats its young.
Some people speculate – but no one can confirm – that the Komodo dragon was the inspiration for ancient Chinese dragon mythology. I certainly believe it.
Guest Post by Paula Pant, the founder of Afford Anything. Paula quit her job and traveled for two-and-a-half years across the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Her blog is dedicated to the radical idea that money should never hinder your dreams.
Untemplaters, what are some of the weirdest animals you’ve seen on your travels?! What about at the zoo or aquarium? Do any of you travel to certain places specifically the wildlife?
The only animals I’ve seen are at the zoo. I better get on my horse, camel, or dolphin and see more of the exotic places of the world! Man is the weirdest animal, for sure!
Excellent point — man is a STRANGE animal, for sure! What other animal would dance the Macarena?
Hahaha am I aging and humiliating myself by admitting I used to dance the Macarena? lol Hopefully no one ever got it on tape, haha. 🙂
No shame! I danced the Macarena a little too, but I always thought it was kinda a lame dance! I used to rave in my younger days haha.
Well I used to think it was an awesome dance, lol. I would sprint to the dance floor and start bustin’ a move as soon as I heard the music come on. haha! Embarrassing. 🙂
A platypus and a Komodo dragon. I’d wager there’s not many people in the world that can lay claim to having seen both.
Strangely, they’re not too geographically far apart … Australia (platypus) and Indonesia (Komodo). That little pocket of the world has some pretty strange creatures. (Insert joke about Australian politicians here!)
By far man is the weirdest animal I have experienced. Who ahve brains to send men to moon but still can’t pay off credit card purchases. 🙂
LOL!! Well said, SB! Well said!
Great pics Paula. I am jealous of you for seeing a Komodo Dragon up close. That is definitely on my bucket list. They are such an incredible lizard. I watched a documentary once on how they hunt and it gave me the eeby jeebies! Cunning and deadly for something that moves so apparantly slowly most of the time.
I’d have to say one of my favourite up close encounters were with Lesser False Vampire Bats on the island of Samal in the Philippines. An awesome sight up close (although the smell of amonia from their droppings was pretty overwhelming!)
Cheers
Josh
Thanks Josh! Yes, seeing a Komodo Dragon up close felt unreal. I remember the first one we saw — we were at a distance and we stared at it for about 30 minutes.
Then we decided to move on, rounded the corner, and BOOM — we were up-close-and-personal with about 10 Komodo Dragons a few feet away. And the rest of the day, no matter where we went, we found Komodo Dragons a few feet away.
We felt silly for spending so much time staring at one in the distance!
That is so funny! I had a similar experience when I saw my first iguana in the Quintana Roo. I thought I was so lucky to have seen one. I ended up seeing at least 50 the next day lol. It was quite an incredible experience.
I saw a komodo dragon at the San Diego Zoo. They are HUGE!! So neat you saw so many in the wild!!
If I were to rate animals nature screwed up, I would start with sea horses! Fascinating creatures and of course the egg laying mammal! Maybe Platypuses were the bridge between mammals and non mammals!