In the Aboriginal language, Mia means home or shelter, and that is exactly what Monkey Mia in Australia has become to Bottlenose Dolphins.  Sometime in the 1960s a fisherman and his wife started feeding the dolphins upon returning with a catch.  The dolphins began coming farther inshore in greater numbers.  By 1985 an information center was constructed and in 1988 a state grant helped build roads, carparks, and additional facilities.  In 1990, the waters adjacent to Monkey Mia were made a marine park under the management of the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

As the dolphins at Monkey Mia are wild, there are no scheduled times for feedings.  They arrive and depart at will, generally as often as up to three times per day.  The number of dolphins visiting Monkey Mia is usually around seven, but their numbers have been known to increase to as many as twenty different individuals.  Park Rangers supervise the feedings and visitors are sometimes allowed to feed individual dolphins, although this is not s guarantee of your visit.  Monkey Mia is not free, as you will be expected to pay a DEC National Park fee.

[Read more →]

The Australian Outback is the considerable remote wilderness of Australia.  While the term Australian Outback is often generally applied to any area outside of the major urban centers, it is specifically the more remote and vast wilderness to which it refers, in comparison to the rural “bush.”

One of the reasons the Australian Outback is a tourist location is because of its diverse species of unique animals.  In the Australian Outback, one might experience an encounter with dingos, emus, or kangaroos.  Reptile species and many other wild animals flourish in the rough country of the Australian Outback as well.

[Read more →]

Check out this week’s travel specials, which include Monkey Mia, Phuket, New Caledonia, Las Vegas, Peru, Bolivia, Botswana camping experience, Tuscan cooking and Sabah family tour …

[Read more →]