Wildlife Viewing

85 years young, Theodore Cross has had more than his fair share of success. He’s worked in the White House, helping to spur on African-American economic development, served as governor of the American Stock Exchange, worked as a real estate lawyer, and twice bought and sold publishing houses geared to Wall Street investors, bankers, and accountants, earning many millions of dollars. Now, with the release last October of his large coffee table photo book, “Waterbirds,” he’s been referred to as John James Audubon with a camera. Harvard University’s great naturalist, E.O. Wilson described the book as “a masterpiece.” For the past 40 years, Cross has been obsessed with photographing birds around the globe, from spotting a Ross’s gull in Siberia to snapping a red-tailed tropicbird in Christmas Island. The 344-page epic published by W.W. Norton & Company is also heavy on egrets, herons, and another Cross favorite, the roseate spoonbill. It’s requisite viewing for both the casual backyard bird lover and the avid bird watcher. 

(Photo of the masked booby by Theodore Cross)
 

With the World Cup heading to South Africa in 2010, that should be reason enough to head back to Mother Africa. Catch a game, then head to Kruger for a little safari action, surf in Plett, grab some wine in Stellenbosch, hike up Table Mountain in glorious Capetown, my vote for the most beautiful city in the world, then bike around Hout Bay. But I’ve already done that, so it’s time to check out some neighboring countries like Namibia, Mozambique, and Botswana. What’s attractive about the Okavango Delta in Botswana is that you can actually ride atop an elephant on safari. My brother, Jim, and I took the elephant trek through the Hill Tribes of Thailand and it was a blast. It certainly beats sitting in the back of a jeep all morning, smelling exhaust. I prefer to see the lions atop an elephant, though I’m not sure how close an elephant would get to the king of the jungle before being scared away.