The Denali Safari

This trip offered 3-nights in Denali National Park....which is home to a variety of animals, including grizzly bears and black bears. Herds of caribou roam throughout the park. Dall sheep are often seen on mountainsides, and moose feed on the aquatic plants of the small lakes and swamps. If you can spot all four of these animals during your trip through the park....it's called a GRAND SLAM!  Corbett Leonard's been known to swing for the fences....so bring it on!

We would spend the next seven hours roaming around the park on a renovated school bus.  Upon leaving our chalet in the early morning....the weather was awful.  It was raining buckets!  But once we entered the park....hello sunshine!  Looked like it would be a great day for a ball game!

Two summers ago we went on a safari through Kruger National Park in South Africa.  On that safari tour there were animals everywhere roaming around the park - 4 elephants here, 3 zebras there, 1 giraffe on the road, 6 buffalo down the hill, and lions hiding in the distance.  Unfortunately, it seemed that we would have a harder time finding the animals in Denali.  Quite a few people around our chalet complained they didn't see anything....and others said many of the animals were so far away they needed binoculars to see them.  Uh oh!

Fortunately, I was known to be a clutch hitter.....so let's load the bases!

FIRST BASE - A grizzly bear in the distance!

 SECOND BASE - Dall sheep high on top of the mountain.

THIRD BASE - A herd of caribou relaxing by the road.  Check out the racks on these boys!

Well, when it comes to baseball....Leonard doesn't disappoint!

GRAND SLAM! - A huge bull moose hiding along the side of the road.

*** We were actually spoiled a little today.....we saw these four animals on our initial ride into the park (grand slam #1).  We hit another grand slam (four different bears, moose, sheep, and caribou) on the return trip to our chalet.  Our tour guide was just as amazed as we were.  You can see all of the other animals on our Call of the Wild page (check out the link).  A true All Star day!