For Ailsa’s Travel Theme this week, I am including some animals that aren’t exactly “companions” although in all the time I spent in Northern Wisconsin, I have always looked forward to seeing loons on the lake and hearing their calls. In that sense, they have been my “companions” on the lake, as they have become for many people. Nowadays, these shy birds are forced to share their lake habitats with increasing numbers of humans, so it is possible to get closer to them than ever before. In July of this year, we stayed for a week on Lower Kaubashine Lake in a lodge which is part of Black’s Cliff Resort. My husband and I discovered a loon family (mother, father and baby) when we took a ride on his fishing boat. Later, our family rented a pontoon boat, where we got very close to the parents.
In this picture, the loon parents seem to be looking at each other in realization that a boat full of humans is between them and their offspring, who went off fishing on his own! They began to make distress calls.
We must have gotten within 10 feet of this brave parent, who came closer to search for her chick. My nieces, realizing that we had separated the family, urged my husband (who was driving the boat) to drive away so the loon family could be reunited. That’s exactly what we did.
And while on the subject of bird companions, I remember the birds we saw on our spring Panama Canal cruise. In Antigua, Guatemala at the place we went for lunch, we got up close and personal with these guys:
A parrot on my husband’s shoulder
He’s a friendly guy! He perched on my wrist!
Speaking of friendly, on a trip in 2014, we happened upon this calico cat in Beaufort, South Carolina, who loved the attention we gave her!
Horses on a farm in Finland:
A boy who lives on the farm, rides on a pony, with his mom at his side.
In November 2016, when we were in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we saw lots of dogs, most of them with their owners. We were walking in Copacabana and came across this dog, who was curious about a baby in a stroller:
That same day, we visited a cousin at her condo in Barra da Tijuca, with her beloved poodle:
Wanderlust & Wonderment 