In this list we will show the animals that enchanted us during our trips around the world. Some are too cute, others are incredibly beautiful, others are unique and rare… No matter the reason, all of those you should see with your own eyes. And don’t even think about going to a zoo… The beauty is to admire them in their natural habitat. It was so hard to make this list that we had to put more than five.

8th PLACE – SLOTH

This name was not given in vain, after all it looks like really slow. That’s because it has a very slow metabolism, which makes all its movements very slow too. The sloths live in the treetops, spends most of its days eating and sleeping and only comes down every 7 days to make its needs, so it’s hard to enjoy it up close in the wild. We ended up visiting a center in Costa Rica that rescues injured and abandoned sloths and we could see every detail of this super cute animal. There we discovered that there are actually two types: 3 fingers and 2 fingers .
Where can you appreciate the sloths? Brazil, Costa Rica and Bolivia.

See more pictures of sloths and many other animals on our experience in Costa Rica

7th PLACE – PENGUIN

The penguins are super clumsy creatures, great swimmers and their migration movements are to impress anyone. They ensure good laughs for those who are admiring them for hours to watch their super clumsy steps . There are several different species, which are concentrated in the polar regions, but there are also tropical species, such as the one of Galapagos, in Ecuador. We had a chance to enjoy the African penguins in Cape Town and to swim with the tropical penguins in the Galapagos.
Where can you enjoy the penguins? Antarctica, South Africa, Argentina, Falkland islands Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Ecuador (Galapagos Islands).

6th PLACE – GALAPAGOS TORTOISE

This giant turtle, which weighs up to 400 kg and measures 1.8 m in length, is the largest land tortoise in the world and can live up to 170 years. With so much weight and with the agility of a turtle you can imagine that its movements are very slow! It can only be found in the Galapagos Islands, in Ecuador, and its species vary according to the characteristics of each island, where animals have evolved differently to ensure their food. A fact that contributed to the famous theory of evolution of Charles Darwin.

See more about the giant tortoise and other amazing animals of Galapagos

5th PLACE – GIANTS OF AFRICA

More precisely, the elephant, the giraffe and the lion. You may think that is not as impressive as you might have seen on television and in zoos often. But we can guarantee, no matter how much you’ve seen, watch them free in their natural habitat and there is no comparison. It is simply an amazing experience, further else with the African scenery behind. The elephant is a giant of 5 tones, with a rounded shape and a surprising delicacy. The giraffe is a giant by its height up to 6 meters, with a beautiful patterned skin and dazzling skills with its ​​long neck. And the lion is the second largest cat in the world, after the tiger, and the golden mane of the male is attractive and beautiful, but it is far more lazy than you think and rests and sleeps most of the day, leaving the hard work to the females, while it maintains his pose as king of the jungle, ensuring territory demarcation.
African countries to appreciate these giants: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya.

View more photos of these giants and many other animals in our experience in Africa

4th PLACE – SCARLET MACAW

The scarlet macaw is a bird of great beauty. Its vibrant colors and the feathers format make a stunning look that from close you can enjoy every detail. There are two types of red macaw: blue colored and green colored. We had the chance to enjoy the blue colored in the middle of Copan ruins, in Honduras but we would love to see also the blue and green macaws.
Where can you appreciate the macaws? Countries of South America and Central America, from Brazil and Bolivia to southern Mexico.

See more photos of the macaw on our experience in Honduras

3rd Place – Koala

These marsupials which are only found in eastern Australia are just too cute, but they can also smell quite strong. They are very lazy and like the sloths, they spend their entire day in the trees eating and sleeping up to 14 hours a day. In Australia it is easy to see them in the wild, but wish for them not being sleeping. If you there is an eucalyptus forest you can be sure that there will be koalas. We could see admire them from very close.

2nd PLACE – PANDA

This is certainly one of the cutest animals in the world and the sound you can hear in chorus from the people appreciating their clumsy movements is “ahhhhhh”. They are shy and docile and attacks to humans are very rare. We found out that there are actually two species of pandas: the giant panda (famous white and black) and the red panda (which is much smaller). The giant pandas can reach 1.5 m in height and weigh up to 150 kg, but unfortunately they live only 12 years and as they are very particular in their partner choice, the population decreases every year. You can only see them in China and it is very difficult to observe them free in nature, but you can visit centers that take care of the species maintenance in the region of Chengdu.

See more pictures of the super cute panda on our experience in China

1st PLACE – WHALE SHARK

This incredible beautiful shark is the largest fish in the world, measuring up to 12 m and weighing 13 tons. Despite the enormous size of its mouth it is completely harmless to humans because it feeds only from plankton. We had the chance to swim with this wonderful creature in the caribbean waters of Mexico. An indescribable experience. Below, We put up a video of our experience for you to enjoy more.
Where can you swim with the whale sharks? Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Australia, Philippines, Mozambique, Seychelles and Maldives.

See more about our experience with the whale sharks in Mexico

Watch the video:

If you are not able to watch it here, click on this link.

A potential animal for our list would be the gorilla, but hadn’t yet the pleasure of seeing them in the nature. It’s on our wish list.

Check also our other top 5 lists:

TOP 5 – Spots for snorkeling
TOP 5 – Unmissable archaeological sites
TOP 5 – Memorable small towns
TOP 5 – Eccentric cuisine
TOP 5 – Wonders of nature

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