Wild Vacations

Reef fish swim by. Guests can see these sea creatures from their bed at the Manta Resort!

The resort lies off the coast of Tanzania in Africa. It has a floating building that’s fixed to the seafloor. It’s called the Underwater Room. Guests staying there can dive off the deck into the Indian Ocean. Or they can just hang out in a room 4 meters (13 feet) underwater. Windows offer views of this coastal ocean biome.

Creatures like squid come to visit at night. They are drawn to lights under the water. Some animals seem very interested in the room, says Matthew Saus. He runs the resort. Batfish and trumpetfish are always looking inside, he says.

Natura Vive Skylodge is not for people afraid of heights! It’s in Peru, a South American country. The lodge is high in the Andes Mountains. Guests stay in clear capsules. They’re made of thick, strong plastic. The capsules are bolted to the side of a cliff 400 meters (1,300 feet) above the ground!

Visitors can climb to reach their rooms. They use 750 metal rungs attached to the mountain. Or they can zoom down a zip line from a nearby cliff. Guests might see an Andean condor soar by their capsule. This large bird lives in the area.

Skylodge is a few miles from Peru’s tropical rainforest. The weather there is hot and humid. It rains almost every day from December through March. Lightning flashes as storms roll in. The view is always amazing, rain or shine, says Natalia Rodriguez, the lodge’s co-owner.

Special guests come for breakfast at Giraffe Manor. People eat muffins and fruit each morning. Giraffes stick their necks through the windows for a snack!

Giraffes are native to Kenya. It’s a country in East Africa. Giraffes live in forests and grasslands. But people destroyed much of this habitat over time. Only about 100 giraffes remained in Kenya by the 1970s. 

The owners of Giraffe Manor wanted to help. They brought wild giraffes to the grounds for a breeding program. The hotel works with a group called African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. Together, they have placed dozens of giraffes in reserves across the country.

Green, pink, and purple lights dance across the night sky. This happens in the Arctic during the fall and winter. These light displays are called auroras. They show up when particles from the sun hit Earth’s atmosphere. Visitors can see this light show at the Kakslauttanen (kak-SLAW-tah-nen) Arctic Resort. They watch from inside a cozy glass igloo!

The resort is in a boreal forest. It has pine and spruce trees. These trees survive harsh winters and cool summers. The hotel opened in 1973. The hotel’s founder’s car broke down in northern Finland. He made camp alone in the wilderness and fell in love with the area. 

Visitors can ride snowmobiles, sled, or go ice fishing. But the most popular activity is watching the northern lights.