Read the text and do the exercises below.

Anna Posyniak‑Dutka As Close to the Wild as One Can Get

Human beings haven’t been cut out to spend their lives in concrete junglesconcrete jungles [concrete jungle]concrete jungles, but that’s where we seem to have ended up. According to UN estimationsestimations [estimation]estimations from 2018, 55% of the global population lives in urban areasurban areas [urban area]urban areas. Although there are people who now consider cities to be their natural habitat, even diehard city‑dwellersdiehard city‑dwellers [diehard city‑dweller]diehard city‑dwellers admit that contact with nature soothes the nervessoothes the nerves [soothe the nerves]soothes the nerves and restores the fragile equilibriumfragile equilibriumfragile equilibrium distorteddistorted [distort]distorted by man‑made creations such as technology or processed food. People tired of the breakneck pace of lifebreakneck pace of life (idiom)breakneck pace of life seek opportunities to get back to nature. Since demand creates supply, we’ve been observing a proliferationproliferation proliferation of tours tailored to take people to far‑flung corners of the globefar‑flung corners of the globefar‑flung corners of the globe. A once in a lifetime experience of whale watchingwhale watchingwhale watching, gorilla trackinggorilla trackinggorilla tracking, or a puffin safaripuffin safaripuffin safari is now at your fingertipsat your fingertipsat your fingertips. Read four accounts of people who have already been on such close‑to‑nature outingsoutings [outing]outings.

A) Gorilla tracking in Uganda

As the name impliesimplies, it’s tracking and not necessarily observing. Since I watched the film Gorillas in the Mist, it has been my dream to go to Uganda and stand eye to eye with these magnificent mammalsmagnificent mammals [magnificent mammal]magnificent mammals. The experience is not cheap, but I relishrelish relish the fact that the fees I paid contribute to the conservation fund which is used to protect Africa's big five from extinction. I also quite like the fact that the experience isn’t given to you on a silver plattergiven to you on a silver platter [give something to somebody on a silver platter]given to you on a silver platter and you really have to make an effort to get a glimpse ofget a glimpse ofget a glimpse of the apesapes [ape]apes in their natural habitat. So, getting to the point, we were woken up at about 2 a.m. and transported to the edge of the jungle, where our trek started. Obviously, the day before, we had been given detailed guidelines regarding the outfit and equipment we were supposed to have with us and, what’s even more important, the items which were strictly prohibited. The hike uphill through dense jungle vegetationdense jungle vegetationdense jungle vegetation took about four hours, so it was not for the faint‑hearted.faint‑hearted faint‑hearted. Tours are only allowed to go up to a certain point and then you just sit and wait, hoping the gorillas make an appearancemake an appearancemake an appearance. My heart skipped a beatheart skipped a beat [skip a beat]heart skipped a beat every time something moved in the bushes, but the apes didn’t come that day. I was absolutely devastateddevastated devastated when it was time to start our trek back. I think our guides saw that we were heart‑brokenheart‑broken heart‑broken and they decided to bend the rulesbend the rulesbend the rules a bit. They took us to a place where chimpanzees usually foraged for foodforaged for food [forage for food]foraged for food and they did not disappoint us. I will never forget those smart eyes looking at us, as if they knew who we were and why we were there.

B) Whale watching

I wasn’t convinced of this idea. It was supposed to be a day trip on a cruise ship with a bunch of OAPsOAPs [OAP (old age pensioner)]OAPs, and the organisers didn’t even guarantee that we would be able to see any whales. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against elderly people! I was actually travelling with my grandma at the time, touring the Lofoten Islands in Norway, and it was her dream and her idea to go on this marine safarimarine safarimarine safari. The thing that brought me aroundbrought me round [bring somebody round]brought me around was that they offered the opportunity to watch the whales from a SUPSUP (standing up paddle)SUP and, since I had tried that before, I decided that would be fun. Well, fun is too small a word to use! It turned out to be an absolutely electrifying experienceelectrifying experienceelectrifying experience. The boat wasn’t big. There were merely 20 of us on board. They took us to a fjord, the name of which I still cannot pronounce correctly, and just stopped the boat at some point. My nannan nan and I - the only ones brave enough to do some paddlingpaddling [paddle]paddling - were given wetsuitswetsuits [wetsuit]wetsuits and together with the guide we went into the water. And there they were! After about 15 minutes, we saw the huge shades just below the surface of the water swimming along our boards. They seemed unforthcomingunforthcoming unforthcoming at first, but then they started interacting with us! You would never believe how playful and curious they are! It was utter magicutter magicutter magic to be so close to those gentle giants. I’ve had a resolution since that encounterencounter encounter: I never complain when my grandma comes up with an ideacomes up with an idea [come up with an idea]comes up with an idea for a trip!

C) Puffin safari

Until that excursion, when somebody had said safari, my first associations would be Africa. Well, it turns out you can go on one to Flamborough, too! To be more specific, the place is called Bempton Cliffs and it’s part of The Yorkshire Nature Triangle, an area which gained popularitygained popularity [gain popularity]gained popularity due to its scenic character and the opportunities to do birdwatchingbirdwatching birdwatching. Out of all species of birds I can think of, puffinspuffins [puffin]puffins are probably the most photogenic ones, with their corpulent bodies and colourful beaks. They chose the towering cliffs on the English east coast as their nesting area and, for decades, they have been drawing hordes of amateur photographers and professional conservationists. Me being none of them, I was rather sceptical about the trip. I had heard that puffins are rather hard to spot, as they are only 8 inches tall, but I was also told to look for tiny patches of orange. Equipped with binocularsbinoculars binoculars, we started the walk from the lighthouse and I guess we were really lucky as we managed to see a couple of adult puffins bringing food to their young chicks nested in the cliffs. I wished my phone had a long lens to take nicer pictures, but you can’t win them allyou can’t win them allyou can’t win them all!

D) Arctic cruise

This arctic cruise was my eighteenth birthday present. Knowing how keen I am on polar regions exploration and the history of former Soviet states, my parents presented me with a mysterious envelope on my birthday. In it was a plane ticket to Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost settlement and a common starting point for cruises around the Svalbard region. A cruise ticket was there, too! While onboard the plane we were informed by our tour operatortour operatortour operator about the health and safety regulationshealth and safety regulationshealth and safety regulations we were supposed to observeobserveobserve when in town. The settlement is not very big, but the safe zone, within which you do not have to carry any equipment for polar bear protection, is even smaller. We stayed in town only long enough to see the Svalbard Global Seed VaultSvalbard Global Seed VaultSvalbard Global Seed Vault. It’s an amazing place where duplicates of seedsduplicates of seeds [duplicate of]duplicates of seeds from all around the world are stored, just in case global food security is in danger. However, I was shocked to learn that due to climate change, the future of the place itself is endangered. Its existence is threatened by melting permafrostmelting permafrostmelting permafrost. After that, we boarded the ship to visit Pyramiden and Barentsburg, the two old Russian mining settlements, once inhabited by about 500 people each, and now both ghost towns. It was the second half of March, but due to exceptionally strong solar activity that year, we were able to see the Northern LightsNorthern LightsNorthern Lights as late as that, which is rather exceptional. For no extra fee!

1 Źródło: Anna Posyniak‑Dutka, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.