A National Park Fantasy Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The Galápagos National Park (NP) was established in 1959 as Ecuador's first. About 97% of the archipelago's land area forms part of the national park, the excluded bits being inhabited areas. Scientist Charles Darwin developed his theories of evolution following his early 19th century visits. Marine iguanas, giant tortoises and flightless cormorants are a few of the species that make this an unusual place.

Situated in Chile's Patagonia region, the Torres del Paine NP encompasses glaciers, lakes, rivers and the eye-catching Cordillera del Paine mountainous spires. It is bounded by the Bernardo O'Higgins NP to the west and the Los Glaciares NP to the north in Argentina.

Etosha NP in Namibia was established as a game reserve in 1907. By 1970 its size had reduced by about half to 55,000 sq km (21,000 sq mi). It is still one of Africa's largest NPs. It is home to hundreds of species and is the most important reserve for the endangered black rhino.

The Serengeti NP in northern Tanzania is bounded to the north by the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Both are part of the great migration route. The migration usually occurs in July and involves around 1.5 million blue wildebeest and 250,000 plains zebras. Lions, cheetahs, leopards and African bush elephants can also be seen.

Plitvice Lakes NP is a scenic mountainous karst area of lakes and cascade waterfalls in central Croatia. Erosion of the limestone has created some sixteen surface lakes linked by waterfalls. The colours of the lakes can vary depending on the mineral content and the angle of sunlight.

Longest leg of this trip will see me at the south end of South Island, New Zealand. Fiordland is an area of steep-sided mountains and glacier-carved valleys. Milford Sound gets around 8 metres (320 in) of rain per year which has helped preserve the natural habitat as it has proven too challenging to log or mine. As you can imagine, the waterfalls can be spectacular.

Back to the tropics for the Komodo NP in Indonesia. Whilst its unique draw is the world's largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, the cluster of islands forming the national park is very scenic in its own right. Boats are used to get around with options for liveaboards for multi-day excursions to day trips by speedboat (or slow boat). The marine fauna is extensive so scuba diving would be rewarding.

Kao Sok NP in southern Thailand provides a liana-laced rainforest experience set amongst limestone mountains. Here you can get up close with elephants, go jungle trekking or cruise around Cheow Larn Lake. If botany is your thing, this place is known for the parasitic Rafflesia kerrii, which has one of the world's largest flowers and smells of rotting flesh. Delightful!

China has only been creating national parks since 2021. Before then, over 200 National Scenic and Historic Areas were designated. Guilin Lijiang Scenic and Historic Area is one such area. You can travel down the Li River (or Lijiang) past tall bamboo groves amongst the limestone karst mountains of Guilin. The cormorant fishing you may see is perhaps more for tourists than a commercial artisan fishing method these days. As something different, there are a number of well-developed cave systems to explore such as the Reed Flute Cave and the Crown Cave, both in Guilin.