Indiana Jones - Girl Style
What do you call a woman who has two young daughters and twins on the way, who travels to the ends of the earth to mingle with the often dangerous, and sometimes yet undiscovered creatures of the world? Some have called her the female Indiana Jones, the real-life Lara Croft, or the female Steve Irwin, but at home, she’s known as mommy.
The world exploring mommy, Mireya Mayor, Ph.D., is National Geographic's first female wildlife correspondent, which has given her the opportunity to discover the world’s smallest primate in Madagascar, chase giraffes in Namibia, dine on a raw goat kidney with tribal members, drink cow's blood, as well as ride on some of the world’s shoddiest air transportation, one of which crashed in the Congo.
Mayor admits that getting rid of the fear of climbing aboard another third world “airliner,” was one of her most formidable challenges, but concedes that the show must go on, consoling herself with the thought that she has already beaten the odds!
One of her favorite trips is to Madagascar, which she says is, “a really, really beautiful place. For a biologist, it's really a dream come true because of all the amazing endemic species that are found nowhere else on the planet.
Kaieteur Falls in Guyana is another favorite Mayor destination. The falls, about five times higher than Niagara Falls, offer a view that is unobstructed by safety ropes, giving one the thrill of a lifetime as you stand almost too close to the edge. Mayor sites it as one of the most beautiful places on earth, saying, “It almost looks like you're on the edge of the earth, really. Very, very pretty spot.”
Mayor’s next destination? Perhaps Antarctica or Alaska, as she hasn’t been to any of the chillier regions! In the meantime, she is due to deliver her twins in July, when things are really going to get wild right in her own backyard!
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