Fitting Finale to Travel Bug Adventures
From zooming through Florida’s everglades in airboats to meeting the world’s self-proclaimed corn dog creator in Arizona, there was never a dull moment for the intrepid Travel Bug team in the USA.
For the crew, the trip was as memorable for the quirky humans they encountered as it was for the creepy crawlies who star in the final program of the series NHNZ is making for National Geographic Channels International and the Travel Channel.
After a hectic 10 days of shooting in Mexico, the crew of director/cameraman Giles Pike, paramedic Michelle Keating, associate producer Sina walker and presenter Mike Leahy took a well deserved break before regrouping in Miami for the US shoot.
Sina describes Miami as a magnet for professional animal wranglers. Not surprisingly it’s also a place where it pays to expect the unexpected.
In the space of a morning our crew met a man who had been bitten in the leg by an alligator, a second who had been bitten in the hand by a crocodile, missed an appointment with a third who had been attacked by killer bees in his face the previous day and to top it off, their snake wrangler was bitten by a non-venomous snake during filming. “It was almost farcical by that stage - we were seriously wondering what was going to happen next,” Sina says.
From weird and whacky Miami they headed north to Portal, a small town three hours south of Tucson, Arizona. Although the location might appear a little off the beaten track, NHNZ crew from the popular Buggin’ with Ruud series had introduced the Travel Bug team to a film friendly duo living there with an amazing collection of insects and creatures. 
In Portal they filmed Tarantula, a Gila Monster and giant water bugs. While the wildlife was abundant, the people also made a lasting impression. From the former Vogue photographer running the weekly market to the cartoonist claiming to have created the corn dog, Portal proved to be a fitting final destination for a quirky series filled with surprises from start to end.
