Wildlife Worldwide Brochure - Winter/Spring 2022/23

Expert-led small group tours and tailor-made holidays

Welcome

And so we sail full steam ahead into 2023. Keeping with the nautical analogy, we recently launched our Festival of Wildlife 2025 voyage to the Falklands and South Georgia aboard the state-ofthe-art Magellan Explorer. Our General Manager, Dan Free, and I recently visited the islands on recce trips, gathering information and putting the finishing touches to our exclusive itinerary, which we hope you will be able to join us on.

Then, of course, there are our other Festival of Wildlife trips: to Ndutu in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area on the edge of Tanzania's Southern Serengeti and Aigas Estate near Beauly in the Scottish Highlands. You can read more about these in the brochure - both are scheduled to take place in 2024, but availability is already limited.

As always, we take this opportunity to welcome on board some new small group trips. These include a new trip that combines seeing the southern right whales of the Western Cape with a safari in the Greater Kruger in South Africa, and a new rare mammals tour to Madagascar. We introduce the Republic of the Congo and expand our collection of trips to Brazil and, closer to home, a summer trip to Devon. Now there's a spread of places to whet your appetite!

We also continue to expand our enviable wildlife photography programme. Inside, you can read about exciting new trips to South Africa and Botswana with Neil Aldridge, Madagascar with Nick Garbutt, and a springtime trip to Lake Kerkini in Northern Greece with Sean Weekly.

2022 proved to be an incredible year for staff travel, with our Product and Sales Team getting out to broaden or update their

destination knowledge and lead trips once again. This ensures we keep abreast of the latest developments worldwide and offer expert first-hand advice and recommendations.

As usual, I've been frantically busy throughout the year but managed to fit in trips to the Galapagos, Antarctica and Zambia, which you can find out more about in my features overleaf.

And finally, a huge thanks to everyone who joined us at the second WildFair at our office in Bishop's Sutton back in August - it was great to see so many familiar faces or have an opportunity to put faces to familiar names. The highlights were too many to mention here, but we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

We wish you a very happy 2023 filled with travel!

Breen, Founder

30 years’ experience of designing the finest wildlife holidays

Chris

All holiday prices in this brochure are based on two people sharing a room/cabin, and include flights from the UK, wildlife activities, accommodation and transfers (except where specified). Prices are correct at time of going to print. For full details contact our expert wildlife team.

Front cover & main image by Nick Garbutt

Contents

Falklands & South Georgia: A Wildlife Spectacle NEW 4/5

Tanzania: A Slice of Cat Heaven in Ndutu 6/7

South Africa: Whales, Wildlife & Wine NEW 8/9

South Africa: Caracals of the Eastern Cape NEW 10/11

South Africa: News from the Kalahari 12/13

South Africa: The Milky Way, Big Cats & Rhinos 14/15

Botswana: Back to the Delta 16/17

Botswana: Photography Safaris with Neil Aldridge NEW 18/19

Zambia: An Ordinary Day in the Luangwa Valley 20/21

Madagascar: Mammals of the Eighth Continent NEW 22/23

Madagascar: The Weird & the Wonderful NEW 24/25

Republic of the Congo: Africa's Eden NEW 26/27

UK: Wildlife Highlights of 2022 with Mike Dilger 28/29

UK: Perfect your Puffin Photography NEW 30/31

Scotland: Festival of British Wildlife 2024 32/33

England: Brilliant Beavers & Beautiful Buntings NEW 34/35

Greece: Europe's Hidden Gem NEW 36/37

Finland & Slovenia: Bearly Believable 38/39

Brazil: A Wildlife Extravaganza NEW 40/41

Argentina & Chile: Patagonia's Apex Predators NEW 42/43

Chile: Walking with Pumas 44/45

Galapagos Islands: A Perfect Day 46/47

Canada: Festival of Bears 48/49

Borneo: Going Wild in Sabah 50/51

Arctic: My First Polar Bear 52/53

Antarctica: Penguins, Whales & Seabirds Galore 54/55

Antarctica: A Bird's-Eye View of the Drake Passage 56/57 Group Tours Calendar 2023-2025 58/63

Small Group Tours

Our collection of small group tours has rapidly expanded and we now offer a wide range of over 250 trips to some of the wildest places on Earth. Travelling as part of a small group can be hugely rewarding, allowing you to meet like-minded wildlife enthusiasts and benefit from the expertise of a naturalist tour leader. If you prefer to travel independently, or with your friends and family, a large number of our group tours can be adapted and organised on a private basis.

Tailor-made Holidays

We excel at tailoring holidays which allow you the freedom and flexibility to travel how, when and where you want to. You may want to see a certain species, visit specific locations, or need to travel at a certain time of year. To guide you through the options, we provide 'trip ideas', designed by our expert team to give you an idea of the possibilities and prices, and we can create a holiday to meet your exact requirements. We can also tailor a selection of our photography holidays with a private photographic tour leader - contact us for more details.

Opening Hours

We're open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and also on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm in January, February and March.

Falklands & South Georgia

The Greatest Wildlife Spectacle on Earth

Ihad heard good things about South Georgia, many labelling it as the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth and journeyed south with high expectations. Travelling aboard the superb Magellan Explorer, I arrived in South Georgia to find a breath-taking landscape, literally filled with wildlife – a place where the biggest challenge to landing was finding space on the beach alongside the throng of enormous elephant seals, feisty fur seals and tens of thousands of king penguins.

Visiting in October at the start of the austral spring, there was still a blanket of snow on the ground and on the rugged mountainsides, making for some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever encountered. Amidst this incredible arena was a concentration of wildlife I could never have imagined.

Adult king penguins, resplendent in their immaculate breeding plumage were returning from a winter spent at sea, reaffirming bonds with fluffball chicks left unattended for months on end. Huge 4-tonne bull elephant seals thundered down the beach in a rippling mass of blubber to challenge rival males, intent on maintaining their harems but with scant regard for the countless new born pups. Young fur seals sparred

amongst themselves with a ferociousness unbefitting their cute appearance, while arguably the most malevolent of all pinnipeds, the leopard seal could be found patrolling the surf waiting to snatch an unfortunate penguin.

To give some perspective, on one site alone, the magnificent St Andrews Bay, there are an estimated 6,000 elephant seals and at its peak, 500,000 king penguins – all utilising a beach not even three kilometres in length. Every square metre of beach is contested and as with any contest, there are causalities, laying bare the blunt brutality of life in this harsh environment. Southern giant petrels, brown skuas and bizarre meat-eating sheathbills all profiteering from the losers, both penguin and elephant seal alike.

Boarding the vessel in the Falkland Islands, a day and a half was spent exploring this magnificent archipelago, encountering some of the species that would later be seen in South Georgia, but also a large number unique to these islands. Billed as a 'warm-up' act to the main event, it was so much more than this as we encountered vast colonies of black-browed albatross, flamboyant rockhopper penguins and confiding striated caracara. Gentoo and Magellanic penguins

Wildlife Worldwide Manager Dan Free recently returned from his first visit to South Georgia. He was blown away by the incredible concentration of wildlife he encountered and shares his highlights below.

were present, alongside both upland and kelp geese, dolphin gulls, black oystercatchers, and huge colonies of imperial shags.

From a vantage point on Saunders Island, a pod of striking black and white Commerson's dolphins were seen riding the waves of a turquoise blue sea and on several occasions, Peale's dolphins porpoised alongside us. The time spent travelling across the Scotia Sea to South Georgia was not without wildlife interest, with plenty of pelagic bird species wheeling fore and aft of the vessel, providing fantastic photographic opportunities. Enormous wandering and southern royal albatrosses soared effortlessly over the waves, joined by the occasional sooty, light mantled and grey-headed albatross. Exquisite Cape petrels were a near constant companion, alongside diminutive blue petrels, Antarctic prions and wave paddling Wilson's storm petrel.

The whole experience was nothing short of incredible, and in the Magellan Explorer, we have one of the finest expedition vessels to grace the Southern Ocean for our 2025 Festival of Wildlife. I can't wait to return with the team and look forward to seeing you there!

NEW Festival of Wildlife Falklands & South Georgia

Our Festival of Wildlife 2025 takes us on an epic voyage on the Magellan Explorer with a team of naturalists, photographers, and artists as we immerse ourselves in a world of penguins, pinnipeds, and cetaceans.

11 Oct 2025

15 days, from £9,995 (voyage only)

Group size: max. 88

Festival Team: Chris Breen, Mark Carwardine, Dan Free, Nick Garbutt, Nick Mackman & Jonathan Truss

Image by Nick Garbutt

Tanzania A Slice of Cat Heaven in Ndutu

Wildlife Travel Consultant and photographer Emma Healey visits the extraordinary wildlife-filled plains of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, on the edge of the Southern Serengeti where our exclusive Festival of Wildlife 2024 takes place.

On the edge of the Serengeti lies Ndutu, a vast expanse of acacia-studded grasslands that offers some of the best big cat watching on the planet. In April 2022, I visited this area in preparation for our Festival of Wildlife in 2024.

My trip commenced in the fabulous Ngorongoro Crater, and after two days I thought my wildlife viewing had already peaked with my best-ever serval sighting and a front-row seat in a battle of life and death between a black-backed jackal and an injured Thompson's gazelle. Little did I know what Ndutu had in store for me ...

Leaving the crater behind, there's a very definite shift in the habitat as the landscape opens out before your eyes, villages and farms giving way to trees and open plains, and with the change, wildlife sightings become more frequent.

Driving towards the gates of the Serengeti, we turned left, skirting the rim of the park, and soon came across a cheetah and her three six-month-old cubs. The beauty of Ndutu is that you can drive off-road, which you can't do in the crater or the Serengeti National Park, enabling you to get much closer to the wildlife and position the vehicle for the best view. The cats were very relaxed, and we stayed with them until the sun set and they moved off through the grasslands. The following morning, we returned to the same area and found the young family close by. As the sun rose, the three youngsters engaged in bouts of play fighting, all under the watchful eye of their mum, even stalking an unsuspecting jackal on one occasion, which only just escaped unscathed after a game of hide and seek around a termite mound.

The freedom of movement in the park meant that at different times of the day, we could aim for more creative photography, repositioning the vehicle behind the cheetah to get some lovely back-lit shots as the sun shone its golden light on the grasses.

This was all within 12 hours of arriving at Ndutu - I was already hooked! As with anywhere in Africa, sunrise and sunset are spectacular, so early and late game drives were very much the aim. Driving along the lakeside offers views of lesser and greater flamingos, and the two marshes provide valuable cover for lions and their prey. Whilst I was at the lodge, a coalition

of two male lions challenged the resident males, subsequently scattering the Marsh Pride across the area.

Long Gulley, which connects the lake and marshes, is something of a wildlife hotspot, and we came across some of the big and small five here, as well as incredibly characterful bat-eared foxes. The seemingly endless plains can at first glance appear empty, but on closer inspection hold a fabulous variety of species - at one point we had a cheetah with her cubs, a serval hunting and a lion on the move, all within about 200 metres of each other.

Tanzania is without a doubt one of the most varied parts of Africa I've visited, and I fell in love immediately. Kaleidoscopes of butterflies, great flocks of flamingos, serval, chameleons and more cheetahs than I've ever seen - I couldn't have asked for more.

Festival of Wildlife Tanzania

Join us for a celebration of wildlife in the Ndutu region of Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area, an area famed for big cats, vast herds of migrating wildebeest and a wealth of other mammal and bird species. With exclusive use of the Ndutu Safari Lodge and an expert team, it promises to be incredible!

9 Apr 2024

11 days, from £5,995 - Group size: max. 60 (six per vehicle)

Festival Team: Chris Breen, Bret Charman, Nick Garbutt, Emma Healey, Nick Mackman & Jonathan Truss

Image by Emma Healey

South Africa

Whales, Wildlife & Wine

Whales. Wildlife. Wine. I've joked with more than a few clients over the last year or two that patenting this style of holiday, alongside our existing portfolio of 'Rare Mammals' 'Best of', and 'Off the Beaten Track' trips would be a fabulous idea! Whilst many destinations lend themselves to the combination of terrestrial and marine mammal watching, think Sri Lanka, Canada and Patagonia, to name but a few, if you were to add a wine-producing area into the mix too, surely that would be a match made in heaven?!

With my background, the obvious choice would be South Africa, a country so blessed with wildlife that it offers not only 'traditional' Big Five viewing but a Marine Big Five too (think whale, shark, seal, penguin and dolphin). Its waters play host to a variety of cetaceans including Bryde's and humpbacks, but it's the southern right whale watching opportunities that have really put the country on the map. Choosing to overwinter just off (literally) the Western and Eastern Cape coasts every year, their timing, between June and November, just happens to coincide with the dry season in the Greater Kruger area. Surf and turf anyone? Yes please! The stirrings of a new holiday idea had begun.

Flying into Cape Town initially, we hit the ground running with a visit to Betty's Bay, viewing African penguins en route to our first destination, Hermanus. During our four nights here, we spend mornings out on the water,

hoping to get up close and personal with Walker Bay's whales (and other inhabitants), before taking to the clifftop trails every afternoon. Although the scenery, fynbos and birdlife will try to distract us, we sidestep hyrax soaking up the sun on the pathways and focus on the crystal clear waters immediately below. With luck, the whales will frolic inshore, and breach off, thereby justifying Hermanus' reputation as arguably the best land-based whale watching in the world.

A quick return to Cape Town, just 90 minutes away, will see us flying east to Skukuza, from where we transfer to the famous Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. A Big Five area that is particularly renowned for leopard, we'll also be on the lookout for cheetah and dogs during our 4-night stay. From our lodge overlooking a small waterhole, watch colourful purplecrested turacos as they soar from tree to tree, their call somewhat amphibian in nature. Marvel at the spring colours of flowering knobthorns and marulas and wait by waterholes for wildlife to seek out scarce fresh water - it will be another month before the rains break after all.

We'll explore and interpret the behaviour of all creatures great and small through twice-daily vehicle safaris and guided bush walks, so will fall asleep dreaming of sightings, and listening to the roaring of lions and the whooping of spotted hyenas in the distance. This really is the ultimate time to be in the bush, so if you're ready, do come and join us!

Team member Helen Bryon shares the magic of combining whale watching along the coast of South Africa's Western Cape with world-class safaris in one of the country's premier wildlife locations.

NEW South Africa's Wildlife of Land & Sea

From the southern right whales of the Western Cape to the iconic mammals of the bushveld, this itinerary showcases the diversity of South Africa’s wildlife. In Hermanus we observe the whales from both the shore and on daily boat excursions. Our next base is the excellent Baobab Ridge Lodge in Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger National Park, where we encounter lion, leopard, elephant and other captivating species.

26 Aug 2023 11 days, from £5,995 - Group size: max. 8 (two vehicles)

South Africa

Photographing Caracals of the Eastern Cape

The first time I saw a caracal, I didn't even lift my camera and try to photograph it. I wanted to savour the moment as it stopped and looked back before melting away into the long grass, those famous ear tufts the only remaining clue to its presence. With our new Rare Mammals of the Eastern Cape trip, I hope to share the dilemma of whether to capture a caracal with a camera or with your memory.

I first visited Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape in 2013 to photograph a story about Thandi the white rhino who survived an attack by poachers. On our first evening with the now-famous Thandi, we also found ourselves watching a mother caracal and her two large kittens heading out to hunt. We spent so long with them that I even had the luxury of switching to video mode and capturing my first footage of this stunning cat. On every visit to Kariega since I've been fortunate to see caracal multiple times. It's one of the many reasons this gorgeous family-run reserve has such a special place in my heart.

And it's not just caracals we'll be looking for on this new trip. The open plains of Kariega are peppered with burrows, and night drives are the perfect way to find out who these subterranean hidey-holes belong to. Porcupines are always a pleasure to watch as they forage but the real gem we'll be searching for on our forays after dark is the delightfully bizarre aardvark, which I have also had the pleasure of filming here.

During the day, our expert guides will also be able to give us a break from sitting in vehicles and take us out on foot to teach us more about these rarer mammals that make Kariega such an exciting new destination for Wildlife Worldwide.

The birdlife of the Eastern Cape is equally intoxicating. The jewel in Kariega's crown has to be the mighty crowned eagle – a forest specialist capable of taking prey up to six times its own body weight. We'll also be looking along the forest fringes for magnificent Knysna turacos while secretary birds and ostriches roam the plains below.

These plains are also home to lion, buffalo, white rhino and elephant (while the more secretive leopard and black rhino keep to the dense bush). These African icons share the open spaces with mixed herds of zebra, wildebeest, eland, kudu, nyala and blesbok – an animal that I will always fondly associate with Kariega.

On that first visit in 2013, I took a motion blur image of two blesbok stampeding across the plains. The picture went on to win the overall title of European Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2014. It's a technique I'm always happy to help people try with their cameras on these photo safaris, and the open plains of Kariega are a great place to try it.

Kariega has recently expanded to set more land aside for wildlife – a sign of just how seriously the owners take their role in protecting wildlife and creating more job opportunities locally through conservation. I have no doubt if you join me in our search for caracal and aardvark here, you will fall for the charm of this family-run wildlife haven.

Neil Aldridge explores Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, where he is leading a new photography tour. Caracal, porcupine, aardvark and white rhino are just a few of the target subjects to photograph here.

NEW Rare Mammals of the Eastern Cape

Travelling to the little-known reserve of Kariega on the Eastern Cape, we go in search of the region's hidden gems, with a particular focus on seeking out and photographing caracal and aardvark alongside elephants, lions, rhinos and incredible birdlife. From the comfort of three lodges, we explore this scenic reserve through a mix of drives, walks and boat trips.

21 Oct 2023 & 19 Oct 2024 11 days, from £6,995 Group size: max. 8 (two vehicles)

Image by Neil Aldridge

South Africa

News from the Kalahari

Wildlife Travel Consultant and Tour Leader Helen Bryon recently spent a couple of months leading two contrasting tours in the South African Kalahari, both with equally magical wildlife encounters.

Like many of you, a backlog of trips postponed by the pandemic resulted in my feet barely touching the ground (or UK soil at least!) this year. For two incredible months, I had the good fortune to lead small group trips in the South African Kalahari, and I thank my lucky stars for the incredible sightings that we were able to experience.

In June, we operated our South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style, arriving at the spectacular Tswalu Reserve for a 7-night stay at an exclusive, private lodge, Tarkuni. As its name suggests, this trip is specifically designed to target the more unusual species found on the African continent, those animals which are often talked about but rarely seen on 'normal' safaris such as brown hyena, aardwolf, aardvark and even pangolin. Whilst our third departure was disrupted by unseasonal rains (the first time in a hundred years), all the target species were seen on the first two departures, as well as a remarkable bonus caracal sighting, multiple African wild cats, African porcupine and plenty of spring hares!

These more unusual species very much form our focus during our stay but certainly not to the detriment of viewing other wildlife and throughout our stay we were able to view cheetahs, often on foot, wild dogs, both white and black rhino, and perhaps most popular of all, families of meerkats complete with the most adorable pups. Sitting amongst these remarkable creatures and observing them at close quarters is, quite frankly, one of the most enchanting wildlife experiences to be had!

After a day spent traversing this vast and stunning land, taking in magnificent mountains and gemsbok standing tall atop red dunes, it's always a pleasure to head 'home' where a warm welcome awaits, with our own chef and housekeeping team hard at work preparing a delicious meal for us to enjoy around a roaring fire.

Later, in September, I was back! This time leading our fabulous Kalahari Conservation Experience. Boasting the potential to see the same range of species, albeit with less focus on the 'rare stuff', here we had a more hands-on experience, assisting in the day-to-day conservation and management of another large

reserve. Activities were built into our game drives and ranged from completing tree surveys to applying herbicides to encroaching species, undertaking predator and prey game counts, or learning about anti-poaching initiatives. The trip provided a fascinating insight into the realities of, and challenges facing wildlife conservation today, but still delivered some exceptional sightings.

The camp here is simple, comfortable and welcoming with home-cooked food often served around the fire, under the stars, listening to the sounds of the bush. The reserve also has the added benefit that there are no commercial lodges, which means no one to radio sightings in to and no other vehicles waiting to take our place. It's just us. One camp, one vehicle, one reserve, and one vast tract of the Kalahari to explore. Absolute magic.

South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style

Join us on this exclusive small group safari as we explore South Africa's largest private game reserve, Tswalu. Famed as one of the best sites in Africa for encountering rare mammals including ground pangolin, aardvark, aardwolf, Cape fox and brown hyena, we may also see cheetah, lion, rhino and meerkats from our private lodge.

2 & 9 Jun 2023; 7 & 14 Jun 2024

10 days, from £10,595 Group size: max. 9 (two vehicles)

Kalahari Conservation Experience

Explore the exclusive and wildlife-rich reserve in the Kalahari bushveld whilst supporting its preservation with a range of conservation-based activities. Learn about the intricate ecosystem whilst enjoying sightings of The Big Five and a fabulous array of birds on this rewarding and unique safari.

15 & 22 Sep 2023; 6 & 13 Sep 2024

9 days, from £3,695 Group size: max. 6

Image by Marcus Westberg

South Africa

The Milky Way, Big Cats & Rhinos

Our inaugural Wildlife & Night Sky Photography tour to

reserve of Zimanga was led by

Here Sean shares why this special location is a

Zimanga Private Game Reserve has always been on my wish list to visit as a photographic guide, and when I pitched the idea, an action-packed photography holiday was soon organised. I last visited Africa when I was 14 years old on a month-long expedition to Kenya, so of course, returning to the bush as a photography guide some 15 years on had a lot to live up to, and boy, did this trip deliver!

Our inaugural trip was in July 2022, and we soon headed out on our first game drive. If our first encounter was a sign of things to come, we were in for a treat! Not long into the drive, we were fortunate to have the most incredible leopard sighting in a low-lying dead tree. It was one of two cubs, around one year old and the cat was resting on a low branch at eye level. Our guide and ranger put us in the perfect position for some fantastic close-up portraits of its head - the positioning could not have been better! From that moment on, I knew we were in for an incredible trip.

The encounters just got better and better from there on in. We walked and laid down with a cheetah family, allowing us to take some extremely low-level images of the cats walking towards us and going about their day. We had some fantastic sightings of a lion family most days and had one particular morning where the whole pride walked towards us in the beautiful golden light of the morning sunrise. This was shortly followed by witnessing one of the lionesses kill a warthog to feed her two cubs, just a few metres from our vehicle. Other sightings included hippo, serval, Nile crocodile, white rhino, black rhino and Cape buffalo to name just a few.

In addition to game viewing by vehicle, Zimanga is also home to nine specialist photography hides. Each of the hides are designed for specific mammal and bird species. The oneway glass allows you to remain hidden from view, ensuring that species can approach the front of the hides completely undisturbed. One of my favourite hides, the Tamboti Overnight Hide, is located underground and offers ground-level views of a watering hole. The hide has everything you need, from a flushing toilet, running water, a full working kitchen, dining room, WiFi, bunk beds (with fresh bedding), comfortable computer chairs and Benro tripods with gimbals. I was in this

particular hide for 17 hours and it felt effortless with all the comforts within.

The highlight from this hide was undoubtedly photographing the Milky Way with an elephant in the foreground, captured in the early hours of the morning. The photo quickly made it into various national newspapers on my return to the UK. It was a technically difficult image to obtain but certainly achievable with most cameras through utilising a double exposure and blending two images together. Spending time in the comfortable hides allows you to be more creative as you have time to experiment and try out new techniques.

Needless to say, I'm very excited to be leading multiple trips to Zimanga over the coming years and I look forward to helping you to achieve similar results.

Zimanga - Wildlife & Night Sky Photography

Accompanied by wildlife photographer and night sky photography expert Sean Weekly, join us on our extensive exploration of Zimanga Private Game Reserve to enjoy the wildlife and night sky photography opportunities that it has to offer from specially-designed hides and game drives.

3 & 19 Jun 2023; 1 May & 4 Jul 2024 10 days, from £5,995 Group size: max. 6

the private

talented photographer Sean Weekly.

photographer's paradise.

Back to the Delta Botswana

For the ultimate African experience, General Manager Dan Free shares his memories from our Okavango Delta Safari. Combining the magic of a tented safari with a comfortable stay in a lodge, there is no better way to enjoy the bush.

In June 2022, I had the pleasure of leading our inaugural Okavango Delta Safari, a trip that combines fully serviced mobile camping with a comfortable lodge on the Gomoti River. After a 4-year absence, it was difficult to hide the joy I felt in returning to a country I hold in such high regard and reacquainting myself with its incredible wildlife.

Travelling with a small group, some new to Africa, others seasoned safari-goers, we were all buzzing with excitement for the trip to come as we loaded up the game viewers and headed out into the bush. Lilac-breasted rollers, fork-tailed drongos and small flocks of red-billed quelea adorned roadside perches, while African fish eagles soared overhead. Leaving the town of Maun behind, mammals increasingly entered the fray, as we crossed paths with greater kudu, giraffe, zebra, steenbok, and a small breeding herd of elephants – all characters in a familiar story that I longed to be a part of.

As the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky turned a kaleidoscope of orange and pink hues, we paused at a small lagoon to soak in the scene, observing several hippos emerging from their daytime slumber. Continuing, with the aid of a spotlight, we encountered genets, African wild cat and a serval before arriving at a spotted hyena den, a number of adults and pups in attendance. However, the best was yet to come, and a short time later the vehicles came to an abrupt halt … wild dogs were on the road ahead! First just a few individuals in the headlights, but soon growing to 13 animals, regrouping after a hunt before walking straight past our vehicles. It was quite a welcoming committee to Botswana!

Over the course of the next few days, we settled into the daily routine of camp life, exploring the surrounds of first the Khwai Community Area and then Moremi Game Reserve. The two areas offer a wonderful mosaic of habitats shaped by floodwaters first conceived in the highlands of

Angola, over a thousand kilometres to the north. Slow-flowing rivers meander through floodplains fringed by tangled tracts of mopani and shady leadwood groves, while more arid areas give rise to vast expanses of camelthorn and acacia-studded grasslands.

This diversity of habitats and the life-giving floodwaters draw birds and mammals from hundreds of kilometres around and we were treated to some exceptional sightings. Lion, cheetah, leopards, and a huge number of elephants all played their part, alongside stunning birdlife of over 130 species including martial eagle, saddle-billed stork and a particularly rapacious lilac-breasted roller! A night-time visit to an elephant carcass with half a dozen bone-crunching spotted hyenas present delivered a complete sensory experience that few of us will forget in a hurry. On another occasion three lionesses stalked and probed a buffalo herd in the failing light, wreaking havoc amongst the herd, but unable to isolate the calves from the wall of adults.

After six nights camping, we travelled to Mma Dinare Lodge for a 3-night stay, indulging in a little more comfort and enjoying yet more wonderful sightings. Lions, including large males and cubs were a feature of most drives, but we also had a coalition of four male cheetahs striding through the grasslands and a leopard with a recently killed impala. The area was heaving with elephants and buffalo, but for many, the highlight of their stay was a visit to a wild dog den where five adults and eight pups were present. In the company of John Mellow, a researcher with Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, we were treated to a fascinating insight into the social dynamics of the pack.

The combination of the camping and lodge experience, coupled with the mix of game reserves and private concessions was a huge success, offering the best of both experiences and I can't wait to return next year! 30 years’ experience of designing the finest wildlife holidays

Okavango Delta Safari

This complete Okavango Delta safari combines the unique wilderness experience of fully serviced mobile camping with the comfort of an intimate private lodge. In the company of Dan Free and expert guides we explore on foot, by mokoro and on game drives, encountering some of the finest wildlife on the continent.

5 Jun 2023 & 15 Jun 2024

12 days, from £7,995 – Group size: max. 12 (two vehicles)

Image by Dani Free

Botswana

Photography Safaris with Neil Aldridge

Neil

During my career as a photojournalist, I have given my time to rhino and wild dog conservation in Botswana. It's where I took my most well-known image of a young, blindfolded rhino which won World Press in 2018. It's the one destination that keeps giving me so much in return. People often ask me: “when is the best time to visit Botswana?” My answer is always the same. To me, there is never a bad time. I'm just as happy gliding through the crystal waters of the Okavango eye-level with leaping lechwe in peak flood season in August as I am watching lions track herds arriving in the lush, green Kalahari in January. That is why we have created three very different trips that give you the chance to explore this prime wilderness.

The stunning new Kalahari to Delta Photo Safari offers even the most seasoned safari-goer something rarely seen – Africa's secret migration. Tens of thousands of zebra move from the north into the interior as summer rains swell the vast pans and create perfect grazing. This is a rare time of plenty as herbivores and predators alike raise their young, and migratory birds arrive, giving us incredible scenes to capture. And because most visitors come to Botswana in the cooler months, these are scenes most people never see.

Our popular Okavango Delta Photo Safari lands at the start of the main floods in July when the water sources in the interior have dried and the animals are arriving back in the heart of the delta. The skeletons of leadwood trees that litter the plains of Khwai – where we begin our adventure – are perfect perches for owls and lookouts for leopards. Driving at night in Khwai allows us to look for serval, honey badger and porcupine that roam the sandy grasslands after dark. Next, with water levels still low, we're able to explore the famous Moremi Game Reserve, where wild dogs roam and herds of buffalo hundreds-strong kick up clouds of dust that glow like gold in the low winter sun.

Our final destination on this photo safari is Mma Dinare. After six nights under canvas in mobile camps, the exquisite riverside lodge is a welcome treat. The local wildlife appreciates the proximity of the water too, so this can be a productive few days tracking predators, watching elephants of all sizes bathe

in the cool channels and photographing birdlife.

Mma Dinare is also where our Okavango Photography in Style safari begins. This is a trip that celebrates the life that floods into Northern Botswana with the waters of the Okavango and Kwando rivers. From Dinare, we take a flight over the delta to Pom Pom Camp, giving us a view of one of the world's most pristine wetland ecosystems. As well as the mammalian predators that we'll seek out, Pom Pom is an excellent spot to look for the impressive and sought-after Pel's fishing owl. Our final destination is Lagoon Camp on the Kwando River, home to several packs of my beloved wild dogs and rarer, smaller predators like aardwolf. Some of the largest buffalo herds live here too. Their battles with lions are welldocumented and epitomise the struggle between life and death that plays out around these oases in the vast, dry Kalahari.

NEW Okavango Photography in Style with Neil Aldridge

This comprehensive exploration of Botswana's Okavango Delta spends three nights at three very different lodges, allowing you to enjoy the delta in all its glory through a mix of drives, walks and mokoro rides. Huge herds of buffalo and elephant are likely to feature alongside an array of predators.

4 Jul 2023

12 days, from £13,145 Group size: max. 8 (two vehicles)

NEW Kalahari to Delta Photo Safari with Neil Aldridge

This unique safari offers a fascinating insight into the seldom seen locations of the Kalahari and Nxai Pan, alongside the Okavango Delta. In addition to black-maned lions, mud bathing elephants and wild dogs, we hope to witness the return of Africa's second largest migration, as thousands of zebra migrate to the heart of Botswana.

26 Jan 2024

12 days, from £9,995 Group size: max. 8 (two vehicles)

years’ experience of designing the finest wildlife holidays

Aldridge is an established wildlife and conservation photojournalist with his images appearing in numerous publications. Neil leads a couple of dedicated photography tours to Botswana and here he tells all about what you can expect on a safari with him.

“Emma and Neil were simply outstanding! Knowledgeable, enthusiastic, helpful and friendly. The brief video Neil created at the end of our journey is a gem!”

Lillian K, Okavango Delta Photo Safari, Aug 2022

Okavango Delta Photo Safari

The Okavango Delta is a photographer's playground and on this 12-day trip we explore two of the region's famed wildlife locations, combining the joys of fully serviced camping with exclusive use of a comfortable lodge. In the company of Neil Aldridge and Emma Healey you will have plenty of opportunity to build a stunning portfolio of images.

22 Jun 2024 12 days, from £8,195 Group size: max. 12 (two vehicles)

Image by Neil Aldridge

Zambia An Ordinary Day in the Luangwa Valley

South Luangwa National Park holds a special place in Simon Barnes' heart, it inspired him to write his book 'A Sacred Combe'.

The wildlife here is exceptional and it's little wonder that Simon returns most years, exploring the majesty of this wild river valley.

Agreat change comes over you when you come to the Luangwa Valley in Zambia. It's not something I can really tell; but I can at least have a try at showing. It happens when you go for a walk and meet an elephant.

Walking in the bush is a well-organised thing, because it has to be. A scout walks at the head of the file; he carries a gun and his job is to make sure that he never needs to use it, while at the same time getting close – as close as is safe for everyone involved – to the big mammals that dominate the wooded savannahs.

And so, we met an elephant under a winterthorn tree and because we were mere humans, we had no option but to stop and wait. You could call that politeness, common-sense or due deference: whichever way, we waited as you always wait, while he picked up seedpods fallen from the tree in the twin fingers of his trunk before eventually drifting away – note that elephants have the tendency to move, when on good terms with themselves and on terms with everything around them, as if wafted by a gentle breeze.

And that was it. He ate, he drifted, we watched, we waited. We waited on the convenience of an elephant and that was fine, just and utterly appropriate, because we had all the time in the world did we not? A yellow butterfly flew between us and the elephant; a species called African migrant, so far as I could work out. I wrote in my notebook

Like the butterfly I always give way to elephants

Have I managed to explain the unexplainable? Let me try again and move to the next Luangwa morning. The previous night we had seen lions and that was exciting and the next morning we did not see lions and it was even more exciting. That is because last night we were in a vehicle and that morning we walked. And while we walked, we knew – knew in our guts, having seen them – that there were lions about.

We saw many nice things, a lesser masked weaver, shining bright yellow, Dickinson's kestrel, delicate and fierce. We saw five elephants crossing the Luangwa River, the youngest still lacking trunk-skills and drinking by ducking his whole head into the water. We saw a hippo sleeping it off on the bank and made a detour to go round him: it's always wise to defer to hippos.

It was all, well, a bit ordinary. And that was the marvellous thing about it: it was ordinary for the bush; it was ordinary for the Luangwa Valley. It was an ordinary day in a place where lions feed and quarrel and sleep, in a place where elephants cross the river, where wild dogs set out on their remorseless hunts, and where leopards lurk in trees getting ready for night-time action.

And there are you, treading the same paths with your own feet and breathing the same air with your own lungs ... and all the time you're filled with an incredulous joy: and in 33 years of walking here, I have never for an instant lost that sense of awed privilege.

This is the Luangwa Valley: and I'm walking where the lions walk.

Sacred Combe Safari

This small group trip visits Zambia's sensational South Luangwa and North Luangwa National Parks to enjoy walking safaris, and is jointly led by author Simon Barnes and Wildlife Worldwide Founder Chris Breen. Their shared passion for the area and its abundant wildlife guarantees an illuminating and fun experience!

13 Sep 2023

13 days, from £10,795 Group size: max. 10

Madagascar Mammals of the Eighth Continent

Team member Ian Loyd is passionate about the world's magical wildlife and shares the highlights of our Madagascar's Rare Mammals small group tour. Marvel at the island's oddities and the patchwork of habitats they call home.

Nothing quite prepares you for the magic of Madagascar. As you explore its unique but threatened forests, each walk reveals a new cast of surprising, fascinating, and truly bizarre flora and fauna. At times it can feel like you have entered another world.

Being the fourth largest island on Earth with many climatic zones, Madagascar's diversity of habitats and wildlife is truly spectacular, but it's the island's long isolation from the rest of the world that has led to its distinctiveness.

On our new Madagascar's Rare Mammals small group tour we go in search of some of the island's most iconic, sought-after, and peculiar mammalian species, whilst also taking in the many endemic reptiles, frogs, birds and invertebrates also found in each habitat.

The dry deciduous forest found on the island's arid western side may not have the staggering diversity of its eastern rainforests, but it will surprise you with its wildlife. Being based at a simple lodge just outside the Kirindy Forest Reserve, surrounded by huge baobab trees, we explore the network of trails here in search of key mammals.

This is the best location in Madagascar for an encounter with the charismatic fosa, the largest member of the island's unique family of carnivores. These long-tailed, weasellike predators are regularly seen here with several individuals partially habituated and even sometimes seen mating or drinking close to the lodge. In addition to the enigmatic fosa, we can enjoy getting up close and personal with our first lemurs, including the aerobatic Verreaux's sifaka and inquisitive red-fronted brown lemur.

At night we'll seek out nocturnal residents of the forest including giant jumping rats and tenrecs as well as fork-marked, dwarf and sportive lemurs. We'll also make a special effort to track down the elusive Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which holds the title as the world's smallest primate.

From here we travel to Andasibe to discover the lush eastern rainforests. Waking at dawn, as the chorus of chirping frogs comes to an end, the songs of the colourful endemic birds are soon overtaken by a much louder and unforgettable mournful wail that echoes through the forest up to two kilometres. This is the song of the indri.

In the quiet and primeval-looking forest reserves of Maromizaha and Andasibe, family groups of indris make seemingly daredevil leaps from tree to tree sometimes even passing overhead.

In addition to the magnificent indri, we can also spend time with the beautiful diademed sifaka, the charming eastern bamboo lemur, common brown lemur and trackhabituated red-bellied and black-andwhite ruffed lemurs to name a few. We'll also return to Maromizaha after nightfall to seek nocturnal lemurs hopefully including the incomparable aye-aye that often visit fruiting trees in this reserve.

Our final destination, the Palmarium Reserve provides a memorable finale to our time in Madagascar. From just a few metres away we can watch as habituated semi-wild aye-ayes feed on a small, forested island. Although a slightly more contrived setting, this location provides our best views of this most bizarre of all lemurs.

NEW Madagascar's Rare Mammals

On our new itinerary we focus on some of the country's most elusive mammals in two distinct habitats. In Kirindy Reserve, we seek out the charismatic fosa, and the smallest of all the primates, the Madame Berthe's mouse lemur. From our bases in Andasibe and Palmarium we discover rainforest lemurs and peculiar tenrecs as well as the indri and mysterious aye-aye.

14 Oct 2023 & 28 Sep 2024

14 days, from £5,395 - Group size: max. 8

Madagascar is a destination of spectacular wildlife experiences, and this new itinerary enables us to immerse ourselves in two contrasting ecosystems where some of its rarest mammals can be found. 30 years’ experience of designing the finest wildlife holidays

Image by Nick Garbutt

Madagascar

The Weird & the Wonderful

Three years ago, Bloomsbury broached the idea of me writing a new edition of my book on Madagascar's mammals. At the time, my diary was overflowing for the subsequent three years. A couple of months later the world changed and we all went into lockdown. What better time to write a book than during a global pandemic? After over two and a half years of work, I'm delighted to say the fruits of my labours will be revealed in January 2023.

To mark the publication of the 'Handbook of Mammals of Madagascar', we're launching a new itinerary to Madagascar that will feature several less frequently visited and more remote protected areas, in addition to well-known locations that will offer the chance to focus on and see a selection of the island's most weird and wonderful mammals.

The itinerary will encompass the three major habitat types on the island - eastern rainforest, western deciduous forest and southern spiny forest - all of which are home to their own array of bizarre endemic species. Of course, lemurs, the island's 'flagship' mammals, will feature strongly at all times, but we also hope to see some of

Madagascar's enigmatic carnivores, unusual rodents and peculiar tenrecs.

Perhaps more than any other habitat, the spiny forests encapsulate the 'other worldly' feel of Madagascar. Here, the extreme aridity has helped fashion trees with tentacle-like branches sporting vicious spines and others with grotesquely swollen and convoluted trunks. Here live extremely familiar species like the ring-tailed lemur, but also rare oddities like Grandidier's vontsira (a small carnivore).

The deciduous forests on the west side of the island are different again and support a more varied but equally unusual cast of characters. These forests are the best place to look for the fosa, Madagascar's largest carnivore that combines feline elements with those of civets and mongooses. More dainty is the boky-boky or narrow-striped vontsira, another endearing and rare small carnivore. There is also the giant jumping rat, in appearance less a rodent and more like a rabbit crossed with a miniature kangaroo. In some areas, the forests grow around outcrops of limestone that have been sculpted over the millennia into fortresses of

razor-sharp pinnacles. Here sifakas move effortlessly over the rocks traversing between forest patches.

Wherever they occur, tropical rainforests are the most profuse expressions of life. This is certainly true in Madagascar, where the rainforests of the east are home to a vast array of endemic species. Here lives the stunningly beautiful diademed sifaka and the charismatic teddy-bear-like indri, famous for its haunting song. After dark, there is a different night shift, when woolly lemurs, mouse lemurs and dwarf lemurs become active. On narrow branches, it's sometimes possible to find nimble tufted-tailed rats, while in the leaf-litter hedgehog-like tenrecs may be found bumbling around looking for worms and other invertebrates.

And there is so much else to see besides. In all locations, there is always an array of endemic birds to look out for like vangas, ground rollers and couas, as well as numerous different brightly coloured and superbly camouflaged chameleons, which always delight.

With the emphasis very much on weird and endearing mammals, I hope you can join me on this very special tour.

Award-winning photographer Nick Garbutt is a leading authority on Madagascar's unique wildlife and is delighted to be leading a new trip photographing the island's unique and rare wildlife.

NEW Madagascar's Weird & Wonderful Mammals

Travelling in the company of wildlife photographer and Madagascar expert Nick Garbutt, this off the beaten track itinerary goes in search of some of Madagascar's more unusual mammals. Visiting the three major habitat types on the island, alongside an array of lemur species we hope to encounter fosa, Grandidier's vontsira, boky-boky, giant jumping rat and a variety of tenrec species.

15 Oct 2024

20 days, from £14,130 - Group size: max. 6

Image by Nick Garbutt

Republic of the Congo Africa's Eden

Product Manager Ian Loyd introduces the 'off the beaten track' destination of the Republic of the Congo where a tantalising variety of species await our arrival.

When we think of Africa, it's usually the sweeping plains, vast herds of herbivores and big cats that first come to mind. We perhaps all too quickly overlook its rainforest riches in favour of its grasslands and prolific game, but its forested interior offers equally thrilling wildlife experiences.

Home to the largest expanse of primary rainforest in Africa and the second largest tropical rainforest in the world, the Congo provides an extraordinary array of biodiversity.

If you want to discover a new side to Africa, one where you can walk alongside lowland gorillas, track putty-nosed monkeys through the trees, admire immense flocks of African grey parrots and sit back on a lodge verandah as forest elephants excavate the grounds before you in search of tubers, then join us to discover the best of Africa's rainforest.

As a destination, the Republic of Congo is certainly off the beaten track, and it might not be for everyone with more modest infrastructure, less habituated wildlife, and wilder trails. In the wildlife refuge of OdzalaKokoua National Park, there is now a good network of camps where we're pleased to offer our new small group tour which takes in the very best wildlife.

Perhaps the most iconic of all the species found in the park is the western lowland gorilla. We start our tour in the park's Naga Camp, the base for ongoing gorilla research and situated in the heart of gorilla territory. There are thought to be 24 groups of gorillas in this area, including two fully habituated groups, plus one control group close to camp.

For many, an encounter with a gorilla in its natural habitat is the ultimate wildlife

experience. A humbling moment of pure joy, excitement, curiosity, and admiration all at once. Travelling more slowly and methodically through the forest than chimpanzees, gorillas move with great purpose and our time with the habituated groups and the researchers studying them will provide treasured memories.

As we continue our exploration of the 13,500 square kilometre national park, we move to our next base at Lango Camp, perched on the edge of one of the park's many forest clearings known as baies. From both the lodge's raised platform and on our forest walks, drives and boat trips we'll uncover the kaleidoscope of species that thrive here. From the greycheeked mangabeys leaping in the trees to the blue-throated rollers surveying the pockets of savannah and the African dwarf crocodiles sat motionless at the edges of streams.

With soils rich in minerals as well as water, the bai is almost constantly active with wildlife, with forest buffalo, the shy sitatunga, and great congregations of the magnificent forest elephant, a species unique to Africa's forested interior, coming and going over the course of the day.

For our finale, we stay at Mboko Camp, the largest of the accommodations in the park and located next to another wildlife-rich bai and the Lekoli River. From our base here we can enjoy an all-round wildlife fiesta discovering rainforest frogs, bats and bush babies (galagos) by night and numerous monkeys and seven species of hornbill by day.

Odzala is an uplifting place of endless forest, peaceful rivers and untouched baies, full of spectacular wildlife being safeguarded by passionate people, that will show you there is so much more to Africa still to discover.

We Create Outstanding Wildlife Holidays

NEW Africa's Rainforest Wildlife

Our new tour to Odzala National Park in the Republic of Congo offers the perfect insight into this little-visited and remote region. Rich in a variety of primates, we track the park's magnificent western lowland gorillas, marvel at its forest elephants and buffalos in the bais and explore the surprising variety of habitats and other wildlife gems here from three lodges set amongst untouched rainforest.

1 Sep 2024 10 days, from £14,995 - Group size: max. 12

United Kingdom

Wildlife Highlights of 2022 with Mike Dilger

2022 was certainly a wildlife-packed year as both I and all the guests who've joined me on numerous trips right across the UK have had one thing on our mind - making up for lost time! Here are some of the many highlights we were lucky enough to enjoy.

The year kicked off in style with three trips to the Somerset Levels in January. This collection of reserves, with RSPB Ham Wall as the jewel in the crown, has rapidly become one of the best wetland sites in the UK. Playing host to thousands of wildfowl and waders in winter, the Levels are surely the only place in the UK where you're guaranteed to bag three species of egret. Raptors were, as ever, exceptional with hen and marsh harrier both making an appearance, and you can always expect a rarity or two - Baikal teal anyone? It's not often the tour leader gets a lifer!

March is a prime month to be up in the Scottish Highlands as the high Arctic winter visitors temporarily rub wings with the early summer. Golden eagle was once again a highlight for many in the group with at least four different birds seen during the week. This coincidentally was the number of different diver species also seen, as white-billed, joined the more regular great northern, redthroated and black-throated divers out on the Moray Coast. Black grouse were lekking beautifully at this key time of year, while mammals didn't disappoint with red, roe and sika deer, red squirrels and bottlenose dolphins all delighting the group.

Three separate visits to Mull over the summer all delivered the island's famous trio - that of both species of eagle and otter. Knock House was the most marvellous base as we admired Mull's dramatic landscapes and its wild inhabitants, with the highlight

for many being the two-and-a-half boat days. The Treshnish Isles never disappoint, with the closest puffins you will ever see, while one day's sea-watching out in the Minch produced so many minke whales we lost count. For the photographers in the groups, the close encounter with white-tailed eagles just offshore was something they'll never forget. Fancy a white tail from 20 metres away? Then Mull is for you!

Aigas in the Highlands was the perfect place to celebrate the Festival of British Wildlife as pine martens, red squirrels, eagles, otters, beaver and dolphins all competed for the guests' attention over a memorable week, which for me, was closely followed by a trip up to Shetland. Gathering just after 'simmer din' - or the longest day, the guests saw an amazing array of breeding birds nigh on impossible to see anywhere else in the UK. Top billing went to the fabulous, red-necked phalaropes, with honourable mentions to whimbrel, bonxies, storm petrels and red-throated divers.

Of course, Shetland has some of the most impressive seabird cliffs in all of Britain, and the sheer cliffs were stacked with puffins, auks and awe-inspiring gannetries. The islands are also famed for their otters, and everyone's favourite amphibious mammal didn't disappoint on this occasion either.

As I write this, I'm back up in Speyside for a couple of back-toback autumnal trips. Calling cresties, pine marten and rutting red deer anyone?!

Autumn in the Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands are at their most dramatic in the autumn months with mist lingering in the glens and red deer stags roaring in the hills. Migrating waders and geese are heading south from their Arctic breeding grounds, while golden eagles soar over mountain tops and red grouse call on extensive moors.

22 & 29 Oct 2023; 9 & 16 Nov 2024 8 days, from £1,845 Group size: max. 7

“Mike was a fantastic host with great knowledge and he changed our perspective on life when we go walking now. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves for the whole week.”

R, Autumn in the Scottish Highlands, Oct 2022

Early Spring in the Scottish Highlands

From a wonderful base in Grantownon-Spey, this small group tour devotes a week to exploring the Scottish Highlands during the magical months of spring. In the company of expert naturalist Mike Dilger, we hope to encounter iconic species such as crested tit, Scottish crossbill, red squirrel and red deer.

11 & 18 Mar 2023

8 days, from £1,745 Group size: max. 7

Isle of Mull Wildlife Extravaganza

The Isle of Mull offers some of the finest wildlife watching in the UK and in the company of our expert leaders we hope to enjoy a wealth of bird and mammal life. From the comfort of Knock House on the 12,900 hectare Benmore Estate we'll explore by foot, vehicle and boat at the peak time for wildlife activity.

11 Jun 2023 & 9 Jun 2024

8 days, from £2,995 Group size: max. 12

Somerset Levels in Winter

The Somerset Levels are one of Britain's best wetlands and abound with wildlife. Thousands of waterfowl and waders winter here, preyed on by marsh harriers and peregrines, while local populations of great egrets and reintroduced cranes grow each year. Starling murmurations here are unrivalled in the UK.

15 Jan 2023; 11 & 14 Jan 2024

4 days, from £675 Group size: max. 7

Alan

United Kingdom

Perfect your Puffin Photography

Team member and photographer Bret Charman focuses on the UK's mesmerising colonies of Atlantic puffin, arguably our most charismatic species of bird and gives you an insight into our selection of tours which are perfect for photographing them.

Atlantic puffins are, without a doubt, one of the most beloved seabirds anywhere on Earth. It's easy to understand why, with their colourful beaks, entertaining personalities and charming vocals, and so it's little wonder that coming face-to-face with a puffin is a must. The 'Clowns of the Sea', as they are affectionately known, can be found around the UK in some of the country's most spectacular landscapes.

We began offering dedicated photography tours to Skomer Island in 2016, and we have returned each year since (bar the pandemic!). This wonderful island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, is the perfect place to indulge in puffin photography. It's possible to build an impressive portfolio within a few days, and by staying on the island, you have the chance to photograph in the best light without the crowds of day-trippers. Nothing is more rewarding than sitting on a clifftop, surrounded by thousands of seabirds, with a camera in hand as the sun sets over the Irish Sea. It's simply sublime.

Skomer is also home to an astonishing array of other wildlife. Colonies of kittiwakes, fulmars, guillemots and razorbills nest precariously on the towering cliffs, while three species of gull breed across the island (greater and lesser black-backed as well as herring gull). Both short-eared owl and little owl can be seen as they make the most of this rich coastal habitat.

After dark, the action doesn't stop, as thousands of Manx shearwater return to the island in the soft moonlight. The island is home to 50% of the world's breeding population, so any stay on Skomer isn't complete without witnessing this unique spectacle.

We work with several wildlife photographers who lead our trips to Skomer, including Sean Weekly, Ben Sutcliffe and puffin specialist

Kevin Morgans, author of Puffins: Life on the Atlantic Edge. Our photographic leaders are always on hand to help you perfect your puffin photography and offer expert advice and guidance.

With so much demand, we have worked hard over the past couple of years to expand our puffin offerings. We're delighted to now be running a new dedicated seabird photography trip to the Shiant Isles off the Outer Hebrides with Kevin Morgans at the helm (figuratively speaking at least!). Operating as a short cruise on a private charter with daily landings, we enjoy two full days photographing the Shiant's seabirds. There will also be the chance to photograph the UK's largest breeding colony of razorbills. A full day is spent whale and dolphin watching in the Minch with minke, humpback and fin whales all possible, whilst bottlenose, white-beaked, common and Risso's dolphin complete our quarry. During this exclusive departure, Kevin will be on hand to provide bespoke photography tuition.

Having operated our Isle of Mull trips for a couple of years, we're thrilled to be running departures with Nick Garbutt and Alex Hyde in 2023. Photographing puffins alongside a wealth of other wildlife, including guillemot, razorbill, white-tailed eagle and cetaceans, including minke whale and common dolphins, amongst the stunning backdrop of one of Scotland's most picturesque isles is a fantastic way to spend a week. Throughout the tour, we'll explore this stunning island on foot, by vehicle and by boat. We'll indulge in macro photography and try out a variety of techniques with the expert help of Nick and Alex.

With limited availability, particularly with Skomer, our puffin trips typically sell out very quickly, so my final advice is to book early!

Skomer's Perfect Puffins

The Welsh Island of Skomer, off the Pembrokeshire coast is home to one of the UK's largest breeding colonies of Atlantic puffins and Manx shearwaters. Join us on this three-day trip where there will be countless opportunities to photograph these seabirds at the height of the breeding season.

30 May 2023

3 days, from £795 Group size: max. 6

|sle of Mull Wildlife Photography

Join expert photographers Nick Garbutt and Alex Hyde on the Isle of Mull where you will spend time photographing the islands' wildlife including its enigmatic puffins and spectacular white-tailed sea eagles. There is also the chance to see seals and cetaceans and indulge in some macro photography.

4 Jun 2023

8 days, from £3,095 Group size: max. 12

NEW Shiant's Spectacular Puffins

Join photographer Kevin Morgans in the Shiant Isles, where puffins and seabirds breed in their thousands and the surrounding waters are home to a variety of whale and dolphin species. Develop your skills and add to your personal portfolio whilst enjoying this remote and rugged archipelago.

19 Jun 2023

5 days, from £1,895 Group size: max. 7

Image by Kevin Morgans

Festival of British Wildlife 2024

The Scottish Highlands were the setting of our inaugural Festival of British Wildlife, which operated in late May 2022. Based on the fabulous Aigas Estate, guests were treated to a week of fantastic British wildlife in the company of the onsite rangers and our expert Festival team of naturalists and photographers.

Run by the Lister-Kaye family, the 220-hectare estate provides opportunities to see a wealth of bird and mammal species through a network of walking trails and viewing hides but is also ideally located for exploring the surrounding Glens and for full-day excursions to the Black Isle and West Coast of Scotland.

Red squirrels were a common sight throughout the estate grounds, and with the aid of floodlit hides, we were able to enjoy superb views of both badgers and pine martens at close quarters. A family of beavers were seen daily in the half-light of dawn and dusk on the Aigas Loch, emerging from their lodge to feed on the marginal sedges. A surprise visit to the loch from a female white-tailed eagle caused much excitement, even attracting the attention of an osprey, that though dwarfed in size, proceeded to mob the enormous bird – the two birds locking talons in an aerial dog fight.

In late May, summer migrants were arriving almost daily, and the woods were filled with the sound of willow warbler and cuckoo, while several spotted flycatchers took up residence around the Baronial Hall.

On excursions to the nearby Glens of Strathconon and Strathfarrar, we were treated to sightings of golden eagle, wood warbler, whinchat and breeding whooper swans, alongside hundreds of red deer. Stands of bog, rich in sphagnum moss and carnivorous sundews held populations of enormous Dolomedes raft spiders, the perfect subjects for the macro photographers in the party.

In Glen Affric, we were able to immerse ourselves in some of the finest remaining stands of Caledonian forest in Scotland, home to crested tits, Scottish crossbills and on the river below, families of dipper with newly fledged chicks. Early morning trips to the Moray Firth rewarded those willing to leave the warmth and comfort of their beds with sightings of otter and osprey, while full-day excursions to the Black Isle offered yet more variety in the form of bottlenose dolphin, auks and waders.

Travelling out to the west coast, to the small town of Gairloch and the beautiful stretch of coastline north of here, the group enjoyed yet further sightings of whitetailed and golden eagle, as well as great northern, redthroated, and black-throated divers. On the wind-swept sandy beach of Mellon Udrigle, sanderling and dunlin scurried in the surf and Arctic and common terns patrolled the waters offshore, with several splendid looking male wheatear on the dunes behind. Both grey and harbour seals were seen frequently, in addition to small pods of harbour porpoise and a very confiding pair of otters.

Returning to the estate for drinks by the fire and a sumptuous meal in the Baronial Hall, leaders and guests alike reflected on the day's sightings before retiring to the drawing room for a nightcap or even heading back out to one of the nocturnal hides.

The week was universally considered a great success and we very much look forward to returning in late May 2024 to the Aigas Estate.

Festival of British Wildlife

The spectacular Scottish Highlands provides the ultimate setting for our Festival of British Wildlife. Join some of the world's leading naturalists and wildlife photographers for exclusive use of Aigas Estate on this trip for both photographers and naturalists alike, as we enjoy some of Britain's most iconic species.

18 May 2024 8 days, from £3,295 Group size: max. 30

Festival Team: Neil Aldridge, Nick Baker, Mike Dilger, Dan Free & Emma Healey

General Manager Dan Free highlights the wild delights of the Aigas Estate, the base for our Festival of British Wildlife in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.

England

Brilliant Beavers & Beautiful Buntings

Ian Loyd, Product Manager, develops our exciting holidays across the globe, but here introduces us to his home county of Devon where he leads our new trip in search of beavers, buntings and so much more.

By midsummer, the westerly county of Devon is full of life from colourful blooms of wildflowers to migrant birds busily feeding insects to their growing chicks, while on quiet waterways, our most charismatic rodent, the Eurasian beaver will also be at its most active, drifting silently along tranquil rivers.

A sighting of a beaver in its natural habitat can be an electrifying experience and for me, it has to be one of the top wildlife encounters you can now enjoy again in Britain. It's not every day that you get to see a wild mammal in England, and normally nocturnal and elusive species such as beavers are even more special to observe.

For me, there are several reasons that make beavers so enjoyable to watch. Firstly, if you're patient, they will often reward you with demonstrations of a variety of behaviours as they go about their daily business of grooming, feeding, and collecting food or material for their lodges or dams. There is also the possibility that you will be treated to seeing them in both the river as they effortlessly swim up a quiet stretch of water as well as on land, where their impressive size and distinctive features such as their scaly tail can really be appreciated.

Another wonder of beaver watching is the story that comes with this iconic animal. When we think of the term 'keystone species', animals such as elephants, sea otters and wolves often come to mind as examples that have a disproportionately significant impact on their environment and typically hold together a complex ecosystem. When it comes to wetlands, there can be few

other species that have quite such an impact on creating and maintaining wetlands for other species, keeping water within the environment during droughts, reducing extreme flooding and purifying water as beavers. This background makes these wonderful mammals even more intriguing to observe as they discreetly impact on their surroundings right in front of you.

On our new Wild Devon in Summer tour, we spend time looking for beavers on the River Otter, the site of the first official reintroduction of the species back to the wild in England, and now home to over 20 beaver territories. We also go in search of them at the Coombeshead Reserve in West Devon. Here their habitat creation is most evident along with a variety of nationally declining wildlife that's slowly returning to the habitats they are creating.

Perhaps Devon's most eye-catching resident bird species is the cirl bunting, one of the most beautiful of all our songbirds. The story of these stunning yellow, black, and buff buntings is one of hope and a conservation success story, as although their population still remains limited to South Devon, it has bounced back significantly over recent decades thanks to sensitive farming practices. The sight and sound of these delightful birds perched atop a hedge to the backdrop of stunning coastal scenery is one of the highlights of a visit to this idyllic corner of England.

Devon's varied habitats are home to plenty of other wildlife treasures too, from dolphins and seals along the coast to butterflies and birds on Dartmoor, and midsummer is one of the very best times of year to experience it all.

NEW Wild Devon in Summer

Discover the best of Devon's wildlife on this small group tour, where beavers, dolphins and cirl buntings are among the highlights that can be found. Travelling in midsummer, Devon is full of life with migrant birds feeding their chicks, butterflies drifting over Dartmoor hillsides and beavers raising kits.

3 Jul 2023 & 1 Jul 2024 4 days, from £975 Group size: max. 6

Greece Europe's Hidden Gem

Sean

In Northern Greece lies the beautiful Lake Kerkini – a refuge for a tantalising array of bird species including the largest of the world's eight pelican species, the striking Dalmatian pelican. Home to over 130 breeding species and a stopover for many migratory species, Lake Kerkini is a paradise for bird photography.

I have had the pleasure of visiting and guiding trips to Lake Kerkini for the last seven years. It's still, without doubt, one of my favourite locations, and it holds a very special place in my heart. I will never tire of being on a boat at sunrise surrounded by such breath-taking mountain scenery and an abundance of Dalmatian pelicans.

Although the lake is incredible for wildlife all year round, it's in winter that it really seems to come into a world of its own. Whilst it might be cold, and thin layers of ice may form on the lake's surface with the chance of snowfall, it's the perfect time of year to encounter Dalmatian pelicans which look particularly photogenic in the first couple of months of the year. At this time, you can photograph the pelicans on the water from a small boat or even from the shoreline, where jaw-dropping backdrops consistently produce stunning imagery.

It's not only the scenery and the wildlife that makes this place so special to me, but also the hospitality of the staff at the family-run hotel that we stay in. Positioned just 450 metres away from the shoreline of Lake Kerkini in a small village, it's the perfect base from which to explore this wonderful location. The hotel is constructed from local materials and built in the traditional Greek way. The

rooms feature fitted wooden beams, handmade furnishings, en suite bathroom and a fireplace, perfect for the cold winter months! Over the years I have built up a long-lasting relationship with the owners and staff at the hotel and every year I return, it feels like I'm going home and visiting family - the staff and owners bend over backwards to ensure the trip is a success. Then there is the food, which consists of traditional Greek dishes cooked from fresh and seasonal ingredients. One thing is for certain - you will not be going hungry!

The lake, famous for its Dalmatian pelicans in the winter, transforms into a magical haven in the spring for thousands of migratory and resident birds, including squacco heron, night heron, grey heron, spoonbills, great and pygmy cormorants, to name just a few.

Back in May, I visited the area on a recce with the view to putting together a spring tour. At this time our focus switches to the impressive selection of nesting waterbirds on the lake, and the wildlife surrounding the lakeside. Species range from European beeeater to coypu and Balkan green lizard, so quite an assortment for us to photograph. Over the course of our stay, we'll have the opportunity to use a variety of photographic techniques such as macro, portrait imagery, wide angle, bird-in-flight and more. I will be on hand throughout to provide photographic tuition and run masterclasses at the hotel.

Lake Kerkini, with its amazing and valuable biodiversity is the most wonderful and easily accessible area for bird photography in Europe, and I hope you can join me.

Pelicans of Lake Kerkini

Accompanied by wildlife photographer Sean Weekly or Ben Sutcliffe, join us as we explore one of the finest locations in Europe for bird photography, Lake Kerkini. We'll have myriad opportunities to photograph the Dalmatian pelicans as well as other wildlife against a stunning winter backdrop.

10 Feb 2023; 4, 8 & 12 Jan 2024

5 days, from £1,495 Group size: max. 7

NEW Lake Kerkini in Spring

During spring, Lake Kerkini is home to an impressive array of migratory and nesting birds, as well as a variety of intriguing reptiles and amphibians. Dalmatian pelican, black-crowned night heron, great and pygmy cormorant and squacco heron are just a few of the photogenic species we may encounter.

8 & 12 May 2023; 13 & 17 May 2024

5 days, from £1,395 Group size: max. 7

Weekly leads our dedicated photography tours to Greece's Lake Kerkini in both winter and spring. Here, Sean sheds a little more light on what makes this lesser-known part of Europe such a special destination.

Finland & Slovenia

Bearly Believable

Team member Bret Charman shares the magic of watching bears in two of Europe's most rewarding wildlife watching destinations. Using a range of purpose-built hides in both countries, there are incredible opportunities to photograph these magnificent predators in the wild.

The needles of Scots pines shimmer in the gentle breeze. No sound other than the hum of the wind can be heard while I wait. Every one of my senses is on high alert. I'm sitting in a hide within the remote boreal forests of Finland – hoping for a chance to photograph Europe's largest predator. A couple of hours pass, but my adrenaline levels never dip. Out of the corner of my eye, a shape is moving and slowly making its way through the trees – it's a large brown bear.

I have been incredibly lucky over the last ten years to spend a lot of time in the remote corners of Europe, searching for some amazing wildlife, but I will never tire of watching and photographing brown bears in the wild. Their size makes them an awe inspiring species to see up close but they also demonstrate such a range of behaviours that is impossible not be completely spellbound by them.

Finland's huge swathes of forest, often referred to as the taiga, play host to more than 1,500 brown bears. There are numerous sites across the country which have been set aside exclusively for the use of wildlife tourism, where purpose-built hides have been constructed to allow a unique wildlife experience. During the summer months, the bears are busy feeding, trying to fatten up before the long, cold winter. The bears typically appear in front of the hides in the early evening and feed until the light fades as midnight nears. In Finland, the hides

are designed for you to spend the night, with simple toilet facilities and bunks where you can catch up on a little sleep. It's a unique experience and every moment is enthralling - you never know what will show up and when it might be. There may even be the chance to see other predators including wolverine and grey wolf (depending on where you visit).

Slovenia is arguably Europe's best-kept secret and a magnificent country to search for a wealth of wildlife. Here, like in Finland, there is a thriving population of brown bear (around 1,000 individuals). The bears here are noticeably smaller, with shorter winters and warmer summers they don't need to be quite so bulky. The forests in the country's Dinaric Alps are primarily beech, and they dominate this Karst landscape. The natural beauty is truly breath-taking and sitting in a hide for an evening is nothing short of magical. Late spring and early summer are arguably the best time to visit as the forest is filled with the sound of cuckoos, jays and lush green trees that provide a magical backdrop for photographers. There is so much more on offer here, with the option to extend your stay in the Julian Alps and experience more of Slovenia's natural beauty.

Whether you choose to search for brown bear in Finland or Slovenia, you can be sure of an enthralling experience in some of Europe's most magical landscapes. You can either join one of our excellent small group tours or enjoy a tailor-made holiday.

Brown Bear Photography in Spring

Join us in the lesser-known but wonderfully wildlife-rich nation of Slovenia. Our base is in the southern Dinaric Alps region, home to a population of over 400 brown bears which we'll observe from dedicated hides, along with expert tuition from wildlife photographer Bret Charman.

15 May 2023 & 13 May 2024

6 days, from £2,395 Group size: max. 8

Boreal Predators Photography

On this remarkable photography tour we capture images of Finland's finest predators – brown bear, Eurasian wolf and wolverine – in the boreal forest. Accompanied by a photographer and using dedicated hides, this trip makes the most of the extra daylight from the long summer evenings.

9 & 15 Jun 2023; 17 Jun & 15 Jul 2024

6 days, from £2,595 Group size: max. 8

Bears, Wolves & Wolverines Self-drive

Brown bear, wolf and wolverine are among Europe's top predators. All can be seen and photographed from specialist hides in the enigmatic taiga forest of Finland. Moose, reindeer, white-tailed eagle and other inhabitants of the far north can also be seen on this wildlife adventure.

Trip idea, Apr – Aug 8 days, from £2,495

We Create Outstanding Wildlife Holidays

Image by Bret Charman

Brazil

A Wildlife Extravaganza

During her first visit to Brazil, Wildlife Travel Consultant Helen Bryon was captivated by the wildlife and has been looking forward to returning ever since. Our new trip led by Helen focuses on three of Brazil's key biomes, showcasing the country's incredible biodiversity.

I'll never forget my first jaguar sighting. The lazy wave, no, let me re-phrase that, the downright nonchalance of the guide's arm as he indicated towards the shoreline. The Cuiaba River was wide, we'd only been on it perhaps six or seven minutes and it was midday … surely he couldn't be referring to a big cat?

Bursting with anticipation, we scanned the bank with fierce determination. It paid off. A face. A large, beautiful, whiskered face appeared in a gap in the vegetation above us. She stopped briefly, scanning the area for potential prey, before heading back into the undergrowth. Come back, I silently pleaded. Please, please. It worked. She appeared again, standing tall and statuesque, before moving down the sand bar towards us with that wonderful feline grace and elegance. Unobstructed, she proceeded to stretch, sit down, lay down and preen as if she didn't have a care in the world. We had the sighting to ourselves and five days later, she proved to be the first of 16 individuals seen, spread over 24 sightings. It was September 2018 and when you consider the giant river otter, tapir, capybara, primates, brocket and marsh deer, Yacare caiman and plethora of birdlife also on offer, you can understand why I vowed to come back one day. Well, that day has been set, and I will have the pleasure of leading our inaugural Best of Brazil small group tour.

Although jaguar may be found at all three of our destinations to be visited, our target species at the first, Trijuncao Reserve in the Cerrado, will be the highly sought after, maned wolf. Its distinctive long legs enable it to navigate the long grasses of this tropical savannah and woodland habitat, on a constant quest for its rodent prey. Although rarely seen, other predators found here include ocelot, puma and jaguarundi, alongside giant anteater and tamandua to name but a few, so our time will be spent in the field searching on foot and by vehicle.

Shifting focus entirely, our next stop will be the incredible Cristalino Lodge in the southern

Amazon basin. Verdant primary rainforest, this hugely rich area is teeming with birdlife, primates, reptiles and amphibians, as well as a wealth of invertebrates, and we'll happily let these smaller creatures take centre stage. Some giants will of course be on our agenda, from harpy eagle to giant river otter, as we climb observation towers and traverse the waterways and walking trails.

Finally, we head back to where it all began, jaguar country. Travelling to the southern Pantanal, we visit the incredible Buraco das Araras, a sinkhole and nesting site for red and green macaws before finishing our journey at Caiman Lodge, an eco-lodge renowned for its jaguar research and conservation initiatives. Searching for big cats and giant anteaters on day and night drives, alongside their wide supporting cast, this wildlife extravaganza promises to be a trip to remember. Brazil's biodiversity is legendary, so let's go and experience it together!

NEW Best of Brazil

Visit Brazil's contrasting habitats as we explore its tropical savannahs and woodlands, the Amazon rainforest and the southern Pantanal. We go in search of the iconic wildlife of Brazil including maned wolf, jaguar, giant river otter, giant anteater and Brazilian tapir, plus a variety of birds, amphibians and reptiles.

3 Jul 2023 & 24 Jun 2024

19 days, from £10,295 Group size: max. 8

Argentina & Chile

Searching for Patagonia's Apex Predators

Tour Leader and Wildlife Travel Consultant Helen Bryon shares a taste of what to expect on our new trip, which combines the dramatic spectacle of orcas in the Valdes Peninsula and the thrill of searching for puma in the stunning Torres del Paine.

It is a risky business, putting your life on the line for a meal, but that is exactly what a specialist group of orcas in a far-flung corner of the Patagonian wilderness have learnt to do. In addition to hunting cooperatively, chasing their prey to exhaustion, stunning herded fish with their tails and causing waves to destabilise prey on ice, these incredible and highly intelligent predators are also using wave power to their advantage. Lurking just offshore at Punta Norte on Argentina’s remote Peninsula Valdez (an area more commonly associated with breeding southern right whales from June to October), they use their speed and agility to launch themselves towards unsuspecting sealion pups playing in the shallows.

Choosing their moments immediately before and after high tide, timing is absolutely critical. Get it wrong and they will perish, beached, but get it right, and they will live another day. Intentional stranding, as this unique phenomenon is known, occurs only here, and for just a few months every year. In March 2024, we intend to be there. Travelling as part of a new small group departure, we'll need patience and luck to witness the moment for ourselves, but I for one, cannot wait to give it a go.

Oh, and did I mention penguins? Whilst in the area, we'll be visiting one of the largest colonies of Magellanic penguins on Earth. Why not?! But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Our journey will actually

start with 24 hours in the buzzing city of Buenos Aires before we fly south to El Calafate, gateway to the stunning vistas for which Patagonia is known. The turquoise waters of Lago Argentina, the ice-blue glare of Los Glaciares National Park, the jagged granitic ridges and ice-capped mountains beyond. We'll discover that plenty of birds flourish here, from torrent ducks to rheas and owls to woodpeckers. We shall feast our eyes on the astounding beauty of one of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet before crossing the great Patagonian ice field into Chile. Here, we get back to our roots, searching for pumas and other wildlife, in the magnificent Torres del Paine National Park.

This is a land of superlatives, where condors soar overhead whilst hognosed skunk and hairy armadillo delight on the ground. We'll carefully watch guanaco as they, in turn, watch, ever wary, for the presence of puma. These remarkable big cats will be our focus, and we hope to see for ourselves and begin to understand the challenges of being a solitary predator in this inhospitable yet jaw-droppingly beautiful environment. We'll follow by vehicle and, when necessary, on foot and the anticipation and thrill of having the world’s fourth largest cat in close proximity cannot be denied. I'm grinning thinking about it, and I'm beyond excited just thinking about it. I simply can't wait to get out there.

If I have a bucket list trip, this surely has to be it! I do hope you can join me and witness this wildlife spectacle.

NEW Patagonia's Pumas & Orca

Travelling in search of Patagonia's apex predators of land and sea, we visit the spectacular Torres del Paine National Park for puma, before continuing to Argentina's Valdes Peninsula where we hope to witness the spectacle of beaching orcas hunting young sea lions.

22 Mar 2024

15 days, from £10,595 Group size: max. 8

Chile Walking with Pumas

Everyone loves the pleasing biscuit-crumb crunch of fresh snow underfoot. But this was different. I wasn't paying attention to the sound of my own feet. Instead, every time I stopped walking, and all around fell quiet (other than the rhythmical thump of my heart), all I could hear was the muffled crunch of feline footfall as a puma walked by. It might seem too far-fetched to be believable – a wild puma walking so close that you could hear its paws making contact with the ground – and had I not experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe it either.

The puma in question was Blinka, a beautiful reddish-chestnut adult female, who along with her two 9-month-old cubs was walking down a snow-covered hillside near Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia.

Earlier, from around first light, we had spent several hours watching the family, feeding on a guanaco kill. This had been magical: the cats

were completely at ease as we stood 30 metres away to observe and take photos. At times they stopped feeding and rested. Then the cubs indulged in brief bouts of play, which included chasing birds that had the temerity to attempt to scavenge away from the carcass.

By mid-morning, they were full-bellied and satiated and left the remains of the carcass to the caracaras. With Blinka at the front, the family set off, and we followed. Initially, it was tough to keep up – the pumas seemed to glide with ease over the white landscape, whereas every step of mine plunged deep into the snow. It was easier once they started heading down the slope towards the lake shore, and soon we were all walking at the same pace – a group of four humans and no more than 10 metres to our right, a family of three pumas – side by side, at times almost in unison.

Every so often the pumas would stop. Blinka then surveyed the terrain ahead, perhaps plotting the route she intended to take, while

the cubs would either play and tumble or just sit quietly next to their mum taking in their surroundings. Then, just as my heart rate had returned to something approaching normal, they'd be off again. I couldn't say how long this lasted, it was so immersive and all-consuming, but by the time we reached the lake, we'd probably covered over three kilometres. Lung bursting and exhilarating in equal measure - 'walking with pumas' was without question, one of the most thrilling wildlife encounters I'd ever experienced.

Puma viewing is now possible at any time of year around Torres del Paine, but winter is my preferred time. Yes, it can be very cold, but the weather is often more settled, and the sun stays low throughout the day, so the light quality remains excellent.

Snow is far from certain, and when it does fall, it rarely remains on the ground for long, so getting pumas in the snow requires a good slice of luck. Nonetheless, even without snow, the winter photographic opportunities are often sublime.

Pumas, Condors & Landscapes in Winter

Join photographer Nick Garbutt in Torres del Paine, Patagonia's premier wildlife destination and in combination with stunning scenery, makes a perfect photography destination. The area is a haven to a wealth of Andean wildlife and is a stronghold for the region's top predator, the puma.

3 Aug 2024 15 days, from £12,995 - Group size: max. 6

Award-winning wildlife photographer Nick Garbutt led our first dedicated photography tours in search of puma in the depths of winter. Here he describes the magical experience of photographing these enigmatic cats in a winter landscape.

“The photographic opportunities were excellent coupled with fantastic puma sightings and weather. The guides were great, and having a tracker working with Nick worked really well. We enjoyed the proximity and high number of puma sightings including some very close encounters.”

Image by Nick Garbutt

Brian H, Pumas, Condors & Landscapes in Winter, Jul 2022

Galapagos Islands

A Perfect Day

At about 06:00, our captain moved Beluga across the rich waters of the Bolivar Channel and came close to Fernandina. We had wonderful views of the huge domed cone of the volcano, two sets of wispy cloud that appeared to be halfway up it, and a mackerel sky above … the sun was beginning to break through the clouds. We had breakfast, boarded the Zodiacs, and headed to our landing site at Punta Espinoza.

We arrived at low tide and our sea lion welcoming party launched into the water and playfully danced in the shallows. It was not long before we realised that this was going to be probably the best landing of the trip so far as we were quite literally tripping over the marine iguanas that were covering the rocks. Avoiding the expansive areas of marine iguana nests, we watched as a Galapagos hawk landed in a low bush, and another landed in a tree just beyond it.

We walked slowly along the path to the rocks beyond and almost immediately saw a metre-long Darwin's racer snake. It was moving, hunting, not keen to stop for anything in its path. There were great piles of marine iguanas everywhere, in numbers we have not seen before, some of them marching towards the ocean to feed, some of them marching back out, but most of them just lying flat, recharging their batteries, and getting warm in the sun. There were hundreds of Sally lightfoot crabs and countless sea lions. On a small sandy beach at the end of the peninsular, a sea lion had just given birth, and we watched as it took its first feed from its mother.

A quick change into wetsuits onboard Beluga and we were back in the Zodiacs and heading for a snorkel. Our first sighting, as some of us jumped in, was a sea lion that was fascinated by us. It hooked up with a friend and between the two of them, they followed us down the coast for 15 or 20 minutes, darting backwards and forwards, staring into our masks and then heading off at high speed in magical twists and turns. The rocks were shallow and covered in green algae, and as we snorkelled along the coast, we saw marine iguanas feeding, and swimming through the surf. There were penguins, flightless cormorants 'flying' past, and green turtles everywhere. It was a marine paradise.

In the afternoon, we moored at Punta Vicente Roca on the northern tip of Isabela. Snorkelling within the walls of a caldera and surrounded by highsided cliffs, there were brown noddies and blue-footed boobies on the cliff ledges, and the occasional great frigatebird. As we went along the cliff wall, there were sealions on a ledge, large collections of marine iguanas basking on the rocks and below the surface, green turtles and a young Galapagos fur seal.

At 17:30 on the sundeck with drinks in hand, we anticipated sailing over the equator. The engine slowed, the boat's horn sounded, and we raised a toast as we kissed the equator, and as we did we were surrounded by a pod of 500 common dolphins. What a memorable way to mark this moment.

An incredible morning, an incredible afternoon, an incredible day. The Galapagos Islands are like nowhere else on Earth!

years’ experience of designing the finest wildlife holidays

Wildlife Worldwide Founder Chris Breen reminisces about this year's exclusive voyages aboard the MV Beluga, searching for the unique and endemic wildlife in the spellbinding surroundings of the Galapagos Islands.

Galapagos Wildlife Cruise

Accompanied by team member Helen Bryon, we cruise around the Galapagos Islands to observe and enjoy the remarkable wildlife of this enchanting and untouched archipelago. During the voyage, we hope to encounter Galapagos sealion, giant tortoise, blue-footed booby and more iconic species.

18 Apr 2024

15 days, from £10,495 Group size: max. 15

Galapagos Exclusive with Mark Carwardine

Travelling aboard the exclusively chartered MV Beluga in the company of conservationist Mark Carwardine and Founder Chris Breen, we have designed a comprehensive itinerary to experience and photograph the famed wildlife of the Galapagos gaining a fascinating insight into the ecology of the archipelago.

16 May 2024

15 days, from £12,595 Group size: max. 14

Canada Festival of Bears

Our popular Festival of Bears is led by Founder Chris Breen. Here Chris gives an insight into the incredible bear watching experiences from our fabulous base, Knight Inlet Lodge, in the Great Bear Rainforest.

British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest on the Pacific Coast is a mysterious wilderness of fjords and estuaries, dotted with islands covered with lush, temperate coastal forest consisting of 90-metre-high Sitka spruce, and 1,000-year-old red cedar. This vast area which covers a staggering 70,000 square kilometres stretches from the Discovery Islands in the south, all the way to the Alaskan border. It's home to ancient cultures, and is alive with coastal wolves, bald eagles, ravens, and salmon – but there are also significant populations of brown (or grizzly) and black bears here too.

Lying some 60 kilometres inland, along the largest fjord, and tucked into Glendale Cove, is the fabulous Knight Inlet Lodge, a warm, friendly lodge with a knowledgeable team of wildlife experts. This is our floating home-from-home for our highly successful Festival of Bears. For 2024 we have once again taken over this wonderful lodge for 5-nights of intensive bear watching at a time when the grizzlies will be patrolling the beaches and fattening themselves up in preparation for their winter hibernation.

We'll venture out every day in search of bears, sometimes travelling by boat to explore the hidden coves of the inlet to view bears at eye level as they congregate at the estuary to feed on salmon returning upriver to spawn. We'll also cross the cove by boat to reach the salmon spawning channels, where we could see up to 15 bears on the river at any one time, from Knight Inlet Lodge's well-positioned raised viewing platforms.

But our wildlife viewing is not just confined to the bears. We will also take to the water and head out of the fjord in

search of humpback whales which are a common sight at this time of the year. In addition to a resident population of orcas, we could see Bigg's, and offshore orcas as well, and possibly a super-pod of acrobatic Pacific white-sided dolphins.

Getting to the lodge is an adventure in itself and involves an overnight stop in Campbell River on the east coast of Vancouver Island. After breakfast, we make our way to Campbell River's floatplane dock for the hour-long (80-kilometre) hop north, across the Johnstone Strait, and over mist-shrouded mountains before landing on the water in Glendale Cove just outside the lodge.

The Festival of Bears promises to be a wildlife-filled, fun-packed trip, and I'm very much looking forward to returning.

Optional extensions are available for whale watching in the Salish Sea or to look for spirit bears in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. These leucistic black bears are only found in limited numbers in the wilderness and will surely be the most rewarding finale to our Festival of Bears.

Festival of Bears

Our Festival of Bears returns to one of our favourite locations for bear watching – Knight Inlet in Glendale Cove. Wildlife Worldwide Founder Chris Breen leads this special trip to the Great Bear Rainforest to see grizzlies at prime time and possibly humpback whales, orca and black bear too.

29 Sep 2024 9 days, from £7,995 - Group size: max. 30

Holidays

by Chris Breen

Borneo

Going Wild in Sabah

Wildlife Product Manager Ian Loyd shares some insights into our small group tour to Borneo, where we focus our efforts on the island's orangutans. Seeing these magnificent primates in the wild is a sight to behold.

When you see an orangutan for the first time, there is an immediate connection. Thoughtful, curious, expressive, inventive, and genetically some of our closest relatives, these gentle apes go by many names, from the 'red ape' to 'old man of the forest', and my favourite, 'thinkers of the jungle'.

Orangutans are highly intelligent and show us fascinating behaviour and culture, but their rainforest habitat is highly threatened, so it's no wonder we feel such a connection to them. On our dedicated Borneo's Orangutans small group tour, we take a journey through Malaysian Borneo's finest wildlife reserves and orangutan hotspots.

Beginning with the renowned Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre we have our first encounters with the apes. Since 1964 hundreds of rescued orangutans have been helped to return to life in the forest through the centre which borders the Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. A visit here not only provides intimate views and photography at the feeding station and walkways, but an inspiring insight into the centre's conservation, education, and rehabilitation work.

From here, we travel to the primate-rich Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, which sits in the upper floodplain of Sabah's longest river. We explore this wildlife haven by boat, and as we traverse the riparian forests, we can be confident of encountering orangutans in a truly wild setting. Here we'll hopefully be treated to the sight of them swinging effortlessly on vines through the canopy or feasting on a fruiting fig tree.

Orangutans are not the only wildlife highlight and in addition to Bornean pygmy elephants and numerous hornbills, there are many other primates including silvered, and maroon langurs, two species of macaque and the incredible proboscis monkey. These large monkeys with their characteristic oversized pendulous noses are captivating to watch as they make bold and impressive leaps between trees and across channels, sometimes landing with a loud crash into the next tree or even the water.

For our final location, we have saved the best forest until last, as we enjoy a 4-night stay at the high comfort Borneo Rainforest Lodge, situated in the heart of what must be Southeast Asia's premier wildlife reserve, the Danum Valley. Covering over 400 square kilometres of virgin lowland rainforest, with immense dipterocarp trees reaching over 70 metres in height, and an extraordinary diversity of plants, insects and birds; just soaking up the sights, sounds and smells of this ancient rainforest is awe-inspiring.

The valley supports one of the highest densities of orangutans in Borneo with around 500 distributed across the reserve. Our encounters with them here can be more distant when at ground level as they are often 30 metres up in the canopy of the colossal trees. But through the network of excellent canopy walkways at our lodge, we can enjoy watching them at eye level in this incredible forest setting. During our time here, we'll no doubt wake to the sound of the heart-rendering songs of gibbons at dawn, discover the nocturnal wildlife of the forest after dark and leave with some of our most memorable orangutan sightings that will last a lifetime.

Borneo's Orangutans

Bornean orangutans are highly endangered, but on this specially designed itinerary, we explore the finest locations in Sabah to observe these wonderful primates in the wild. As an introduction though, we also visit Sepilok, where these remarkable apes are rehabilitated back to a life in the forest.

6 Sep 2023

11 days, from £4,795

Group size: max. 10

My First Polar Bear

The name 'Arctic' originates from the Greek word 'arktos', meaning 'bear' (conversely Antarctic means 'no bear')!

I recently embarked on a voyage to Spitsbergen in search of the region's namesake, the apex predator, the polar bear, for my first ever encounter with this majestic creature.

I awoke in my cabin on board MV Ortelius, hurriedly dressed and made my way out on deck to see where our ship had arrived overnight. I gazed out at an island of beautifully coloured rock, with large boulders tumbled to rest on steep hillsides, a few small patches of ice remaining on flatter areas and fog shrouding the hilltops.

Our first excursion was a Zodiac cruise where we encountered birds such as little auk, kittiwake, black guillemot, eider, Arctic tern and Arctic skua. In addition, we were also treated to a huddle of swimming walruses which popped their heads up to look at us curiously, with bulging red eyes, wet whiskers, and impressive tusks of various lengths.

We headed back to Ortelius for lunch, before it was interrupted with an announcement that a polar bear had just been spotted! We watched the bear from the ship as it walked along the icy patches, sniffing at what may be hiding underneath and excitedly boarded the Zodiacs to take a closer look, keeping quiet to ensure the bear was not disturbed. It was very relaxed, walking easily over the boulder-strewn shoreline and exploring crevices from time to time.

This was a male – huge and healthylooking – with his mayonnaise-coloured

fur, enormous paws and scars on his face and flank that hinted to his age and the battles he had seen. We could only speculate, but the injuries could have been from fights with other males over females, or perhaps a run-in with an angry walrus.

The pack ice had retreated very far north – much higher than normal at this time of year – and this bear had decided to stay on land, or was stranded here on the island, away from its ice-loving prey of ringed, harp and bearded seals. He may have had to run the risk of taking walrus calves to eat instead – a very dangerous quarry when they are protected by such heavily armed mothers who are not afraid of using their tusks in defence.

Indeed, the bear lay in a gully close to the sea, hidden from an approaching family group of swimming walruses. He seemed to be poised to pounce and we wondered if we were about to witness an attack! While we waited silently, holding our breath, the walruses seemed none the wiser and swam right underneath the bear but, by the time they were there, the bear's head had reached his forepaws, and his eyelids were closing to fall into a very contented-looking sleep. We left him there to relax, having spent around two wonderful hours observing a glimpse into the life of this king of the Arctic. What a privilege.

Altogether, I saw nine polar bears on the voyage, including mothers and cubs and more amazing close encounters. A visit to Spitsbergen and the pack ice environment is eyeopening and edifying, and offers the opportunity to view, first-hand, the precious Arctic wildlife, and inspires you to support the habitats of this unique region.

years’ experience of designing the finest wildlife holidays

Wildlife Travel Consultant Helen Cox describes the special moment when she encountered a polar bear for the very first time in the Arctic wilderness of Spitsbergen, after having dreamt of it for so long.

Around Spitsbergen

Sail through a wonderland of mountain and glacial scenery and enjoy spectacular wildlife encounters in this polar bear and birding paradise. Highlights include an exhilarating ride alongside the spectacular 14th of July Glacier, where large numbers of kittiwakes and Brünnich's guillemots nest on the nearby cliffs.

Trip idea, May – Oct 10 days, from £5,525 (voyage only)

Image by Helen Cox

Antarctica

Penguins, Whales & Seabirds Galore

They say that nothing can prepare you for your first sighting of icebergs in Antarctica. For me, it was my second visit, and still I felt the full impact. During my voyage, I immersed myself – both figuratively and literally – into the great white continent of Antarctica and its abundance of wildlife.

Having crossed a relatively calm Drake Passage, I awoke and opened my cabin curtains to such a surreal and otherworldly view. The overcast morning made it an even more dramatic, monotone world of grey sea and sky, and floating shapes of white ice - made more alien with the occasional iceberg made of seemingly glowing electric blue. A truly emotional sight. What a thing to be stood in the warmth and comfort of a luxury ship such as the Greg Mortimer and look out upon this unforgiving wilderness.

The grandeur and vastness of the landscape in Antarctica is truly breath-taking with the ecology of its abundant wildlife so intimately connected to the balance of oceanography, nutrients, phytoplankton and krill. The food chain of Antarctica is very short, with all life here depending ultimately on the reliability of the sea ice and polar front. This includes the adorable and comical penguins, enormous baleen whales and predators such as leopard seals and orca, together with the great diversity of seabirds that use uplift from the wind to glide effortlessly over the waves (albatross spend more energy on the nest or asleep than they do flying!).

There were so many magical moments - floating in a Zodiac or kayaking with sleeping humpback whales, watching their bodies rise and fall with the buoyancy of each breath; hearing the thunderous cracks of great glaciers calving internally or into the sea creating icebergs and

waves; swimming in a soup of penguins and fur seals and admiring their underwater agility whilst snorkelling between icebergs - their sunken portions oddly scalloped; seeing seals and penguins resting on icebergs of all imaginable shapes and textures; heart melting at the sight of impossibly cute fur seal pups as they waddle towards you, curious and brave.

Wildlife drama is in abundance too, with giant petrels running with enormous wings outstretched like bullies into gentoo penguin colonies to steal chicks, bravely fought off by parents while onlookers call in alarm; super-efficient leopard seals, all head and teeth with a menacing grin, hunting and catching penguins with ease; ever-watchful Antarctic skuas, ready to smash eggs with their beaks and eat their contents within moments; whales surfacing through the icy brash while I look on with awe.

There was never a dull moment onboard the ship either – if I wasn't on deck, admiring the view and spotting wildlife, there were lectures from people with vast experience and fascinating lives, and citizen science projects to join, gathering important data. Surveys included seabirds, phytoplankton, microplastics and clouds – all adding valuable information to studies which aim to help our understanding of the natural world, in a place so remote but influential on a global scale whilst adding to participants' knowledge about the fragile Antarctic environment.

The feeling of Antarctica is to be in a place of adventure, remoteness and pure wilderness where humans are not adapted to survive and to admire the unique and incredible wildlife that is so perfectly suited to it. Somewhere to learn the influence of this great white continent.

Wildlife Travel Consultant Helen Cox looks back on her second visit to Antarctica earlier this year. This frozen wonderland never ceases to amaze as Helen shares her experiences and wildlife highlights from the voyage.

Classic Antarctica

This voyage is a perfect introduction to the Antarctic, visiting prime wildlife sites along the Peninsula and in the nearby South Shetland Islands. Encounter huge rookeries of gentoo, chinstrap and Adelie penguins, beaches adorned with fur seals, and whales and dolphins along the way.

Trip idea, Nov – Mar 11 days, from £6,775 (voyage only)

Antarctica

A Bird's-Eye View of the Drake Passage

Wildlife Worldwide Founder, Chris Breen reveals an alternative route to visiting Antarctica, home to some of the world's most unique wildlife and unforgettable polar experiences.

The 'traditional' way of visiting Antarctica, and I'm lucky enough to have done it more than once, is to sail across the Drake Passage. It's one of the least explored places on Earth – it's cold, windy, dry and stunningly beautiful, but getting there across stormy, high seas can be a challenge. The journey across the Drake is incredibly exciting, but it's not for everyone.

Earlier this year I was invited to Antarctica, but this time to fly across the Drake Passage – something I hadn't done before, and I was very excited about doing it. First, I flew into Santiago, and then on to Punta Arenas which snuggles into the Chilean coast on the western side of the Strait of Magellan, almost at the southern tip of the South American continent. An overnight stop gave me the chance to take an oceanside walk and see the fabulous statue of Ernest Shackleton and begin to 'get my eye in' – upland goose, dolphin gulls and Magellanic oystercatchers are all common here.

The flight to Antarctica the following morning aboard a nicely appointed BAE146-200 was amazing, and whilst the adventurers below me would be taking two days to cross the Drake Passage by ship, my flight was incredibly, only two hours. Our landing at Frei Station on King George Island in glorious Antarctic sunshine was smooth, it was freezing cold, and there was a high wind. From the airstrip, we walked approximately 15 minutes to the shoreline where we met the expedition team, were given our lifejackets and boarded the Zodiacs for the short crossing to the magnificent Magellan Explorer. A recently launched, stateof-the-art vessel with panoramic windows that enabled me to watch whales and dolphins whilst I lay on my bed, was to be my home for the next five nights.

After an overnight flight and my night in Punta Arenas, I was in Antarctica less than 72 hours after leaving home, enjoying its stark beauty and extreme remoteness. The following morning, I was up at 7 o'clock and saw two humpback whales before breakfast. One of our excursions that day was to the huge chinstrap penguin colony at Hydrurga Rocks, a small island group in the northern section of the Gerlache Strait. The weather was stunning, and we were blessed with blue-eyed shags, kelp gulls and snowy sheathbills as well.

We also had tremendous views of leopard seals patrolling

on shore, Weddell seals hauled out on the cobbled shoreline and gigantic icebergs in every conceivable shade of blue.

So, whilst sailing across the Drake doesn't work for everyone, nor does flying to Antarctica, but I have to say it really is a most fantastic option. A 'regular' Classic Antarctica voyage is generally a 9-night affair onboard a ship, with two nights sailing across the Drake Passage in each direction and five nights in Antarctica. Flying across the Drake Passage will allow you five nights in Antarctica as well and avoids the additional nights of lumpy seas – and I would highly recommend it.

But you're unlikely to fly all that way for such a short trip and my recommendation is that it combines perfectly with a puma safari in Torres del Paine – the contrast between the two is quite unreal!

Classic Antarctic Fly-Sail

This trip takes the easiest way to Antarctica and flies from Punta Arenas in southern Chile, to save time and enjoy an aerial view of the Drake Passage. This adventure involves daily landings by Zodiacs, and with ever-changing ice and weather conditions, each voyage is unique.

Trip idea, Nov – Mar 7 – 11 days, from £10,245 (Punta Arenas/Punta Arenas)

We Create Outstanding Wildlife Holidays

We offer an extensive range of group tours and tailor-made holidays to Antarctica. To find out more contact our expert team.

Feb 2023

England Hampshire Bird Photography Workshop 8 Feb 2 days £450

Greece Pelicans of Lake Kerkini 10 Feb 5 days £1,495

Mexico, USA Great Whales of Mexico's Pacific Coast 10 Feb 10 days £5,995

Botswana Birding Botswana 11 Feb 11 days £4,995

Uganda Uganda's Unforgettable Wildlife 14 Feb 13 days £6,295 England Hampshire Bird Photography Workshop 15 Feb 2 days £450 India Ultimate Tiger Safari 16 Feb 12 days £3,895 India, Sri Lanka Wildlife of India & Sri Lanka 17 Feb 14 days £4,995

Colombia Wild Colombia's Mammals & Birds 18 Feb 17 days £5,575

Mexico, USA Grey Whales of San Ignacio Lagoon 18 Feb 9 days £4,095 Mexico, USA Grey Whales of San Ignacio Lagoon 24 Feb 9 days £4,095 Poland Poland's Winter Wildlife 24 Feb 7 days £1,775

Mar 2023

Kenya Kenya's Birds & Wildlife 3 Mar 13 days £5,995

France Wallcreepers, Black-winged Kites & Woodpeckers in France 6 Mar 5 days £1,595

England Norfolk in Late Winter 7 Mar 4 days £745

Colombia Wild Colombia's Mammals & Birds 8 Mar 17 days £5,575 India Ultimate Tiger Safari 9 Mar 12 days £3,895 Sri Lanka Blue Whales, Dolphins & Leopards 10 Mar 14 days £3,295

England Norfolk in Late Winter 10 Mar 4 days £745

Scotland Early Spring in the Scottish Highlands 11 Mar 8 days £1,745

Finland, Norway Northern Lights & Lapland Birds 13 Mar 7 days £3,295 Scotland Early Spring in the Scottish Highlands 18 Mar 8 days £1,745

Iceland Arctic Fox Photography 22 Mar 7 days £3,395

China Sichuan's Sensational Mammals & Birds 25 Mar 16 days £4,995 Iceland Arctic Fox Photography 28 Mar 7 days £3,395

Apr 2023

Mexico, USA

Great Whales of Mexico's Pacific Coast

7 Apr 10 days £5,995

Croatia, Montenegro The Unknown Adriatic 8 Apr 9 days £1,995

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals 9 Apr 14 days £4,195

Slovakia Spring Birding in Slovakia 12 Apr 5 days £1,495

Crete Crete's Spring Flowers & Birds 14 Apr 8 days £1,545

Zimbabwe Classic Zimbabwe Safari 17 Apr 11 days £5,195

Botswana Desert to Delta 22 Apr 12 days £6,495

Botswana Botswana's Rare Mammals 22 Apr 12 days £6,495

France Spring Birds, Orchids & Prehistory in Wild Dordogne 23 Apr 8 days £1,945

India Nagarhole's Tigers, Wild Dogs & Leopards 23 Apr 10 days £3,895

Borneo Wild Borneo 26 Apr 16 days £6,735

Poland Primeval Forests & Marshes 28 Apr 8 days £1,975 Hungary Steppe & Forests in Spring 29 Apr 8 days £2,195

May 2023

England Somerset Levels in Spring with Mike Dilger 2 May 4 days £795

England Wildlife of the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley 2 May 4 days £795

Our small group trips are available on a private, tailor-made basis, to find out more contact our expert team.

Destination Tour Name

Romania

May 2023

Focus on the Danube Delta

Ireland NEW Great Saltee Seabird Photography

England Suffolk's Coast & Heaths in Late Spring

Scotland Isle of Mull Wildlife Extravaganza with Nick Baker

Romania Romania's Wildlife Highlights

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals

Jun 2023

Jul 2023

Departure Date Duration Price from

19 May 9 days £4,995

21 May 7 days £2,195

21 May 4 days £795

21 May 8 days £2,995

27 May 8 days £2,495

28 May 14 days £4,195

30 May 3 days £795 Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal

Wales Skomer's Perfect Puffins

South Africa

South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style

31 May 12 days £5,995

2 Jun 10 days £10,595

Finland Finland Videography Workshop 3 Jun 7 days £3,095

France Butterflies, Birds & Wildflowers of the Dordogne 3 Jun 8 days £1,945

South Africa

Zimanga - Wildlife & Night Sky Photography

Zambia Classic South Luangwa Safari

Scotland Isle of Mull Wildlife Photography

Botswana Okavango Delta Safari

3 Jun 10 days £5,995

3 Jun 10 days £4,395

4 Jun 8 days £3,095

5 Jun 12 days £7,995

Canada Wildlife of the Canadian Rockies 5 Jun 14 days £7,495

England Norfolk in Early Summer

5 Jun 5 days £995

Finland Boreal Predators Photography 9 Jun 6 days £2,595

South Africa South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style

9 Jun 10 days £10,595

Scotland The Wild Wonders of Skye 10 Jun 7 days £2,995 Scotland Isle of Mull Wildlife Extravaganza with Mike Dilger 11 Jun 8 days £2,995

Finland Brown Bear Explorer

12 Jun 6 days £1,795 England The Farnes & Northumberland in Early Summer 12 Jun 6 days £1,195

Bulgaria Butterflies & Birds of Bulgaria

15 Jun 9 days £1,475

Finland Boreal Predators Photography 15 Jun 6 days £2,595

Zambia North Luangwa - Off the Beaten Track 15 Jun 11 days £5,995

Botswana Best of Botswana 17 Jun 13 days £6,795 England The Farnes & Northumberland in Early Summer 17 Jun 6 days £1,195

Zambia Classic South Luangwa Safari 17 Jun 10 days £4,395

Scotland Isle of Mull Wildlife Extravaganza with Nick Baker 18 Jun 8 days £2,995

South Africa Zimanga - Wildlife & Night Sky Photography 19 Jun 10 days £5,995

Scotland NEW Shiant's Spectacular Puffins 19 Jun 5 days £1,895

Alaska, USA Seldom Seen Alaska Photography 22 Jun 16 days £9,895

South Africa South Africa's Rare Mammals Photo Safari 30 Jun 10 days £10,995

Brazil

NEW Best of Brazil 3 Jul 19 days £10,295 England NEW Wild Devon in Summer 3 Jul 4 days £975

Botswana

Botswana

NEW Okavango Photography in Style with Neil Aldridge 4 Jul 12 days £13,145

Botswana's Wild Dogs 8 Jul 10 days £5,295

Poland Butterflies & Moths of Southern Poland 9 Jul 9 days £1,995

Alaska, USA Seldom Seen Alaska Photography 10 Jul 16 days £9,895

Wales Wild Pembrokeshire 10 Jul 5 days £1,345

Botswana Best of Botswana 11 Jul 13 days £6,795

Botswana Best of Botswana 15 Jul 13 days £6,795

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals 16 Jul 14 days £4,195

Finland Brown Bear Explorer 17 Jul 6 days £1,795 Wales Wild Pembrokeshire 17 Jul 5 days £1,345

Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal 24 Jul 12 days £5,995

Botswana Best of Botswana 25 Jul 13 days £6,795 USA Whales & Dolphins of Monterey Bay 30 Jul 9 days £5,295

Aug 2023

Destination Tour Name

Colombia Colombia Bird Photography

Zambia North Luangwa - Off the Beaten Track

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals

Departure Date Duration Price from

10 Aug 16 days £6,600

10 Aug 11 days £5,995

13 Aug 14 days £4,495

Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal 14 Aug 12 days £5,995

Scotland NEW Whales & Dolphins of the Outer Hebrides

Mongolia Mongolia: Cats of the Mountain and Steppe

Netherlands Waders in Friesland

Sep 2023

14 Aug 7 days £2,295

15 Aug 13 days £6,995

17 Aug 5 days £1,195

Botswana Best of Botswana 19 Aug 13 days £6,795

South Africa NEW Wildlife of Land & Sea 26 Aug 11 days £5,995

Armenia

Cranes, Raptors & Culture

Romania Focus on the Danube Delta

Poland Birding in Krakow & the Carpathians

Borneo Borneo's Orangutans

England Hampshire Bird Photography Workshop

Brazil Brazil's Big Five Photo Safari

England Norfolk in Late Summer

Namibia Namibia Wildlife & Wilderness

1 Sep 13 days £3,895

1 Sep 9 days £4,995

2 Sep 8 days £1,895

6 Sep 11 days £4,995

6 Sep 2 days £450

8 Sep 14 days £6,995

8 Sep 5 days £925

9 Sep 17 days £5,895

Wales Red Kites & Night Sky Photographic Workshop 12 Sep 4 days £1,295

Slovenia Brown Bear Photography in Autumn 12 Sep 5 days £1,795

Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal 13 Sep 12 days £4,495

England Hampshire Bird Photography Workshop

Zambia Sacred Combe Safari

13 Sep 2 days £450

13 Sep 13 days £10,795

Hungary Hungary's Rare Mammals 14 Sep 8 days £1,895

Madagascar Madagascar with Mike Dilger

South Africa

14 Sep 16 days £6,195

Kalahari Conservation Experience 15 Sep 10 days £3,695

Botswana Best of Botswana 16 Sep 13 days £6,795

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals

17 Sep 14 days £4,295

Wales Red Kites & Night Sky Photographic Workshop 17 Sep 4 days £1,295

South Africa Kalahari Conservation Experience 22 Sep 10 days £3,695

Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal 26 Sep 12 days £5,995

Spain Secret Wilderness of Extremadura 26 Sep 8 days £1,795

Canada Festival of Bears 29 Sep 9 days £7,995

Hungary Steppe & Forests in Autumn 30 Sep 8 days £2,195

Brazil

Oct 2023

Brazil's Big Five Photo Safari

England Lancashire in Autumn

1 Oct 14 days £6,995

2 Oct 4 days £995

Guyana

A Pristine Wilderness

5 Oct 14 days £6,695 Namibia A Living Desert 6 Oct 15 days £10,895

Zambia North Luangwa - Off the Beaten Track 7 Oct 11 days £5,995

Spain

Iberian Lynx Quest 8 Oct 8 days £1,895

Spain Wild Spain 9 Oct 8 days £2,395

Uganda Uganda's Unforgettable Wildlife 11 Oct 13 days £5,995

Uganda Uganda Wildlife Photo Safari 11 Oct 13 days £8,995

Wales Red Kites & Night Sky Photographic Workshop 13 Oct 4 days £1,295

Botswana Best of Botswana 14 Oct 13 days £6,795

Madagascar

NEW Madagascar's Rare Mammals 14 Oct 14 days £5,395

Spain Iberian Lynx Quest 15 Oct 8 days £1,895

Brazil Brazil's Big Five Photo Safari 19 Oct 14 days £6,995

South Africa

NEW Rare Mammals of the Eastern Cape 21 Oct 11 days £6,995

Scotland Autumn in the Scottish Highlands 22 Oct 8 days £1,845

Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal 23 Oct 12 days £5,995

England NEW Northumberland in Autumn 23 Oct 5 days £975

Zambia Classic Kafue Safari 27 Oct 11 days £6,195

China Sichuan's Sensational Mammals & Birds 28 Oct 16 days £4,995 Colombia Colombia's Birding Highlights 28 Oct 16 days £6,630

Oct 2023

Nov 2023

Scotland Isle of Mull Wildlife Photography in Autumn

29 Oct 8 days £3,395

Scotland Autumn in the Scottish Highlands 29 Oct 8 days £1,845

Gambia West African Birdwatch

Zambia Zambia's Wild West - Kafue & Liuwa Plain

Taiwan Taiwan Endemics & Winter Migrants

Zambia South Luangwa Photo Safari

Indonesia Raja Ampat's Birds of Paradise

Dec 2023

3 Nov 12 days £2,485

3 Nov 11 days £6,895

4 Nov 14 days £4,995

4 Nov 10 days £4,595

6 Nov 16 days £9,995

Ethiopia Ethiopian Endemic Wildlife 7 Nov 17 days £5,995

Costa Rica Costa Rica's Wildlife Wonders 11 Nov 12 days £4,995

Sri Lanka Blue Whales, Dolphins & Leopards 11 Nov 14 days £3,395

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka - Off the Beaten Track 11 Nov 15 days £5,955

Zambia South Luangwa Photo Safari 11 Nov 10 days £4,595

India North-west India's Rare Mammals 18 Nov 13 days £5,995

Zambia Easy Birding in South Luangwa 18 Nov 10 days £3,795

Zambia South Luangwa Photo Safari 18 Nov 10 days £4,595

India India's Big Cats 22 Nov 23 days £8,995

Botswana Botswana's Birds & Mammals

2 Dec 13 days £3,940

Spain Secret Wilderness of Extremadura 3 Dec 8 days £1,795

Botswana Botswana's Birds & Mammals 9 Dec 13 days £3,940 2024

Jan 2024 India India's Big Cats

Greece

Pelicans of Lake Kerkini

2 Jan 23 days £8,995

4 Jan 5 days £1,595

Botswana Botswana's Birds & Mammals 6 Jan 13 days £3,995

Greece Pelicans of Lake Kerkini 8 Jan 5 days £1,595 England Somerset Levels in Winter with Mike Dilger 11 Jan 4 days £695

Ecuador NEW Andes to Amazon Rainforest Photography Workshop 12 Jan 19 days £10,995

Greece Pelicans of Lake Kerkini 12 Jan 5 days £1,595 Botswana Botswana's Birds & Mammals 13 Jan 13 days £3,940 Spain Wild Spain 14 Jan 8 days £2,495 England Somerset Levels in Winter with Mike Dilger 14 Jan 4 days £695 Kenya Masai Mara Photo Safari 22 Jan 10 days £6,495

Botswana NEW Kalahari to Delta Photo Safari with Neil Aldridge 26 Jan 12 days £9,995

Japan Japan's Winter Wildlife - Photography Special 29 Jan 11 days £6,695

Feb 2024 Mexico, USA

Great Whales of Mexico's Pacific Coast

3 Feb 10 days £6,495

Scotland NEW Scotland Winter Wildlife Photography 3 Feb 8 days £2,095 India Nagarhole's Tigers, Wild Dogs & Leopards 4 Feb 10 days £4,395

Ethiopia Ethiopia - A Unique Wonder 8 Feb 15 days £6,795 India Ultimate Tiger Safari 8 Feb 12 days £4,395

Japan Japan's Winter Wildlife - Photography Special 8 Feb 11 days £6,695

Botswana Birding Botswana 10 Feb 11 days £5,795 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka - Off the Beaten Track 10 Feb 15 days £6,495 Chile Chile's Rare Mammals 12 Feb 15 days £7,495 Costa Rica Cloud Forests, Jungles & Volcanoes 17 Feb 14 days £5,895 India Nagarhole's Tigers, Wild Dogs & Leopards 18 Feb 10 days £4,395 Uganda Uganda's Unforgettable Wildlife 21 Feb 13 days £6,945 Chile Chile's Rare Mammals 25 Feb 15 days £7,495

Mar 2024 Sri Lanka Blue Whales, Dolphins & Leopards 1 Mar 14 days £3,395 Costa Rica Costa Rica's Wildlife Wonders 3 Mar 12 days £4,995 India Nagarhole's Tigers, Wild Dogs & Leopards 3 Mar 10 days £4,395 India Ultimate Tiger Safari 7 Mar 12 days £4,395

Image by Bret Charman

Destination Tour Name Departure Date Duration Price from

Mar 2024 Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka - Off the Beaten Track

India Nagarhole's Tigers, Wild Dogs & Leopards

9 Mar 15 days £6,495

10 Mar 10 days £4,395

Colombia Wild Colombia's Mammals & Birds 14 Mar 17 days £6,550

Mexico, USA Great Whales of Mexico's Pacific Coast

Argentina, Chile

15 Mar 10 days £6,495

NEW Patagonia's Pumas and Orca 22 Mar 15 days £10,595

Scotland Early Spring in the Scottish Highlands 24 Mar 8 days £1,895

Alaska, USA Alaska's Humpbacks Bubble-net Bonanza 29 Mar 12 days £7,095

Botswana Botswana's Rare Mammals 30 Mar 12 days £6,495

Apr 2024 India

Nagarhole's Tigers, Wild Dogs & Leopards

7 Apr 10 days £4,595

Tanzania Festival of Wildlife Tanzania 2024 9 Apr 11 days £5,995

Galapagos Islands Galapagos Wildlife Cruise

May 2024

18 Apr 15 days £10,495

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals 21 Apr 14 days £4,295

India Nagarhole Photo Safari 21 Apr 10 days £5,895

Zimanga

England Somerset Levels in Spring with Mike Dilger

England Somerset Levels in Spring with Mike Dilger

1 May 10 days £6,795

2 May 4 days £795

5 May 4 days £795

Azores Whales & Dolphins of the Azores 10 May 8 days £2,695

Borneo Wild Borneo 12 May 16 days £7,295

Greece NEW Lake Kerkini in Spring 13 May 5 days £1,495

Slovenia Brown Bear Photography in Spring 13 May 6 days £2,495

Galapagos Islands Galapagos Exclusive with Mark Carwardine

16 May 15 days £12,595

Azores Whales & Dolphins of the Azores 17 May 8 days £2,695

Greece NEW Lake Kerkini in Spring 17 May 5 days £1,495

Botswana Botswana's Rare Mammals 18 May 12 days £6,495

Scotland Festival of British Wildlife 18 May 8 days £3,295

Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals 19 May 14 days £4,295 Borneo Borneo's Rare Mammals 26 May 14 days £4,295

Jun 2024 Brazil Wildlife of the Pantanal 3 Jun 12 days £5,995 South Africa South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style 7 Jun 10 days £11,595 Zambia Classic South Luangwa Safari 8 Jun 10 days £4,395 Scotland Isle of Mull Wildlife Extravaganza with Mike Dilger 9 Jun 8 days £3,295 Alaska, USA Seldom Seen Alaska Photography 10 Jun 16 days £9,995

Finland Brown Bear Explorer 10 Jun 6 days £1,895

South Africa South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style 14 Jun 10 days £11,595

Botswana Okavango Delta Safari 15 Jun 12 days £8,695

Botswana Best of Botswana 15 Jun 13 days £7,295

Zambia Classic South Luangwa Safari 15 Jun 10 days £4,395

Finland Boreal Predators Photography 17 Jun 6 days £2,895

Brazil Wildlife of the North & South Pantanal 18 Jun 14 days £5,995

Botswana Okavango Delta Photo Safari 22 Jun 12 days £8,195 Scotland The Shetland Islands with Mike Dilger

South Africa

- Wildlife & Night Sky Photography

by Nick Garbutt

Festival of Wildlife Tanzania