Eight exciting wildlife holidays to get you back to nature
WALK on the wild side. Look for leopards in a rainforest or hummingbirds in Columbia 8 exciting trips from Borneo to the Outer Hebrides to help you get back to nature with wildlife specialist Naturetrek.
See the beautiful and rare Clouded Leopard in Borneo
1. Borneo: Walk the rainforest by night on an exciting 13-day tour. Nocturnal animals to look out for include the Clouded Leopard. Trip includes a visit to an orangutan rehabilitation centre, expert guiding, flights, transport, accommodation and most meals. Tour leaves on April 5.. Price from £3,995 pp (two sharing). Average group size is 10-12 with an option for single travellers to room share.
Visit a tiger reserve in India and the breathtaking Great Thar desert
2. India: Stay on the edge of a desert on an 18-day wildlife holiday that includes a trip to a tiger reserve, plus with some accomodation in a Maharajah's palace. Historical site visits include the Taj Mahal and the Amber Palace in Jaipur. The guided tour takes in the Great Thar desert, Ranthambore and Bharatpur. Price from £3,795 pp (with two sharing) departing January 31.
Come face to face with giant Elk in Sweden
3. Sweden: Look out for Wolf, the Eurasian Lynx and Elk plus a variety of other mammals and birds on a four-day winter guided tour to the snowy forests of central Sweden. The 'winter mammal weekend' trip leaves on February 26 and costs £995 each (two people sharing) with wildlife specialists Naturetrek.. For more details tel: 01962 733051.
The Outer Hebrides are a little closer to home and you can get up close and personal with whales
4. Outer Hebrides, Scotland: Cruise the isolated islands and seabird colonies of northern Scotland on a seven-day trip that includes a rare opportunity to visit the remote outpost of St Kilda.. On the way, look out for sightings of otters and Minke Whales. Price from £1,595 pp, departing May 28.
Learn about butterfly conservation in a country where they have 643 different species
5. Nepal: Surround yourself with butterflies as you try to spot 100 species. Nepal is no larger than Britain, but holds 10 times the number of butterfly species — 643 at the latest count! A 12-day tour with conservation experts focuses on three of the best areas in for butterflies. Price From £2,995 pp, departing April 16.
Colombia is perfect for bird lovers
6. Columbia: See hummingbirds and spot parrots on a 16-day trip to the forests of the Amazon. Colombia is a bird-lover's dream with 1,900 bird different species. It also has a new, and stable, democracy. This trip focuses on the Andean forests of the north-west and lowland forests of the Amazon and Orinoco, searching for woodpeckers, barbets and coronets too. Price from £4,695 pp leaving on February 11.
Witness this unbelievable bat migration in Zambia
7. Zambia: Be amazed as five million straw-coloured fruit bats fill the sky as they emerge from their roost sites in the beautiful Kasanka National Park. The bats migrate into this little-visited corner of northern Zambia during November and December. This trip, which sets off on November 11, is perfectly timed to observe this extraordinary spectacle. Other highlights include the game-rich South Luangwa National Park and the spectacular Victoria Falls. 13 days trip from £5,495 pp.
A little known gem for bird watchers Germany has so much variety on offer
8. Germany: Discover wintering geese, ducks and raptors on a five-day birdwatching break to north-east Germany to search for migrating Cranes. Ornithologically speaking, this trip to Brandenburg and Berlin is one of Europe's backwaters, and currently little-known and underrated. From £995 pp, departing March 13.