It’s not too late for a summer wildlife break
The warmer months are a popular time for spoting everything from wolves to whales – but there’s still availability, says Richard
I
Madden
you are hoping to enjoy a summer wildlife extravaganza – be it in the company of whales and dolphins or bears and beavers – you had better get your skates on. Summer is a notoriously popular time for wildlife holidays, and though there are plenty of options out there, availability for this summer and even the warmer months of 2024 is running out fast.
To help narrow down the options, we have rounded up some of the most inspiring summer wildlife trips on offer, whether you are hoping to head to far-off places or looking for wildlife-spotting opportunities closer to home – from photographing bears in Finland to seeking out the elusive Iberian lynx in Spain.
As a bonus, many of these tours help fund the work of scientists and conservationists, while others involve active participation in ongoing conservation projects. All are run by tour companies which understand the importance of helping to preserve the natural world at a time when biodiversity has never been under more pressure. So do a little good on your summer holiday, and go wild.
ICELAND
Watch sperm whales and orcas feeding in the seas around the Snaefellsnes peninsula on the west coast of Iceland, then set sail into Eyjafjordur on the north coast to search for humpback whales, followed by a visit to Husavik, a top location for minke, humpback and blue whales as well as whitebeaked dolphins. Your guide will be Icelander Abbi Björgvinsson, cetacean expert and founder of the Husavik Whale Museum – so you know he knows his stuff.
Discover The World (01737 214 250; discover-the-world.com) offers the eight-night Into the Blue – Whale Watching in Iceland trip from £3,200 per person, including accommodation for eight nights, two dinners and five whale-watching excursions (flights extra). Departs June 2024
ROMANIA
Spend a long weekend watching brown bears in Romania’s Piatra Craiului National Park on a four-day visit to Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, the largest intact ecosystem of its kind in Europe. More than a third of all Europe’s bears, wolves and lynx are to be found here alongside bison and chamois, plus more than 100 bird species including golden eagles, Ural and
eagle owls. Daily excursions into the mountains include a visit to a hide where bears are usually seen. Wildlife Worldwide (01962 302 086; wildlifeworldwide.com) offers the tailor-made four-day Bears in the Carpathian Mountains trip from £1,375 per person, including accommodation, most meals, excursions and flights
SPITSBERGEN
Explore the Arctic island of Spitsbergen and the surrounding Svalbard archipelago, roughly midway between Norway and the North Pole, on a cruise aboard the specially strengthened 109-berth ice-breaker MV Ortelius. With its jagged mountains, glaciers and ords, the region is home to a huge variety of wildlife including polar bears, walrus, harp seals, beluga and bowhead whales. Birdlife includes colonies of auks and guillemots as well as grey phalarope, skua, king eider and barnacle geese. Naturetrek (01962 733051; naturetrek. co.uk) offers the 11-night Spitsbergen –Realm of the Polar Bear cruise from £7,395 per person, including full-board ship accommodation, expert guides, shore expeditions and flights. Departs June 20 2024
WALES
Explore Pembrokeshire in search of seal pups, razorbills, Atlantic puffins, oystercatchers, kestrels and vast seabird colonies on the rugged coasts of its remote, offshore islands. The trip includes in-depth visits to Skomer and Ramsey islands, exploring on foot and from the sea. The boat crossing to Skomer will be accompanied by hundreds of puffins with the rocky shoreline packed with thousands of guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes. Wildlife Worldwide (01962 302 086; wildlifeworldwide.com) offers the five-day Wild Pembrokeshire trip from £1,345 per person, including hotel accommodation, most meals, excursions, boat trips and a tour leader. Departs July 10 and 17 2023
FINLAND
Capture spectacular images of Finland’s top predators including brown bears, eagles, Eurasian wolves and wolverines. Based in a traditional log house on Kuikka Lake surrounded by boreal forest, you will be accompanied by an expert wildlife photographer. The 14
hides in four locations can hold up to five photographers and are equipped with bunk beds for voluntary overnight stays. In mid-summer, Finland’s northerly latitude promises more than 20 hours of daylight.
The Travelling Naturalist (01305 267994; naturalist.co.uk) offers the six-day Boreal
Predators Photography trip from £2,695 per person, including full-board accommodation, excursions and flights.
Departs June 15 2023
SPAIN
After decades of decline, the elusive Iberian lynx with its distinctive tufts of black ear fur is making a come-back in the forests of southern Spain. The 2,500-acre Finca El Encinarejo is the nearest you will get to an African plains on European soil, and if you are lucky you might also see European bison, wild boar, imperial and golden eagles, black and griffon vultures, hoopoes, genets, badgers and even otters.
Steppes Travel (01285 880980; steppestravel.com) offers the tailormade seven-day Lynx Tracking in Andalucia trip from £2,795 per person, including accommodation, most meals, excursions and a donation to CBD (lynx conservation project). Flights extra.
SWEDEN
A white-tailed sea eagle on the Isle of Mull in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides
calls and identify animal tracks.
responsibletravel.com) offers the four-day Sweden Holidays, Wolves, Moose and Beavers trip from £1,550 per person, including accommodation, most meals, guided wildlife walks and canoeing instruction. Flights extra.
Departs July 31, August 7, 21, 28 and September 4 2023
INNER HEBRIDES
Search for white-tailed sea eagles – the UK’s largest bird of prey – puffins, whales, dolphins and seals around the Inner Hebridean islands of Mull, Staffa and Iona off the west coast of Scotland.
Your small group (up to eight people) will spend two nights in the mainland town of Oban and four days on the Isle of Mull. Highlights include otters on the Isle of Seil, the beavers of Knapdale, and Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa. Wilderness Scotland (01479 420 020; wildernessscotland.com) offers the six-night Mull, Staffa & Iona trip from £2,375, including full board, guide and transport from Oban. Departs June 10, 24 and July 1 2023
MADEIRA
Famous for its marine biodiversity and volcanic landscapes, the seas around the island of Madeira are suitable for scuba divers (and snorkellers) of all levels. Fin alongside outsize – but very friendly – dusky groupers, butterfly rays, seahorses, octopus and moray eels in the Cap Garajau Marine Reserve. Bottlenose dolphins, short-finned pilot whales and Mediterranean monk seals can also be seen on boat trips to the nearby Desertas Islands. Dive Worldwide (01962 302 087; diveworldwide.com) offers the tailor-
Lissagriffin Lake, with an optional pelagic charter into the Atlantic in search of petrels, shearwaters, skuas and auks. Famous sites in Wexford include Tacumshin Lake, Our Lady’s Island Lake and Rosslare Harbour. Heatherlea (01479 821248; heatherlea. co.uk) offers the eight-day Ireland for Birders trip from £2,495 per person, including full-board accommodation, excursions, tour leader and flights. Departs August 31 2024
BULGARIA
14 Saturday 29 April 2023 The Daily Telegraph Explore Costa Rica’s rainforests and meet native animals including the squirrel monkey Go diving at Cap Garajau Marine Reserve off Madeira Head for the forests of Germany to take part in a wolf conservation expedition Track rhinos in Namibia under expert guidance with Aardvark Safaris DANA ALLEN/PHOTOSAFARI-AFRICA.NET; BIOSPHERE EXPEDITIONS; GETTY IMAGES; PLAINPICTURE; ANJALI SINGH; PEDRO VASCONCELOS
Seek out the waders, seabirds, passerines and many rare species of the Emerald Isle on a two-centre tour split between County Cork and County Wexford. Depending on tides and weather, Cork locations include Mizen Head, Rosscarbery, Bantry, Clonakilty and
blues and skippers. Wildflower varieties include lilium jankae, aquilegia aurea, geum coccineum, primula deorum, pinguicula balcanica and the beautiful Orpheus flower. Birders will enjoy the Trigrad Gorge and might spot the beautiful red-striped wallcreeper. Wildlife Travel (01954 713575; wildlifetravel.co.uk) offers the eight-day Mountain Butterflies and Wild Flowers trip from £1,795 per person, including full-board accommodation, excursions, expert tour leader and flights. Departs June 2023
ANDORRA
Help to protect wildlife in the Andorran Pyrenees – located on the border between Spain and France – by assisting scientists in their attempts to find sustainable solutions to human encroachment and climate change. You and your team will help identify the key species in the ecosystem and how they are changing by studying local mammals, owls and other bird species. You will also study alpine flora and examine the growth of local trees. Earthwatch (01865 318 838; earthwatch. org) requires contributions from £2,110 to join the nine-day Wildlife in the Changing Andorran Pyrenees expedition, which includes full-board accommodation at a hotel with a pool
KENYA
This safari from Expert Africa combines the Lewa Conservancy, in Laikipia in northern Kenya, with Governors’ Camp
On this tour, you will explore the cloud forests, rainforests and mountains of the interior, as well as both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, while encountering everything from catatonic sloths to vocal squirrel monkeys, screeching toucans and nesting green turtles. Exodus (020 3885 9103; exodus.co.uk) offers the 15-day Costa Rica Adventure trip from £3,499 per person, including accommodation in hotels and eco-lodges, most meals, excursions and tour leader. Flights extra. Departs August 8 2024
INDIA
Search for leopards in a landscape of dry sand rivers, hills, gorges and billion-year-old granite rock formations in the wilderness surrounding Suján Jawai safari camp in Rajasthan, northwest India. Here, leopards peacefully coexist with nomadic tribes alongside more than 300 mammal and bird species. Escorted by expert guides and trackers, you will track the animals on early morning and evening game drives aboard the resort’s 4x4 jeeps. Sujan Life (01295 758150; thesujanlife. com) offers accommodation from £950 per tent per night (two sharing), including dinner for two and two wilderness drives daily
CANADA
As well as being one of the best places in the world to see killer and humpback whales, Vancouver Island – off the west coast of Canada – is also one of the best places for encounters with both black and grizzly bears. The northeast of the island is also close to the remote coastal inlets on the adjacent mainland, where grizzlies still maintain a stronghold. Sightings of humpback whales, sea otters, bald eagles and sea lions are also possible off the west coast.
Wildlife Trails (0800 999 4334; wildlifetrails.co.uk) offers tailor-made seven-day self-drive Vancouver Island Bear Watching tours from £2,150 per person, including B&B accommodation, excursions and car hire. Flights extra
in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in the south-west, both of which are located in prime wildlife-viewing areas. Big cats are plentiful in the Maasai Mara, one of the best places in Africa to find leopards, lions and cheetahs, and from late July, the wildebeest migration begins here, with thousands of migratory wildebeest pouring over the plains and across the Mara River. Expert Africa (0203 405 6666; expertafrica.com) offers the tailor-made eight-night Golden Jackal Fly-in Safari trip from £7,840, including full-board accommodation. Flights extra. Departs July
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica has one of the world’s highest percentages of protected areas, making it a magnet for wildlife tourism.
NAMIBIA
The country is home to one of the last wild populations of black rhinos in Africa. Driving from Windhoek, the capital, you will stay at Desert Rhino Camp, surrounded by the rocky desert plains of Damaraland. Here you will track rhinos on 4x4 game drives and on foot – with an expert guide ensuring disturbance of the rhino is kept to a minimum – before moving on to Etosha National Park, home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and rhinos. Aardvark Safaris (01980 849160; aardvarksafaris.com) offers tailormade eight-night trips from £3,222, including accommodation, most meals, car hire and safari activities. Flights extra
Just two hours from Stockholm, the Bergslagen Forest is home to Sweden’s largest populations of moose, beavers and wolves living alongside roe deer, mountain hares, red squirrels and the endangered lynx. On this tour, you will stay in the heart of wolf country in a country-house hotel next to a lake surrounded by woods. Your expert guide will help you decipher bird Play time: visit Norway’s Svalbard archipelago to see species including polar bears
Spot leopards at Suján Jawai safari camp in Rajasthan
Wildlife holidays
Enjoy the rare butterfly species and wildflowers of the Rhodope Mountains on a nature-focused trip to Bulgaria. Butterflies include the Apollo, Balkan copper and Balkan clouded yellow plus the rare Cynthia’s fritillary, along with a huge variety of ringlets, graylings,
