Why choose Cox & Kings for your wildlife holiday
Where to go on a wildlife holiday
Every continent has its natural wonders. However, the best wildlife holiday destinations share three characteristics: they are rich in biodiversity, accessible to visitors, and home to institutions with a mission to protect and preserve nature. For inspiration, read on for some of the wildlife highlights each region offers.
Africa wildlife holidays
It’s impossible to think of wildlife safari holidays without thinking of Africa. Superlative national parks from South Africa to Kenya to Tanzania promise sightings of the iconic Big Five: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalo. Meanwhile, the ‘lost world’ of Madagascar is a naturalist’s paradise and where you can see leaping lemurs, colourful chameleons and over 120 endemic bird species.
David Attenborough once said that “there is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal” – and anyone who has been trekking to see the mountain gorillas of Rwanda and Uganda will surely agree. This is one of Africa’s most unforgettable wildlife experiences, and we can arrange it for you.
Latin America wildlife holidays
Latin America encompasses some of the world’s most extraordinary natural habitats. This includes the Amazon, the largest rainforest anywhere on Earth and home to creatures great and small, from six-foot caimans to tiny tree frogs. But it also includes lesser-visited ecosystems, such as the Guiana Shield, one of the planet’s most pristine tropical rainforests; and the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland.
Darwin devotees can seek out stone-still iguanas, lumbering giant tortoises and dancing blue-footed boobies on a Galápagos cruise. Meanwhile, Costa Rica tempts with its cloud forests and jungles, home to orange-billed toucans and slow-motion sloths.
In the far south, Chile and Argentina serve as gateways to Antarctica. From their ports, expedition vessels depart to the ice shelves and calving glaciers of the ‘White Continent’, where you can spot lobtailing whales and huddles of penguins.
Indian Subcontinent wildlife holidays
Rudyard Kipling found ample inspiration for The Jungle Book in the wilds of India, and today the country promises some of the best wildlife holidays. This is the land of the Bengal tiger, and national parks such as Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh and Jim Corbett offer tiger safaris with a high chance of sighting the stripy big cat. India is also home to lions, leopards, elephants, hyenas and buffalo, alongside colourful birds, from greater flamingos to the iconic peafowl.
To the south of India lies Sri Lanka, an island of lush tea plantations, jungle-bound ruins, and many head-turning creatures. Cox & Kings guests can stay in Yala National Park, whose sprawl of tropical greenery shelters leopards, elephants, sloth bears, jackals, marsh crocodiles and more.
