Where and When to Have Holiday Animal Encounters in 2022

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By Richard Jones

Nature encounters are among life’s most exciting, memorable and adventurous experiences, and watching animals in their natural surroundings is a great way to embrace the great outdoors.

Over the past couple years, our encounters with wild animals have mostly been confined to TV documentaries.

However, with many travel restrictions lifted, there has never been a better time for a bucket list holiday.

Specialist tour operator Windows on the Wild offers custom-made wildlife, wilderness, action and adventure holidays to all four corners of the globe.

Whether you want to visit a bear-viewing lodge, embark on an African safari, set sail on a small-ship cruises, or hit the road for a tailor-made fly-drive, they have access to some of the world’s best trips.

Here is a month-by-month guide to some of 2022’s best wildlife destinations.

January
Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Tanzania Safari
From £9,345 per person
As you sit in the dense rainforest, listening to the gentle giants grumble to each other, you can’t help but marvel at the sheer size of the silverback. This once-in-a-lifetime trip will see you track the endangered mountain gorillas in the lush Virunga National Park, before visiting major tourist attractions which include the private Grumeti Reserves and the wilderness of the Serengeti Grumeti River.

Where and When to Have Holiday Animal Encounters in 2022 whales

Whale encounter In Chile

February
Whale Watching In Punta Arenas
From £1,480 per person
February is all about the whale migration. Picturesque Chilean city Punta Arenas acts as a gateway to the southern regions of Torres del Paine and Puerto Natales. A two-night whale-watching adventure takes you from your hotel to the Fitzroy Channel, crossing to Riesco Island and sailing by the Otway Sound to Carlos III Island. You can observe humpback whales, sea lions and sea birds.

March
Journey Into India’s Crown Jewel
From £3,075 per person
March marks Holi, the popular ancient Indian tradition also known as the ‘Festival of Love’. Begin your adventure in New Delhi, where after a day’s sightseeing, you will traverse though Kumaon’s majestic landscape, to enjoy two nights at Mary Budden Estate, hiking and bird watching in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, home to leopards, ghorals, wild boar, kakars and monkeys.

April
Cruising The Galápagos
From £3,240 per person
The best way to experience the Galápagos is by the small ships which accommodate just 8-20 passengers. You disembark each day at around 7am, return for lunch and partake in another land excursion in the afternoon. As well as wildlife watching, there are opportunities to get up close and personal with the sea life as you snorkel around this great underwater destination.

May
Selous/Nyerere, Ruaha, Lake Tanganyika & Pemba Island, East Africa
From £13,195 per person
The little-visited Selous Game Reserve features a network of forests around the lagoons, sandbanks and lakes, and has one of the biggest concentrations of elephants in Africa. After that, explore the Ruaha National Park and Mahale Mountain National Park, trekk in search of the wild chimp, hike up the 2460-metre Mount Nkungwe, and fish and snorkel in Lake Tanganyika.

June
Kenya’s Wildebeest Migration Safari & Diani Beach
From £6,362 per person
East Africa’s wildebeest migration is one of the Earth’s greatest natural sights. More than two million animals migrate in an enormous loop between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara every year in search of lush grazing pastures. River crossings often happen daily and make for some spectacular sightings, especially with hungry crocodiles waiting with outstretched jaws.

Where and When to Have Holiday Animal Encounters bears

Bears in Alaska

July
Katmai Wilderness Lodge, Alaska
From £3,490 per person
Grizzly bears gather along streams to feast on salmon, building weight from this wealth of protein. Relax in the comfort of a modern log cabin-styled lodge in the middle of Katmai’s coastal wilderness. Enjoy mouth-watering meals in the traditional Alaskan dining room, put up your feet in the lodge’s living room and sit back on their multi-level deck to observe the beauty of Katmai.

August
Tanzania Safari
From £7,855 per person
Tanzania conjures up images of wildebeest stampeding across vast savannah, rain forests teeming with monkeys and birdlife, and great plains brimming with legions of game. You will visit the Tarangire, area as well as the Western Corridor, and Northern part of the Serengeti where chances of seeing the Great Migration in all its glory are extremely high.

September
Classic Zimbabwe
From £3,305 per person
September is an excellent time to travel to Zimbabwe, as days are sunny and wildlife viewing is at its prime. Experience true Zimbabwean hospitality as you explore Lake Kariba by boat, cruising around the petrified forests and channels searching for a wide variety of birds and animals drinking in the shallows. After a game drive in Hwange National Park, head on a trip to Victoria Falls.

October
Great Ice Bear Adventure in Churchill, Canada
From £7,568 per person
During October, polar bears congregate in large numbers on the coast of Hudson Bay for their annual hunt. This tour combines two nights in Winnipeg, three nights at Dymond Lake Lodge, and one night in Churchill with a day on a Tundra Buggy. The unique local vehicles are designed to move smoothly over snow and ice, to give the best bear-viewing opportunities.

Where and When to Have Holiday Animal Encounters in 2022 falkland islands

King gentoo penguins in the Falkland Islands
image: Connie Stevens

November
Penguin Encounter on the Falkland Islands
From £5,480 per person
The Falklands are a remote group of more than 740 islands situated 400 miles off the south-eastern tip of South America. This little-known archipelago remains one of the great natural wonders of the modern world – dominated by miles of pristine coastline and spectacular wildlife. There are five species of penguin and over half of the world’s black-browed albatross.

December
Wildlife & Bird Watching in Colombia
From £5,037 per person
Colombia is very diverse, and is one of the best places for bird watching with 1958 species recorded of which, 80 are endemic to the country. The diverse tours range from daytime safaris in the Llanos (Eastern Orinoco Plains) looking for the Giant Anteater or a nighttime trek in the Amazonian jungle to look for nocturnal animals and insects or in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

For more details go to windowsonthewild.com, call 020 8742 1556 or email info@windowsonthewild.com

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