Safari and Wildlife

10-day / 9-night wildlife tour of KENYA led by professional photographer. Highlights: On Samburu Game Reserve, seek elephants, buffaloes, cheetahs, leopards, Grevy’s zebras / by boat, observe chimps at Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary / flamingos at Lake Bogoria / in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, look for lions, rhinos, wildebeests / elephant herds in Amboseli. Land, from $3,545. Single supp., from $425. Around the World Adventures, Inc. (Safety Harbor, FL; 888 / 430-3535).  

By Joyce Bruck, Ocean Ridge, FL

Africa is one of my favorite travel destinations. My most recent visit, in March 2013, included the annual migration in Tanzania.

My wife, Jane, and I took a trip to Botswana, Zambia and South Africa from Classic Escapes (Woodside, NY; 800/627-1244), May 11-21, 2012. Including internal flights, the cost was $6,995 per person. We were part of a group from the Riverbank Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina.

Look for bowhead whales from a vintage, refurbished tall ship, the 168-foot, 34-passenger S/V Rembrandt van Rijn, while sailing around Greenland’s Disko Island, exploring fjords and landing at sites to observe wildlife. The 7-night, Arctic “Disko Bay Whale Safari” cruise begins at the town of Aasiaat, reached by charter flight from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

 9-day / 8-night photography tour in ARGENTINA, April 5-13, 2014.  Highlights: Orca whales go to Punta Norte on Patagonia’s Atlantic coast, where, in their attempts to catch young sea lions, they actually beach themselves temporarily. Among other wildlife to see are armadillos, cavies, guanacos, grisons and Magellanic penguins. Land, $5,220. Single supp., $750. Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris (Saratoga, CA; 800 / 527-5330).

7-day/6-night tour of KENYA. Highlights: On game drives in the Masai Mara National Reserve, view lions, hippos, wildebeests, zebras and antelopes/flamingos at Lake Nakuru/Amboseli National Park for elephants, buffaloes, cheetahs, giraffes. Land, from $2,225. Single supp., from $140. SITA World Tours (Encino, CA; 800/421-5643).

by Margo Wilson Scottsdale, AZ

It’s hard to imagine a place with more tropical and exotic charms to offer than Sri Lanka, which my husband, Thom, and I visited in February ’12.

Rangers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park were able to conduct a survey of the mountain gorilla population in the park after negotiating with the armed groups and government troops. The good news is that all six resident family groups were located and seven baby gorillas had been born. 

Over half of the world’s estimated 820 mountain gorillas live in the Virunga mountain chain, with about 200 of them within the park.

9 days/8 nights. Highlights: From Trinidad, sea kayak tour to Five Islands/Tamana Bat Cave/Bush Bush Wildlife Sanctuary, home to howler and capuchin monkeys, toucans/leatherback turtles on Grande Rivi­ere/on Tobago, free time to (at extra charge) scuba, windsurf, snorkel. Land and flights between Trinidad and Tobago, $3,050. Single supp., $525. Reefs to Rockies (Denver, CO; 303/860-6045).

by Alla Campbell; Greensboro, Ga.