Wildlife Holidays

Latin America is one of the richest places on Earth for watching wildlife, and much of it is surprisingly easy to reach. Over half the world’s bird species live here, alongside animals you’ll find nowhere else, and a good wildlife holiday can string several habitats together in a couple of weeks.

What makes a wildlife holiday here different

The variety is endless. Few regions let you move from rainforest to wetland to cloud forest to island in a single trip, each with its own cast of animals. You might watch giant otters and caiman in Brazil’s Pantanal, track sloths and toucans through Costa Rica’s forests, follow the Andes for condors and vicuña, then finish somewhere the animals have no fear of people at all. On many trips the wildlife comes to you. A lodge balcony over the canopy, a boat drifting past nesting birds, a night walk once the frogs and big cats come out.

Where to go on a wildlife holiday

We plan wildlife holidays right across the region, and where you head depends on what you most want to see. The Galápagos for tortoises, iguanas and sea lions that barely stir as you pass. The Pantanal for the continent’s best chance of a wild jaguar. The Amazon, in Ecuador, Peru or Brazil, for macaws, monkeys and pink river dolphins. Costa Rica for an easy, family-friendly introduction packed into a small country. Colombia, now one of the world’s top birding destinations. Patagonia and the Falkland Islands for penguins, whales and sea lions along the southern coasts. Most trips link two or three of these, and we’ll shape the route around the animals you’re travelling for.

How you’ll travel

A good guide makes a wildlife holiday, so ours are local specialists who know where the animals are and how to read the signs. You’ll travel by whatever gets you closest, whether that’s a small boat through flooded forest, a 4×4 across open wetland, or a quiet walk at first light. Stays are chosen to put you in the thick of it, from canopy lodges to riverside camps, so the wildlife is often the first thing you see in the morning.