Wildlife

“There’s hope in the wilderness.” Many a time during our travels through South America we have found ourselves coming back to these words from Paul Theroux.

Whether snorkelling with a family of curious sealions off the Galapagos Islands, the world’s foremost wildlife destination, or trekking through the highlands of Brazil’s interior, among plants that could hold the cure to countless diseases – immersing yourself in the planet’s few remaining wilderness areas never fails to fill your soul with a sense of optimism.

Nowhere is this truer than in South America. A third of the world’s mega-diverse countries are found in this region along with five internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots (Europe has just one). This sheer variety of eco-systems, criss-crossing two hemispheres and four major climatic zones, has led to an unequalled display of nature’s extravagance, untarnished by over-development.

With more bird species than any other continent on earth, the region is a birdwatching mecca. Our experts will suggest the best lodges and match you to the right guides, whether you are a seasoned twitcher after a specific lifer or a first-time generalist about to catch the birding bug.

We know the heart-stopping magic of seeing a whale take a Herculean leap from the sea off the Peninsula Valdez. We have felt the thrill of tracking maned wolves in the Cerrado and pumas in Patagonia. And we have experienced the once in a lifetime privilege of walking with colonies of emperor penguins on the icy plains of Antarctica.

To bring you closer still, we work with guides, trackers and researchers who seem to bridge the divide between the human and the natural world. Our favourite Amazonian birding guides can mimic an astounding range of calls with uncanny precision and our Brazilian jaguar trackers can recognise the smell of a male jaguar marking his territory long before they see the animal.

We publish our own bird lists (and ask our guests to help us keep them up to date), and work with researchers and biologists to stay ahead of the curve and pioneer new areas for eco-tourism, whilst always aligning everything we do with the latest conservation principles.

Done right, wildlife travel is a force for good. Whether you want to gift your children – future ambassadors for conservation – an experience of following in Darwin’s footsteps aboard a private yacht in the Galapagos Islands, or embark on a hike through Ecuador’s cloud forests to catch a glimpse of the delicate puffleg hummingbird, we’ll design a wildlife holiday that is at once life-affirming, and essential to the preservation and celebration of the natural world.