Natural World & Safari

What about the world’s largest concentration of leopards in Sri Lanka’s Yala national park? And the island does elephants too – in large numbers in the UdaWalawe national park. A Sri Lanka trip gives you an amazing opportunity to enjoy a safari and beach holiday. Then there is the globe’s greatest carnivore, the magnificent tiger, burning bright in India’s Ranthambore reserve, where you will think you’ve stepped straight into the pages of The Jungle Book. These are luxury safari holidays to rival seeing the Big Five in Africa.

Elsewhere, you might want to marvel at the teeming marine life teeming amid the clear, turquoise waters of the Angthong Marine Reserve in Thailand. Or for an altogether cooler experience, why not witness majestic polar bears on the remote island of Spitsbergen, deep inside the Arctic Circle in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago?

But the wonders of the universe do not stop with the creatures of Mother Earth, glorious though they are. Also in Scandinavia you can witness the phenomenon that is the Northern Lights, perhaps while staying at the IceHotel, one of the world’s most iconic retreats. Or you can drive your own team of husky dogs across the Arctic tundra, an experience no animal lover will ever forget.

If you prefer warmer climes, why not sample stargazing in remote Indian villages where the absence of light pollution renders the heavens in mesmeric detail that will leave you breathless.