In photos: Wildlife Travel highlights from 2025
January 2026
We were pleased to welcome Sussex-based naturalist Tom Forward to the Wildlife Travel team in 2025, as well as adding new holidays to the Kalahari, the Dordogne, a spring-visit to Estonia and our long-overdue first holiday to Colombia. We were also busy planning future holidays in the Algarve, the Isle of Man and Bhutan.
In March Dom and Mike Symes headed south for our regular visit to Morocco, to explore the wildlife and colourful flowers of the Argan forest, mountains and the coastal steppe vegetation. We were rewarded with wonderful sightings of North African antelope, colourful butterflies headed up by the Spanish Festoon, parasitic spikes of Striga barthlottii, and a great selection of birds including Northern Bald Ibis, Bonelli’s Eagle and Tristram’s Warbler.
At the end of the month, Sarah and James were in Cyprus for a riot of spring flowers. Along the way our travellers enjoyed watching (and listening to) Cyprus Wheatear and Cyprus Warbler establishing their territories, groups of stunning Cretzschmar’s Buntings, a pair of squabbling Great Spotted Cuckoos, and no less than 25 types of orchids, with a wonderful selection of amphibians and reptiles, including the endemic Cyprus Water Frog, Cyprus Green Toad, Cyprus Rock Agama and Troodos Wall Lizard.
In April Jono visited western Estonia under skeins of Tundra Bean Geese, for early-spring encounters with large herds of Bewick’s and Whooper Swans, rafts of Long-tailed Ducks and Smew, soaring Cranes, and trilling Waxwings. Bright sunny days enticed Camberwell Beauty and Large Tortoiseshell, and close encounters with Elk, an early morning Capercaillie sighting, and a lone Steller’s Eider snoozing out at sea were amongst the highlights.
Meanwhile Philip was in the Algarve amongst the spring flowers and butterflies, making plans for our next visit to this corner of the western Mediterranean.
May took Laurie to the heart of the Dordogne for our newest holiday by train. During our week exploring the limestone causses, woodlands and wetlands we encountered some wonderful spring wildlife with plentiful butterflies and dragonflies.
Mike Russell and Laurie both headed east to the Danube Delta during May, to enjoy the wonders of Europe’s greatest wetland. Exploring small channels and hidden lakes by boat, we came face to face with nesting Whiskered Terns, Squacco Herons and cooperatively fishing White Pelicans. As we cruised down the river we passed nesting Bee-eaters, Golden Jackal and plentiful White-tailed Eagles, before enjoying wonderful views of Rollers and the handsome Steppe-runner, a lizard at the western edge of its range on the Black Sea coast.
Mike Symes took the train to La Brenne in the middle of the month, to introduce another group to the ‘land of a thousand lakes’. We were greeted by the song of Turtle Dove, Nightingale and Corn Bunting, and had plenty of wonderful wildlife encounters including hunting Montagu’s Harrier, basking European Pond Terrapins, churring Nightjars and orchid-filled meadows.
In late-May Philip and Tom travelled by rail to the Cevennes in south-Central France. Our explorations of the dappled woodlands and limestone causses brought meadows swathed in flowers as far as the eye could see, a confusion of fritillaries to get to grips with, and Griffon and Cinereous Vultures, Short-toed Eagles and an impressive Golden Eagle soaring overhead.
Not too far away, Sarah and James were on their own French odyssey as we headed by rail to the Vercors with a private group. We explored the flowery hillsides and colourful alpine meadows marvelling at plentiful butterflies including Weaver’s Fritillary, Mazarine Blue, Clouded Apollo and Sooty Copper. Amongst an array of wonderful wild flowers were magnificent Lady Orchids, Wild Tulip, Moonwort, Large-flowered Butterwort and a fabulous patch of Lady’s-slipper. A Lammergeier cruising along a cliff face, Crested Tits, Wryneck, Alpine Chough and Citril Finches were amongst the avian highlights, with Alpine Ibex and Alpine Marmot the best of the mammals.
In June Phil set out with a second group keen to discover the delights of the Vercors, meeting Sarah in the heart of the Prealps. The insect- and flower-filled meadows again wowed us, with a rotund Spiny Toad, a Peregrine dogfighting with two Honey Buzzards and a pair of Alpine Chamois navigating the scree adding to the memorable sightings.
Philip led another holiday by rail this month, to the picture-perfect alpine town of Mittenwald, ready to explore the Bavarian Alps. During our visits to dramatic gorges, mountain lakes, alpine meadows and fens, and Germany’s scenic highest point the Zugspitze, we admired colourful alpine flowers, and butterflies including Dusky Large Blue, False Heath, Cynthia’s Fritillary and Woodland Brown, in between appointments with apfelstrudel, Weissbeer and hot chocolate.
August took Laurie to South Africa, for our first visit to the Karoo and Kalahari. Over a succession of nocturnal forays we had wonderful sightings of Aardvarks and Aardwolves, African Wild Cats, Cape Porcupines, and Springhares bouncing into the night. Daytime entertainment included displaying Blue Cranes jumping and bugling, vigilant Meerkats, a huddle of Rock Hyrax babies, antelope including Eland, Roan and the beautiful Greater Kudu, and striding Secretarybirds, with Eastern Rock Sengi sunning on rocks and African Snipe drumming at dusk.
Colombia beckoned in November, as Philip and Mike Russell led our first holiday to this biodiverse wonder. From the forests and wetlands around Bogotá to the heady heights of the atmospheric páramo of Parque Nacional Natural de Sumapaz, the cloud forest of the Central Andes to the dry forest of the Caribbean coast, and the high coastal mountains of Santa Marta, we spent time with an astonishing array of birds, along with spectacular butterflies, Brazilian Guinea Pigs and the altitude-loving Andean Tapeti.
In late-December Phil and Sarah led a visit to Cyprus to while away the festive season among Cylclamen persicum, Anemone coronaria, Autumn Ladies-tresses and the beautiful velvety-purple Romulea tempskyana, with birds spotted including Red-throated Pipit, Pallid Harrier, Spur-winged Lapwing, Black Frankolin and Blue Rock Thrush, along with several fabulously large and hairy European Tarantulas lurking amongst the rocks.
As 2025 drew towards its close, Philip was on his way to Bhutan on a recce, ready for our first visit in 2027. In between Himalayan Monal, White-bellied Heron, Blood Pheasant, Black-necked Crane, Ibisbill and Ward’s Trogon there was time with squirrels, langurs and Himalayan Brown Ghoral, and an encounter with the endangered Dhole.
