In photos: Wildlife Travel highlights from 2026
January 2027
We added the wild flower paradise of the Drakensberg Mountains to our holidays in 2026, as well as autumn visits to the Danube Delta and La Brenne, both popular destinations in the spring. There were also long overdue returns to New Zealand, Svalbard and the Pantanal. We have also been planning future holidays to Georgia, Slovenia and Panama, a return to the Spanish Pyrenees, and autumn visits to Crete and Cyprus.
Our year began in the Southern Hemisphere, as Michaeal introduced our travellers to Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique wildlife. On a journey from Tawharanui to Rakiura, we glimpsed how the country should look and sound in predator-free havens Tiritiri Matingi, Bushy Park and Ulva, visited rainforest remnants at Te Piringa and Purerora, and experienced the bubbling, steaming geological wonderland of Waimangu. We had time on the water in Lake Rotoiti, Kaikōura, Milford Sound and Muaūpoko Otago Peninsula, and memorable encounters with Tūturiwhatu New Zealand Dotterel, Whio Blue Duck, Kakī Black Stilt, Hoiho Yellow-eyed Penguin and bow wave-riding Hector’s Dolphins. An incredible start to the year!
In mid-January Phil set off for Costa Rica on a holiday that spanned the Caribbean lowlands to the Pacific coast. Mammal highlights included Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth, Central American Spider Monkeys and a pair of banana-hunting Tayra, with Emerald Basilisk, American Crocodile and Black Ctenosaur adding the reptilian thrills. There were hummingbirds and tanagers galore, and an early morning with the sought-after Resplendent Quetzal, but a riverside encounter with an Agami Heron: one of the most rarely-seen herons in the Americas, was one of the most memorable moments of the holiday.
Meanwhile Philip was in South Africa for a new holiday visiting the botanical wonderland of the Drakensberg. Amongst many highlights were a profusion of orchids, proteas, pokers and gladioli, with plenty to keep the birders interested, including Gurney’s Sugarbird, Drakensberg Rockjumper, Southern Bald Ibis, Drakensberg Prinia and Greater Painted-snipe. Mammal sightings along the way included Rock Hyrax, Burchell’s Zebra, Bush Duiker and Cape Grey Mongoose.
Mike Symes and Dom were back in Morocco in February, greeted by an abundance of plants spilling forth in fields and rocky banks. There was an equal abundance of butterflies, with False Mallow Skipper, Greenish Black-tip and Common Tiger Blue amongst our finds. The antics of a pair of Great Spotted Cuckoos, a fascinating Egyptian Flower Mantis, handsome Moussier’s Redstarts, the bright-red Orange-winged Dropwing and a large group Greater Flamingos in the late-afternoon sun all added to the enjoyment of one of our favourite corners of North Africa.
Mike Russell was Africa-bound in March for an epic two weeks in Botswana, between Chobe, the Okavango Delta and the magnificent Victoria Falls. We were treated to incredible sightings of African Elephants, mating Lions, a Leopard with her chunky cub, farting Hippos and White Rhino. Standouts amongst the birds included Martial Eagle, Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, Black Heron, African Barred Owlet, Greater Painted Snipe, Meyer’s Parrot and Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, with Flap-necked Chameleon worthy of an honourable mention.
Philip and Laurie led our first visit of the year to the Mediterranean, as they travelled to Cyprus in March. Our timing was excellent with an Isabelline Wheatear arriving in the hotel garden on our first morning, the first of many migrants we’d see, as well as two vagrants: an Isabelline Shrike from Central Asia and a Namaqua Dove from Arabia. We found ourselves up to our eyes in orchids in Pegeia Forest, before enjoying the coastal plants at Mandria and the diverse community of the Akamas ridge.
James joined Philip for a second, bird-focused week in Cyprus, with migration in full swing. We were soon spotting Rüppell’s Warbler and Wryneck, Semi-collared Flycatcher and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Wood Warbler and Masked Shrike, with a Desert Finch from the Middle East a less-expected and exciting sighting.