Adventures · Time, patience and a guide who reads the ground

Wildlife expedition

A wildlife expedition trades comfort and money for the odds: three nights instead of one, a permit instead of a hope, a guide who reads tracks instead of a map. Gorillas in Bwindi, otters in Manu, orangutans in Danum, the Okavango’s dry-season gathering, the Galápagos and the polar bears of Svalbard.

Wildlife is the adventure of odds. The animals are where the water is, when the season says, if you have given them enough nights and a guide who reads the ground. The places here are chosen for the animals that make them unique: the gorillas of Bwindi, the giant otters of Manu, the orangutans of Danum, the elephants and wild dogs of the Okavango flood, the fearless animals of the Galápagos, the bears beyond the sign in Svalbard.

What it asks of the body

Patience and early mornings. The Bwindi trek is the one physical demand, up to five hours through steep wet forest, and the porters exist for it. The rest is standing still in the right place at the right hour.

What it asks of the calendar

Dry seasons concentrate animals at water; the flood in Botswana, the dry months in the Amazon and the cool season in the Galápagos are the windows. Permits for gorillas and quotas for Manu’s reserved zone sell out in those windows and the trip is built around them.

What it costs

The widest range on this site. The Budget Simulator shows the same delta at a mokoro day’s price and a top camp’s, and the same gorillas at a permit that costs what a flight costs. Time is the other currency, and three nights is the minimum spend.

Essentials

Binoculars, which change every hour of every day
Neutral clothing, long sleeves and quiet fabrics
The vaccinations and prophylaxis the page lists, six weeks ahead
Time: three nights where the animals are, not one
The rules of distance, which are why the animals are still there

Risks

▲▲DistanceElephants, hippos and bears are the fatal ones; the guides’ distances are not negotiable.
▲▲DiseaseMalaria and yellow fever in the canopy realm; the prophylaxis is part of the packing list.
▲▲DisappointmentThe animal may not come; the model gives odds, not promises, and the trip has to be good without it.
▲▲Camp rulesUnfenced camps in the Okavango and Manu run on escorts after dark; the rules exist because of what walked through last week.

Questions people ask

Will I see the animal?

Gorillas, by the design of the permit, yes. Otters and macaws in Manu, near certain in the dry season. Orangutans in Danum, likely in three days. Polar bears in Svalbard, on a ship, usually; from town, rarely. Jaguars, a rumour.

How much time?

Three nights in a place gives the wildlife odds a chance to work; one night gives them none. The Journey Simulator will not let you plan fewer without flagging it.

What does it cost?

Every band on this site: a mokoro day from Maun, a homestay in Raja Ampat, a gorilla permit that costs a flight, an Okavango camp that costs a car.

Places for this adventure

Canopy Uganda · June to August and December to February Bwindi Impenetrable Forest An hour with a family of mountain gorillas, after a morning of climbing through the forest that gives them their home 3 daysWonder 10/10Effort 6/10

Canopy Peru · May to October Manu, Amazon From the Andes to the Amazon in a day, then a week where the forest does the talking 7 daysWonder 9/10Effort 5/10

Canopy Malaysia · March to October Danum Valley, Borneo The oldest rainforest on earth, orangutans in the canopy and a walkway above it 4 daysWonder 9/10Effort 4/10

Water Botswana · June to October: the flood peaks in July and August while the land dries Okavango Delta A river that never reaches the sea, flooding a desert every winter and filling it with animals 6 daysWonder 10/10Effort 3/10

Island Ecuador · Every month Galápagos Islands where the animals never learned to be afraid 8 daysWonder 10/10Effort 3/10

Ice Norway · March to May for snow with daylight Svalbard Polar bears, glaciers to the sea and four months without a sunset 6 daysWonder 10/10Effort 5/10

Island Yemen · February to April Socotra Dragon’s blood trees, bottle trees and an island that evolved on its own for twenty million years 8 daysWonder 10/10Effort 5/10

Ice Antarctica · November to March Antarctic Peninsula Two days across the Drake Passage to the only continent that belongs to nobody 11 daysWonder 10/10Effort 4/10

The Simulation Brief

One place, one simulator, one honest number. Every second Sunday.

No newsletter theatre. A short e-mail with the place we modelled, what the model said and what the ground said back.