Addis Ababa is Africa’s fourth-largest city and its diplomatic capital. Founded more than a century ago, its name means “new flower” in Amharic. At an elevation of 2,400m (7,874 ft), it’s the third highest capital in the world and the climate is pleasantly cool. The city mixes past and present, the streets a mishmash of … Continued
Addo Elephant National Park is one of the largest game reserves in South Africa and the only one with a coastline – as such they like to call it a ‘Big Seven‘ reserve including great white sharks and whales! Its size allows the incorporation of five biomes of great diversity, including Nama karoo, Albany thicket, … Continued
The only true desert in South Africa, receiving less than 50mm annual rainfall, this transfrontier park spans part of the border of north-west South Africa and southern Namibia. The Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is formed by the merging of South Africa’s Richtersveld National Park and Namibia’s Ai-Ais Hot Springs Game Park. The temperatures are extreme … Continued
Rwanda’s answer to the savannahs of eastern Africa, Akagera National Park is a beautiful patchwork of rolling grassland, thick forest, wetlands and acacia thickets. The park has suffered from heavy poaching in the past: however, tourist development is slowly stimulating a recovery and many plains species can now be seen here including Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, … Continued
The near-mythical World Heritage Site of Aldabra is the largest raised coral atoll on the planet, covering around 50 square miles. Although extremely remote from Mahe, Aldabra accounts for one third of the Seychelles’ landmass but is uninhabited apart from the warden and staff of the research station. Aldabra contains the largest number of giant … Continued
The 39,225-hectare Alerce Andino National Park of lush temperate rainforest is located one hour southeast of Puerto Montt and stretches from the Reconclavi Estuary to the south and east and the Chapo River to the north. Alerce Andino National Park was established to protect the last stands of one of the oldest living conifer species … Continued
One of the best of the Outer Islands for visitors
East of Manu, the Las Piedras River winds its way through some of the most remote and pristine rainforest in the world. At its head, the 6.7 million acre Alto Purus National Park and Communal Reserve was set up to protect a huge area of forest, home to the nomadic Mashco-Piro tribe. Shunning strangers, little … Continued
Brazil contains the vast majority of the forest and rivers of Amazonia. The sheer scale of the Amazon basin is truly awesome, yet good wildlife viewing is only found in a few choice locations. Around Manaus and in many other parts of Amazonia, it is very difficult to spot wildlife satisfactorily, often due to hunting … Continued
The Amazon region of Colombia covers an area of over 400,000sq km, a little over a third of the national territory. Amazonia contributes greatly to Colombia’s phenomenal biodiversity statistics and cultural heritage. This vast forested basin starts a little to the south of the River Guaviare (which divides the region from the Llanos to the … Continued
To the east of the Andes lies the mighty Amazon basin, home to the largest rainforest in the world and containing around a third of the world’s species of animals and plants. Known locally as the Oriente, the Ecuadorian part of Amazonia has some remarkable rainforest lodges most of which are dotted along the banks … Continued
Located just off the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Ambergris is Belize’s largest island (or caye) at 25 miles long and just over a mile wide. The barrier reef is only a quarter of a mile from the beach, making diving and snorkelling easy and accessible. The only town is San Pedro, home to the … Continued
