Outrageous New Trips for Animal Lovers To Drool Over This Thanksgiving

Wild Planet Adventures has been running award-winning wildlife eco-tours and safaris in 17 countries for over 28 years. It often takes as long as 5 years for them to scout and develop these world-class wildlife experiences because of the great lengths they go to the world’s ultimate wildlife experiences. That means exclusive, specially designed activities to maximize wildlife sightings and the very real possibility to sight rare animals (like the clouded leopard, the world’s most elusive cat recently seen on Wild Planet’s Borneo “Weird & Wonderful Wildlife” eco-tour.) Wild Planet Adventures specializes in the world’s most remote and non-commercial wildlife destinations, with special arrangements for silent approach, high-end naturalist and biologist guides, interactions with researchers and wildlife experts and responsible safaris emphasizing conservation. No other wildlife tours offer so many wildlife-specific features. Since Thanksgiving is traditionally a time to gather around the table and talk about your bucket list wildlife adventures, here are a few of Wild Planet’s newest and most unique wildlife eco-tours and safaris:

NEW FOR 2019…

Tanzania: Great Migration & Secrets of the Serengeti

Follow the migration, not the crowds, with new base, midrange & upscale options to fit any budget. Designed by award-winning wildlife experts & safari guides and featuring unparalleled viewing of the Great Migration, fabled river crossings, a previously off-limits big cat sanctuary and secret Serengeti hot-spots.

Bizarre & Beautiful Madagascar

Small parks? Overly habituated animals? Full Days on teeth-jarring roads? Not with Wild Planet Adventures! Avoid the small, commonly visited touristy parks with overly habituated animals that trap even the most informed travelers. Wild Planet Adventures offer the best possible selection of national parks for travelers who seek a more pristine, authentic, biodiverse, un-crowded and non-commercial wildlife experience, without the sacrifice of comfort - - Stay in some of Madagascar’s most outstanding lodges - - The majority of travel is carefully arranged by charter flights and scheduled flights to minimize long, rugged drives that Madagascar is notorious for. With up to 40 lemur species, countless chameleons, rare fossa and options for whale sharks and humpback whales, this is truly Madagascar’s most comprehensive wildlife adventure!

Maned Wolves of Emas National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site - New Brazil Extension

See Brazil’s Pantanal, Amazon and now the bioluminescent Cerado of Emas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its population of elegant, long-legged maned wolves. Wild Planet averages 1.5 jaguars per day in a secret area of the Pantanal, far away from the over-crowded hub of Porto Jofre where jaguars are often surrounded by as many as 30 boats. This virtually unknown area is an island in the middle of a river through Tiama Ecologicial Reserve, where humans are not allowed to enter, so it requires special logistics not conductive to DIY travelers. As a result, when Wild Planet’s travelers encounter jaguars, its typically without any other boats around, which allows more up close sightings for longer periods of time. Now travelers can also extend their Pantanal & Amazon trip to include the remote Cerado (Savanah) to see the elegant, long-legged maned wolves of Emas National Park – a UNESCO world heritage site also known for its otherworldly bioluminescent savannah. The park also features large populations of giant anteater, giant armadillo, jaguar, puma, ocelot, peccaries, howler monkeys, pampas deer and rhea, as well as Blue-winged, Red-shouldered and Red-bellied Macaws and the greatest concentration of Blue-and-Yellow Macaws outside Amazonia.

Zambia – A Legendary Master Guide Opens Her Own Camp

Josh Cohen, Wild Planet’s Director, calls legendary master guide Deb Tittle “Hands-down the best guide I have worked with in Africa.” With over 22 years experience as both a guide and trainer of guides, Deb will track South Luangwa’s exceptional game with you in her own private concession, an extremely remote, road-less and undisturbed sector of the park. Imagine seeing leopards, elephants, hippos, cape buffalo, giraffes, and more while walking! Walking through big game country with elite Master Naturalists Deb Tittle is a truly exciting - and more intimate - way to experience Africa. As a participant rather than just a tourist, you'll learn to interpret subtle signs and tracks and to identify new scents, listen for alarm cries that reveal the whereabouts of predators, and discover the wonder of life in the bush. An armed scout will accompany your guide for the utmost safety.Deb has a uniquely flexible approach to the nature of a safari walk; following each day’s action as it unfolds, she builds the experience around the abilities and interests of her guests.

MOST POPULAR WILDLIFE ADVENTURES FOR 2019

WILD PLANET ADVENTURES #1 Trip: BORNEO - Weird & Wonderful Wildlife – Offering The FIRST Wildlife Safaris in Borneo’s Lost World, Wild Planet Adventures specializes in seeing Orangutans in the wild! Their unique activates allow opportunities to see rare animals such as the flat headed cat and clouded leopard, which was seen on their July 2018 departure! Averaging 10-20 wild orangutans on every departure (most trips focus on seeing Orangutans in rescue centers, not in the wild as Wild Planet does) and averaging 11 of Borneo’s 13 primate species on every trip – including special expeditions to see tiny tarsiers and slow loris, two of the worlds smallest – and cutest!—primates. Speaking of specially designed activities, this trip is full of them, including a midnight silent boat cruise ideal for rare wildlife, specially arranged access to 2 different areas of Danum Valley, exclusive hikes, and special expeditions to spot Borneo’s unique “gliders” – the flying lemurs, flying frogs, flying squirrels, gliding lizards and more that are Borneo’s legacy! Plus enjoy a breathtaking water bungalow on stilts over one of the world’s top 5 snorkel/dive spots. End at the famous “Lost World” of Borneo! Clouded leopards? Yes! (Really!)

Insider’s Africa – Featuring the only 4-hour Gorilla Trek Permit, plus Africa’s “Rare 5”

Wild Planet's legendary Africa safari offers the best opportunity in Africa see some of the rarest animals on earth, including Mountain Gorillas, Chimps, Meerkats, Pangolin (scaly anteater) Aardvark, Aardwolf and more! The trip starts in Uganda with researcher-led safaris for chimpanzees, tree-climbing lions, the "Big 5", and a the climax of the trip: full day gorilla trek featuring four hours with the gorillas--the most time of any tour operator! (Standard permits are limited to one hour.) A final highlight is the intricate courtship and mating rituals of the stunning Kob antelope, and a colony of adorable banded mongoose, cousins of the meerkats.

Travelers then continue to South Africa's virtually unknown "Green Kalahari", which lies south of the better-known Kalahari Desert. This savannah receive more rain than the better-known northern desert, and is home to thriving protected populations of adorable meerkats, rare rhinos, cheetah and black-maned lions (Africa's largest). But the region is even more prized for opportunities to see rare pangolin (scaly anteater), aardvark and aardwolf, which are normally nocturnal, but forage during the day here from May to September, making it the best place in Africa to see them. This safari is idea for travelers who have already been to Africa and want to see more than just a typical “Big 5” safari, and those who relish the idea of a multitude of eco-systems, activities and wildlife. Wild Planet’s special 4-hour Gorilla permit begs the question, why would you travel all the way to Uganda for just 1 hour with gorillas offered by other tour operators?

Costa Rica Ultimate Wildlife Eco-tour

Plenty of companies offer Costa Rica tours, but few have Wild Planet’s 28 years of wildlife expertise that comes together in the single most comprehensive wildlife-focused eco-tour available in the country. This is Wild Planet Adventure’s signature trip… On just ONE hike alone travelers average seeing 15-25 sloth, 7-15 troops of monkeys, and even some rare sightings. This 14-day Costa Rica “Ultimate Wildlife” eco-tour includes hiking and wildlife viewing in up to 10 national parks & wildlife reserves, interactions with wildlife experts, whitewater and flat-water rafting, cloudforest canopy tours, volcanoes and hot-springs, beaches on both coasts, night hikes for nocturnal animals, sea-kayaking with dolphins and in bioluminescence, high-end naturalist or biologist guides and much more.