Wish you were here..?

In these troubled times, I thought I’d give every wildlife photographer out there a chance to fantasise about a few dream destinations around the globe.

Whatever your passion, I’m sure there’s somewhere out there that would provide a great photographic getaway - once we’re all allowed out to play again…!

Africa

• Botswana: Okavango Delta, Moremi, Chobe for elephants

• Kenya: Masai Mara for cheetah kills; Lake Bogoria for flamingos; Lewa Wildlife Conservancy for black rhino

• Madagascar: for chameleons, baby lemurs, mating fossas

• Namibia: Etosha for rhino; Damaraland or Namib Desert for dunescapes; Africat cheetah sanctuary for cheetahs; Desert Rhino Camp for black rhino

• Rwanda: Volcanoes National Park in the Virunga Mountains for (very expensive) gorillas

• South Africa: Kruger or Cape Town for cage diving with great white sharks; Wild Coast for surfing dolphins; Pilanesburg Game Reserve for black rhino; Tiger Canyon Private Game Reserve for Bengal tigers, cheetahs, aardwolf, aardvarks, serval, caracal, bat-eared fox, cape fox, grey mongoose, springbok and wild horses, among others

• Tanzania: Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire

• Uganda: Bwindi National Park for gorillas

• Zambia: Kaingo Camp hides for carmine bee-eaters; South Luangwa for hippos

• Zimbabwe: Hwange or Mana Pools for walking safaris

Arctic & Antarctic

• Antarctica: Antarctic Peninsula for penguins

• Canada: Churchill, Manitoba, and Baffin Island for polar bears

• Norway: Spitsbergen/Svalbard for polar bears and reindeer

• UK: South Georgia for king penguins

Asia

• India: Tadoba, Bandhavgarh, Ranthambore and Bandipur for tigers; Ladakh for snow leopards; Gir National Park, Gujarat, for Asiatic lions

• Indonesia: Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, for orangutans

• Japan: Jigokudani Yaenkoen or Shibu Onsen for snow monkeys

• Malaysia: Kinabatangan River, Borneo, for monkeys, macaques, crocodiles and pygmy elephants

• Maldives: for snorkelling on coral reefs with dolphins, sharks, turtles, clown fish and manta rays

• Sri Lanka: Wilpattu and Yala for leopards, sloth bears and spotted deer

• Thailand: Khao Yai for Asian elephants, gibbons and macaques

Europe

• Belarus: for wolves, bison, beaver and elk

• Bulgaria: Srebarna Biosphere Reserve (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) for Dalmatian pelicans; Central Balkan National Park for over 120 different breeding birds

• Denmark: Mykines, Faeroe Islands, for gannets, kittiwakes and puffins; Nólsoy, Faeroe Islands, for storm petrels

• Finland: Martinselkonen Nature Reserve or Petola Nature Centre for

• France: Mercantour National Park near Nice for wolves; Ornithological Park Pont de Gau for flamingos, herons and egrets

• Greece: northern Greece for bears, wolves, wolverines and lynxes; Lake Kerkini for over 300 different bird species, including the Dalmatian pelican, pygmy cormorant and other wading birds and waterbirds

• Iceland: for killer whales

• Italy: Ligurian Sea for whales and dolphins

• Montenegro: Lake Skadar for snakes, wild boar and tortoises plus 280 different species of birds, including the Dalmatian pelican and various storks, herons and egrets

• Netherlands: Dunes of Texel National Park for wading birds, including terns, eiders, all manner of shorebirds and a huge spoonbill colony

• Norway: Båtsfjord floating hide for arctic sea ducks such as the king eider, common eider, Steller’s eider and long-tailed duck

• Poland: Bialowieza Forest for European bison

• Portugal: Azores for swimming with dolphins and sperm whales; Madeira for whale-, seal- and dolphin-watching and various birds such as Zino’s petrel, red-legged partridges, gannets, herons, Eurasian kestrels, moorhens, oystercatchers, terns, gulls and European bee-eaters

• Romania: Danube Delta for over 350 different species of birds, such as the pygmy cormorant, Dalmatian pelican and various terns and herons; Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania, for lynx

• Spain: Cabárceno safari park for the sable antelope, ostrich, European bison, water buffalo, zebra, dromedary, eland, African elephant, emu, warthog, gorilla, spotted hyena, hippo, jaguar, giraffe, lion, lynx, wolf, grizzly bear, olive baboon, white rhino, blue wildebeest, and tiger; Ronda for the Feria Goyesca in September if you like bull-fighting; Tarifa for whale-watching; Pamplona for the running of the bulls; Doñana National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) for herons and wading birds; Monfrague National Park for birds of prey such as buzzards, eagles and the black, griffon and Egyptian vultures

• Sweden: Taiga Forest for wolves and moose; Falsterbo Bird Observatory for the autumn migration, including buzzards and passerines such as the blue tit and bearded reedling

• UK: Lundy Island for bird-watching; Mull, Skye and other Hebridean islands in Scotland for otters, whales, sharks, porpoises, dolphins, and seals plus golden and white- tailed sea eagles and falcons; Skomer Island for manx shearwaters, guillemots, kittiwakes and Atlantic puffins; Shetland Islands, Scotland, for sea otters, whales, killer whales, dolphins and porpoises plus puffins at Sumburgh Head and gannets at Hermaness; Cairngorms National Park for the capercaillie, red grouse, ptarmigan and snow bunting; Akrotiri Marsh and Peninsula, Cyprus, for shorebirds, wading birds and seabirds, including endemic species such as the Cyprus wheatear and the Cyprus warbler; Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Cley Marshes, for over 300 different bird species, including Harriers and bearded reedlings, wading birds such as avocets and various seabirds and waterfowl such as brant (or brent) geese

North America (including Central America)

• Belize: Victoria House, Ambergris Caye, for snorkelling

• Canada: Lake Louise and the Icefields Parkway, Alberta, for the grizzly bear, black bear, elk, moose, coyote, deer, mountain goat and bighorn sheep, as well as small animals like the pika and marmot; British Columbia for ghost bears

• Costa Rica: Tortuguero National Park for baby turtles, mating dance of red-capped mannequin bird

• France: Anse Noire, Martinique, for sea turtles, tropical fish and black and white sea urchins

• United States: Brooks Falls, Alaska, for bears catching salmon; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, for elk, bison, brown and black bears, mountain goats, foxes and wolves; Rockport in the Skagit Valley, Washington, for snow geese and bald eagles; Boston or San Diego for whale watching; Wakodahatchee Wetlands and Shark Valley for birds; Fakahatchee Strand Preserve for gators, dwarf cypresses and birds; Triple D game farm, Montana, for tiger, bear, snow leopard, wolf, cougar etc

Oceania

• Australia: Great Barrier Reef, Queensland for scuba diving and snorkelling; Fraser Island, Queensland, for dingoes, turtles, dugongs and whales; Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Queensland, for koala bears; Kangaroo Island, South Australia, for kangaroos, bandicoots, sea lions, echidnas, koalas and wallabies; Maria Island, Tasmania, for kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, possums, wombats, echidnas, Tasmanian devils and many different species of birds; Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, for whale sharks; Phillip Island, Victoria, for little penguins; Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, for echidnas, emus, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, penguins, Australian fur seals, dolphins and humpback whales; Montague Island, New South Wales, for seabirds and fur seals; The Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, for cage diving with sea lions, dolphins or great white sharks

South America

• Argentina: Peninsula Valdes for whale watching plus killer whales, dolphins and guanacos

• Brazil: Jaguarland, Pantanal, for jaguars

• Chile: Torres del Paine National Park for pumas

• Colombia: for bird-watching

• Ecuador: Galápagos Islands for marine iguanas (particularly the multicoloured ones on Española), giant tortoises, Galápagos sea lions, Sally Lightfoot crabs, green turtles and penguins

• Guyana: North Rupununi for jaguar, giant anteater, harpy eagles

• Peru: Lake Sandoval for macaws, squirrels, spiders, howler monkeys and birds such as the hoatzin

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