Staff Report: Guyana in Pictures - By Sally Jefferis

Rewa River sunset

A lazy morning spent paddling down the Buro Buro river wildlife spotting

An early morning wake up call from a Red Howler monley beats any alarm clock!

Fruit bats woken from their sleep

Giant river otter swimming

Giant river otter

Guyana's national flower the Victoria Amazonica has leaves that grow up to 3m in diameter. At dusk the lily's flower slowly opens to reveal a brilliant white bloom.

Humming Bird at Maipaima Eco Lodge

Incredible sunsets over unspoilt rainforest

Kaieteur with Rainbow

Playful Giant River Otter

Singing and dancing with children from the local village

The Central Rainforests area is best viewed from the canopy walkway at Atta Rainforest Lodge.

The sight of 30,000 gallons of water per second tumbling over the 741 foot sheer drop is an awe inspiring sight and sound.

For further details of Tailor-made Wildlife Holidays in Guyana - Click here

Bear Watching in Finland - August 2010 (Customer Comment)

"Thank you all at Wildlife Worldwide for organising such a unforgetable trip to Finland to see Brown Bears. Even after my reservations concerning my final flight were allayed. Martinselkonen was a superb base, food accomodation guides were all first class. The Bears played ball and I have some beautiful images from the trip, attached will one of the cubs. There will be more on our website if you care to have a look at. Once again a very big thank you all, I will continue to reccomend your fine company to all."

Ron & Maggie T. August 2010

Bear Watching Holidays in Finland - Click here

Customer Comment: Eclipse - Easter Island 2010

"Merely wanted to say how much we enjoyed the eclipse on Easter Island and how special it was to be there. Here are a couple of pictures. I admit that the monochrome one I cheated a bit-its my eclipse pic on my statue pic but closer together than in reality!"
Sue P. July 2010.

Customer Review: Bears in Finland, by John B. May 2010

“Climbing up a small incline we approach our hide for the evening, here in the ancient taiga forest of pine on the Russian-Finnish border we need to move carefully as our guide, Jano, has warned that Bears could be close by and we need to quickly secure ourselves in the hide for the evening. However, as our small party of 6 reach the larger of the 3 hides, these words dissolve as quickly as our first bear of the evening appears about 20 metres away and the pure excitement of seeing these animals in the wild kicks in and we do the opposite of our genetic instinct and we try and move in closer, as this is the reason we have travelled this far for a short 4 day break in Finland.

Having arrived the previous evening after a flight through Helsinki and Kajanni and a dusk (about 10:00pm) drive through the serene forest and lake environment of eastern Finland we had woken that morning to the sound of birdsong, and the pet Reindeer Martin at our window at the Martinselkonen Erakeskus. Here as an unexpected consequence of the Cold War, this former guard house, has been comfortably converted and is a true family affair with the family providing food and help over the day before the trip to the hides in the evening. After a morning walk, accompanied dog-like by Martin, we spend a happy hour before hot drinks at 12:00 by the bird feeders spotting squirrels, woodpecker, Siberian Jays, gloriously coloured finches and a host of other small birds.However, this is just the warm up act; and after a sumptuous feast of salmon (very much like the bears we will soon be seeing) at 15:00 we depart promptly towards the hide at 16:00. As there is still snow on the ground, we travel part way to the hide on a skidoo and sleigh construction, but due to the weather just starting to warm the male members of the party have to de-camp half way to the hide after a couple of groundings in the mix between frozen and de-frosting ground.

It is after we have all met up again that we have our first bear encounter as we approach the hide. On the first night our party of three had the whole 10 person hide to ourselves with the guide, and after our spectacular arrival we quickly moved into the safety of the hide and were securely locked in for the evening. Within half an hour of setting up in the well-organised hide, another bear arrived, walking in the area in front of the hide, which soon discovered and starting eating the salmon and "Bear" snacks (dog biscuits) cleverly hidden around the small clearing.

Over the course of the next 6 hours we saw around 18 different bears come and go according to hierarchy within the group, with barely any time when a bear wasn't in sight. The number of bear sightings was mainly due to the fact that they had only recently emerged from hibernation so were wanting to "power-snack" their way up to mating weight. We were completely enthralled; it made for a stunning spectacle. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any more exciting, the evening was ‘crowned’ just towards dusk, when one of the alpha males moved in close to a female and her three two-year old cubs resulting in the family making a mad dash up the nearest pine tree. However, one of the smaller cubs wasn’t going to miss out on his food – he made sure he took it with him and then proceed to nonchalantly eat this piece of salmon whilst secured around 75 feet from the ground away from the grumpy male.

When the light began to fade, we turned our attention to getting some sleep. The arrangements were simple – bunk beds each equipped with a sleeping bag and pillow. We each claimed a bed and climbed into our sleeping bags fully clothed. During the night we could hear the sounds of grunting and snorting as the bears continued to eat, which competed with the sounds of snoring from inside the hide.Those of us keen enough then re-commenced watching from around 04:00 and although not the same volume, did manage to see some bears before we were released from the hide around 07:00 and transported back to the lodge for a well deserved breakfast.

Our schedule saw us staying a second night in the same hide where we were joined by two coaches from the bronze medal 2010 Finnish Olympic Ice Hockey team. The hours passed swiftly as we sat enthralled by the antics and inter-play between the bears who we'd now come to regard as friends.

The next day we said our farewells to Martinselkonen, and with Markuus driving were transferred over the next 2 hours to the latest addition in the family business near Kuhmo at Viiksimo called Boreal Wildlife Centre..

Run by Markuus's son Jani in joint ownership with world renowned Finnish videographer Kari Kemppainen the recently converted guard house had only been taking guests for around a month but the place was in full swing with the short season of capercaillie lecking and black grouse. However, despite the wonderful crisp weather the thought of an evening in a small tent hide wasn't why we had swopped location; for us the spotting list here was about the elusive wolverine, wolves (a pack of eight had been seen the previous night), which along with the bears promised a real spotting feast.

The set-up here was similar to the well tested operation at Martinselskonen and we quickly slipped into the routine culminating in making our way to the hide for the evening again at 16:00 but with a slightly shorter trip. Here the hides are located in atmospheric no-mans land between Finland and Russia. This experience offered a more open environment from the previous two nights looking out over rough grass and ponds with the tree line about 1/2 km away on all sides. This created an altogether more wild and isolated experience with the bears seemingly more nervous (whether from the recent arrival of the wolf pack or just their recent awakening from hibernation) and smaller in number but with a very knowledgeable guide and visits from a white tailed sea eagle, a veritable murder of crows and black headed gulls the time passed quickly, and although as nature often does, we weren't rewarded with sightings of wolves or wolverines, over the course of the three nights we had more than our fair share of memories and enough reason to return in the not too distant future.

This is certainly a trip we’ll recommend to fellow wildlife enthusiasts.”

John B. May 2010.

Wildlife Holiday, Bear-Watching in Finland - Click here

‘Pantanal Wildlife’ – James Lowen

To celebrate the wonders of the Brazil, Wildlife Worldwide and the Brazilian Tourist Board are hosting a special evening of events. Come and listen to Latin American resident James Lowen, author of the recently published Bradt guide ‘Pantanal Wildlife’ and award-winning wildlife photographer Nick Garbutt as they engage you in experiences of the Pantanal and beyond.

Where better than to host a travel author event than Stanfords Books & Maps store in Covent Garden? We will be providing Brazilian Caipirinha cocktails and nibbles with a possible smattering of Portuguese! Guests can also enjoy a 10% discount voucher from the store where they may choose to delve deeper into the specifics of Pantanal wildlife through the purchase of James’ Bradt ‘Pantanal Wildlife’ guide.

Event Date: Tuesday 11th May
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Stanfords Book & Map store, 12-14 Long Acre, Covent Garden, WC2E 9LP

Places are limited so to book a place at this event please contact sales@wildlifeworldwide.com or call 0845 130 6972

Our Top 5: Lodges - Let us WOW you with a selection of our favourite places to stay...

Tafika, Luangwa
Zambia

John, Carole and their team welcome you as friends to their remote camp. The camp has beautifully constructed cottages where locally produced textiles adorn the beds.

Breakfast campfires and superb access to wildlife all make for a fantastic retreat and John can even give you an aerial view of the local wildlife from his microlight if you wish. Find out more about Zambian walking and driving safaris on our Zambia web pages or our - Luangwa Walking Adventure from £4785 per person


Knight Inlet Lodge
Canada

Grizzly bear viewing and whale watching beyond compare – but don’t just take our word for it... ‘..we were blown away by the Knight Inlet trip, which surpassed all our expectations, not just with the animal viewing, but by the friendly and dedicated staff at the lodge.’
Viv & Roger C - Oct 2009

See all our Canadian bear viewing trips or our:

Bears of Knight Inlet Holiday from £3549 per person

Amboseli Porini
Amboseli, Kenya

Your stay at Amboseli Porini directly assists the surrounding Masai community in the unspoilt wilderness of the Selenkay Conservancy. This secluded camp of just nine tents provides tranquility and luxury without excess. Porini headlines in the eco-tourism stakes. Superb lodges, outstanding guides and just about the best value for money of any property on the continent of Africa. Other options can be found with our-
Wings over Kenya Safari Holiday from £3395 per person

Sacha Jungle Lodge
Amazon, Ecuador

Visit the Amazon, becomepart of it…and leave no trace! Sacha Jungle Lodge is constructed as a group of small cabins from locally sourced materials. Sacha works naturally with the surrounding forest and allows for unprecedented viewing of the forest canopy from a raised walkway. Rainforest walks and river trips with top notch guides are the order of the day at Sacha. Have a look at our Ecuador and Galapagos itinerary -
Complete Ecuador & the Galapagos from £3799 per person

Borneo Rainforest Lodge
Borneo, Malaysia


Borneo Rainforest Lodge lies in the heart of the Danum Valley, a pristine environment great for wildlife viewing, including Borneo’s signature creature, the enigmatic orang-utan. The highlight of a stay here is a walk along the canopy walkway – a unique vantage point from which to see the wonderful natural environment and live theatre below. See -

Sabah Wildlife Special from £2749

Customer Comment: Wildlife Holiday in Uganda

This was a short and intensive trip primarily focussed on the forest birds of west Uganda. It was a great success.

Flights
Business Class Kenya Airways was very good, certainly superior to Air Namibia and to European airlines like Iberian. Flights were on time throughout.

Lodges
Lake Victoria Hotel
Colonial Africa in feel, slightly run-down charm, but fine for the purpose.

Ndali Lodge
Same as I remember it from 7 years ago. Still very friendly with good accommodation and very good food.

Jacana Lodge
Much preferable to Mweya. Good accommodation and excellent food.

Bwindi
Had it much to myself. Food not quite up to standard of other lodges but very good none the less.

Mihingo
Spectacular setting, excellent rooms and food. Could be a problem for people with leg, hip or knee problems given the walk from rooms to the main areas.

Programme
The programme was very full, though that is what I expected and wanted. It took me to places I wanted to visit and I saw 300 birds in 8 days.

Guides and Tour arrangements
I had one driver/guide provided by Volcanos and a bird guide found through Patrick.

The Volcanos guide, Charles Kawooya, was an excellent driver, efficient organiser and a delightful man who looked after me very well indeed. I would be happy to travel with him again.
Alfred, the specialist bird guide, was essential to the trip. Without him, the holiday would have been much less successful since forest birding is really only possible with expert help. Alfred was one of the best bird guides I have ever encountered and I would recommend him to anyone who expresses an interest in birding in Uganda.

Margaret P. January 2010

Wildlife holidays in Uganda - Click here