Getting close to wildlife is such a spectacular experience, it's not surprising that safaris, wildlife and nature holidays are so popular. But in many tourist destinations, the delicate ecosystems have been trampled under foot. And throughout Africa, Asia and South America, local people have become resentful because the land they once had free access to has been "protected".
The earth has lost 30% of its natural habitat in the past 30 years. Tourism often makes life worse for wildlife and natural landscapes, but some tour operators are finding an eco-friendly alternative. Here are five wildlife holidays that fit the bill.
Kenya
Eselenkei
The Eselenkei Conservation Area is on Maasai tribal land in the shadow of snow-topped Kilimanjaro, a few miles north of Amboseli National Park. Unlike many safari areas in Kenya, the animals here are still very wild as the area is relatively unvisited. Tourist numbers are limited to eight a day to minimise the impact on the environment.
Animals sighted within the Conservation Area include elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah and other cats, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, gerenuk, impala, oryx, lesser kudu, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, striped hyena, bat-eared fox, and ostrich. Birds of prey are also prolific.
The range of animals is all the more amazing considering that the Maasai and wildlife have been at loggerheads in recent years. In 1984, the Maasai were evicted from their traditional lands in Amboseli to make way for conservation and safari tourism. The Maasai began killing animals thinking that it would stop the tourists coming and they would get their land back.
A Kenyan organisation, Porini Ecotourism (in association with British tour operator Tropical Places), started working with the Maasai to find a solution. The Maasai tribal lands have been set aside as a private reserve for wildlife and the Maasai are now receiving a rent for the lease of the land from the tour operator plus an entry fee for each tourist visitor. They also benefit from employment as game scouts, road builders and workers at the luxury safari lodges. Profits are used for maintenance of boreholes, animal husbandry and education for the Maasai. Tourism is starting to work for, not against, them.
• Tropical Places (0800 0185256) and www.porini.com. Three nights, £299 plus flights. The Eselenkei Safari can also be combined with a stay at a Mombasa beach hotel.
Galapagos
Backstage wildlife cruise
Discovery Initiatives has a new approach to nature travel. Every trip is arranged by liaising closely with a conservation group, research station or community project, which they pay to organise a specialist wildlife visit instead of using a local travel agent or ground handler. The visitor gets an "backstage" insight into the local wildlife and environment, and the environmental agency or community gets the money to further their conservation efforts or to invest in community welfare projects.
In the Galapagos, you travel for 10 days on one of a variety of small, luxury yachts around the islands away from the ordinary tourist route. There's plenty of opportunity to see Darwin's finches, blue-footed boobies, the flightless cormorant, some of the 11 species of giant tortoise that can live to more than 200 years old, plus fur seals and migratory whales.
By teaming up with the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Charles Darwin Research Centre, you get an insight into the islands' environmental legacy - and each cruise of 10 people raises US$5,000 for the organisations. For half a day, you are hosted by the Charles Darwin Research Centre where the giant-tortoise breeding programme takes place, and you get to meet the researchers in one of the world's greatest areas of natural importance.
• Discovery Initiatives (01285 810621, email: enquiry@discoveryinitiatives.com). Price: £2,975, departures Sept 23-Oct 6 and March, July 2001.
Offshore
Out of the blue
Whale and dolphin-watching has become big business in recent years, but, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, some tour operators are doing more harm than good, continually chasing after the whales and dolphins and disturbing their feeding patterns and social interaction.
As a result, the WDCS has launched its own travel wing, Out of the Blue. Groups are kept small (eight-12) and each is accompanied by a WDCS expert who has a good working knowledge of the area and of the cetaceans being studied.
The areas visited include the Peninsula Valdes in Argentina - a calving and mating ground for the endangered southern right whale - and the Johnstone Strait off Vancouver Island in Canada, which is probably the best place in the world to watch orcas (killer whales), with a 300-strong resident population in summer.
Each trip includes whale and dolphin-watching from motor launch, yacht or raft, talks by local naturalists and WDCS researchers, and a visit to a WDCS field station to learn about conservation work. You can relax and watch the experts at work or get involved yourself - on the Azores trip, those who want to dive can help collect naturally-shed skin samples from the sea for DNA analysis.
• WDCS (01225 334511, email: info@wdcs.org) and Bluetravel. Forthcoming trips include Scotland (Aug 19-26, for £500 and Sept 1-4, £260); the Azores (Aug 26-Sept 5, £1,150), Argentina (Nov 18-Dec 1, £1,320), and Canada (July 21- Aug 4 2001, £1,434). Prices do not include flights or travel.
UK
Lundy Island
Lundy Island stands 10 miles off the coast of north Devon, where the Atlantic meets the Bristol Channel. Only half a mile wide and three and a half miles long, it is an island that understands the need for good management. Visitors come here particularly for birdwatching and diving.
The puffin inspired the island's name ( Lundey is norse for Puffin island) and puffins can still be seen, although now in small numbers. In the summer, the island is famous for auks (razorbills and guillemots), which breed on the cliffs. The eerie call of the manx shearwater can be heard late in the day, and sightings of rare migrant birds are common in spring and autumn.
Lundy is also famous for Sika deer, Soay sheep (the UK's original wild sheep), Lundy ponies (now a recognised breed), grey seals, basking sharks and dolphins. Lundy was the first designated underwater marine reserve in the UK and, as the water here is very clear, diving is excellent, although the temperature is only for the sturdy. All dive groups must get permission from the warden, and warden- led snorkelling sessions can be arranged.
Owned by the National Trust, but managed by the charity Landmark Trust, its properties have been preserved and renovated and are now let out to tourists. These self-catering properties accommodate 102 people and there is also camping space for 40. Day trippers can also access the island on its supply ship, MS Olenburg, which runs from Bideford or Ilfracombe most days, weather permitting, but as it takes a maximum of 260, the island is never overcrowded.
• Accommodation in various properties, ranging from Castle Cottage (two people), £195-£487 a week depending on season; Old Light Trinity (four people), £288-£728 a week; Government House (five people), £344-£935 a week. Last-minute short breaks and B&B sometimes possible to the end of July. Details on 01237 470422 (www.lundyisland.co.uk or email: bookings@landmarktrust.co.uk).
South-east Asia
Symbiosis
Symbiosis Expeditions arranges tailor-made trips in south-east Asia. Its wildlife specialist, Mike Ball, organises wildlife tours for all types of clients - from those with a basic interest in nature to specialists in their field.
"If someone wanted an add-on to a holiday in Thailand, for instance, I might send them to Khao Yai National Park about 100 miles from Bangkok, which has elephant, gibbons, tigers and impressive birdlife," he says. "But if people have particular areas of interest, we will check out exactly where is best for them and who to link them up with. For instance, last year we arranged a trip to Borneo for an entomologist who wanted to find a tarantula that hadn't been seen since the 1920s. We set up his trip with a specialist wildlife ground-handler in Malaysia and the entomologist found the spider in two weeks."
Symbiosis is particularly focused on organising wildlife holidays with close community involvement and using local wildlife specialists. Tiger tracking in a national park in Sumatra is possible, for instance, with a "Parang Hariman" or tiger caller on a two-to- three-day forest hike. Symbiosis also has close links with research projects and local conservation organisations. For example, the Crater Mountain Project, a research station in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, monitors rainforest flora, fauna and birdlife, including the New Guinea harpy eagle. One of the rarest eagles in the world, it lives in the rainforest canopy, feeds on large forest animals, and is currently endangered because of habitat loss.
• Symbiosis Expeditions. (020-7924 5906, email: wildlife@symbiosis-travel.co.uk). Price of tours vary depending on trip and destination, but work out at roughly £100 a day including flight.
