The $1-million safari

You can now go on a philanthropic journey across the globe in search of some of nature’s most endangered species

TWELVE DESTINATIONS, 111 days, 18 endangered species, $1million. Whether you’re an avid supporter of wildlife conservation or you’ re keen to experience some of the rarest meet-and-greets in the animal kingdom, this unique, bespoke journey by Natural World Safaris is unquestionably the trip of a lifetime.

Provided by the UK-based company, the package allows one couple to travel a route that covers 12 countries and extends from Arctic Canada to Antarctic Peninsula. If completed all at once, rather than staggered over months or years, the itinerary would take 111 days to complete. As per the organisers behindNatural World Safaris, the trip was created to draw attention to the plight of threatened species around the world.

The itinerary includes first-class flights and luxury accommodation, where available, and includes stays at entirely solar-powered Zafara Camp in Botswana, where luxury tents feature private plunge pool sand copper bathtubs, and aboard the M/ Y Grace yacht in the Galapagos. Accommodation at more isolated locations will be more functional. The safari includes a visit to Whichaway Camp, a remote camp in Antarctica, and the family-run Seal River Heritage Lodge in Canada’ s Hudson Bay. During their travels, couples will have the opportunity to see mountain gorillas in Rwanda, lemurs in Madagascar, sun bears in Borneo and snow leopards in India;they can participate in conservation work as they travel and will liaise with local environmental charities on their journey. Also included on the list of protected creatures are northern white rhinos, chimpanzees, wild dogs, Bengal tigers, orangutans and jaguars—all in their natural environments. Thanks to the expertise of Natural World Safaris, safari-goers will have the most intimate experience possible, such as getting into the water to swim with Blue Whales—an unforgettable encounter.

Natural World Safaris has said it will donate $100,000 per booking between the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora( CITES) and the smaller conservation charities operating in the destinations visited. If you’ve got themool ah, you won’ t find a better way to spend your money than journeying across the world in an epic wildlife adventure— seeing and saving the earth’s most endangered species at the same time. However, this is not the first time that a tour operator has come out with such an expensive and unique vacation proposition. A couple of years ago, a British Web company conceived a two-year superluxury jaunt taking in the world’s 962 Unesco World Heritage Sites for a quoted price of $1.5 million per couple.

Travellers who were lucky enough to spend that kind of money were to be guided around sites, including Taj Mahal in India, Stonehenge in the UK, Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, Easter Island, China’s Forbidden City, Machu Picchu, the Grand Canyon, Petra in Jordan, Acropolis and Vatican City.

Australia’s Unesco sites were also covered, including Ningaloo Coast,

A BESPOKE SAFARI EXPERIENCE BEING OFFERED BY UK-BASED COMPANY NATURAL WORLD SAFARIS ALLOWS TRAVELLERS TO COVER 12 COUNTRIES, EXTENDING FROM ARCTIC CANADA TO THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu National Park. The company behind the trip, VeryFirstTo.com, had stipulated that all destinations would be ‘safe and pragmatic’ at the time of visit. This would rule out certain sites that the department of foreign affairs and trade in the UK currently advises against travel to such as Sudan and certain regions of Bangladesh and Indonesia. Part of what made the trip so expensive was that it would be done in luxury, with travel in business class or superior when possible. Accommodation included luxury hotels such as Hotel George V in Paris, the Plaza in New York, Cipriani in Venice, The Ritz-Carlton in Moscow and Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. Guided tours of the sites were included in the price, as is a $7300 donation to Unesco, presumably to round the price tag off to an even 1 million pounds.