The call of the wild
You don’t have to join a safari to spot a lion or go all Jacques Cousteau to meet a whale shark. Alex Greig scopes out the best wildlife cruises for 2017.
IT’S EVOLUTION, BABY au.expeditions.com
Modern-day explorers can make like Charles Darwin on a 10-day Galápagos Islands cruise aboard Lindblad Expeditions’
National Geographic Islander. Each morning brings a new view for the 48 guests. Savour it from a hammock on the deck; or hike, kayak, dive or snorkel to meet the islands’ inhabitants – from blue-footed boobies to Galápagos penguins – face to face.
SUBCONTINENTAL SPLENDOUR silversea.com
Set off from Sri Lanka aboard Silversea’s
Silver Discoverer, bound for the Bay of Bengal. Each of the 16 days of the Colombo-to-Kolkata cruise is a feast for the eyes; each meal simply a feast. Go snorkelling among reef fish off India’s Andaman Islands and glimpse rare Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. With memory cards and hearts full, the ship’s 120 guests return each night to gorgeously appointed suites.
ALL THE WAY DOWN seabourn.com
Reaching the furthest ends of the Earth via a luxury cruise is surreal. Seabourn Quest departs from Buenos Aires, where the steak is rare and the tango hot, only to be gliding past Antarctic glaciers days later. Explore the Lemaire Channel in a Zodiac, accompanied by a low-gliding albatross, or watch humpback whales breach in the Gerlache Strait.
TROPICS TO JUNGLE rssc.com
It takes 25 nights to cruise from Miami through the Caribbean, along the coast of Brazil, down the Amazon River and back to Miami. On the way, spot three-toed sloths, marmosets and caimans. Stopping at St Barts, Barbados and Antigua, Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ luxurious 490-guest Seven Seas
Navigator has all the comforts you’d expect.
RIVER ROYALTY zqcollection.com
Spot lions, leopards and buffaloes on an “offshore safari” on Zambezi Queen, which is not so much a cruise ship as a luxury houseboat. Each suite has a private balcony for watching elephants, zebras, antelopes, birds... and dazzling night skies. Adventure World (adventureworld.com.au) and APT (aptouring.com) offer three-day cruises from Namibia to Botswana’s Chobe National Park.
POLAR EXPRESS abercrombiekent.com.au
The first sighting of a polar bear is a highlight for the 199 travellers aboard Arctic-bound
Le Boréal. The 15-day Abercrombie & Kent cruise starts in Oslo and takes in remote Norwegian islands where reindeer and walruses roam; Greenland, with its musk oxen and Arctic foxes; and Iceland, spotting seabirds and whales en route.