17 SAFARI ON FOOT IN TIGER COUNTRY, NEPAL

Since 2010, conservation efforts in Nepal have led to the country becoming the first in the world to double its tiger population, which now totals around 450. This has doubled the chance of seeing one of the world’s largest cats in the wild — an even more exciting prospect when exploring jungles on foot, as part of a guide-led tour.

Around 350 miles west of Kathmandu, Bardiya National Park is one of Nepal’s tiger strongholds. With abundant fresh water, an ample number of deer, and little in the way of human development, the cats thrive here. Nature drives and walks are offered every day from lodges such as the excellent Tiger Tops Karnali Lodge, where sightings of Asian elephants and endangered one-horned rhinos are common, even if the naturally elusive feline predators remain far from a guaranteed encounter. tigertops.com JL

Divers swimming with a whale shark, near Cancún, Mexico ABOVE: Thornicroft’s giraffe, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia