Naturetrek Traveller Reviews

With our excellent guide we had excellent siteings of birds and animals. An excellent introduction to Australia. We were a small group that got on well. The food and accommodation were excellent. We would definitely recommend this holiday with Naturetrek.

We have always had excellent service from them. Nothing is too much trouble.

Wonderful wildlife sightings, excellent guide, good accommodation in the heart of the wildlife, small group of like minded travellers

Informative website and broucher. Excellent attention to details. I have travelled with Naturetrek on 3 occasions for wildlife holidays and they have all been unforgettable because of the wonderful opportunities to get up close to nature and the knowledgeable guides.

We saw Orcas In the Strait of Gibraltar, which was a highlight, and Barbary Macacques stealing packets of crisps from people in the cafe on top of the Rock of Gibraltar, which was hilarious. The rest of the time was spent birdwatching. We went to various habitats and saw different types of birds, including lots of waders in a wetlands area, but most of the time we were standing on hills, staring at the sky, where we saw raptors. Many, many raptors, and such good views. Our knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour leaders knew exactly where to go and when, to get the best sightings.

The staff are friendly and helpful, and the website provides lots of very useful information, including itineraries and previous tour reports. They have some great holidays - interesting itineraries in interesting places - and are good value for money.

I really enjoyed the trip to Romania the first time for me.. The local guide was very good, the driver of the mini bus excellent being careful. This was my first time with Naturtrek and I am using them again. Being in the eastern part of Europe the bird life was excellent and I saw a couple of new species.

Naturetrek are a very good tour operator.. This was the fist time that I had used them and I do have other tours booked. I could recommend them to others.

It was a most interesting combination of different aspects of a holiday. Some wildlife, I.e whales, dolphins, sharks, penguins. Then there was the extraordinary birds. The botanical part of the trip was remarkable, seeing plants in their natural place rather than an indoor pot at home. The food was a good variety and good quality. Everything was reasonably priced.

Naturetrek is very good at this sort of holiday, looking for best in places to stay with a good variety of activities to give every member of a group something of interest. The guides they use are fully experienced in what they do. Their pre-trip notes issued by Naturetrek just make you want to go and sometimes it's just hard to decide what destination to choose next. The staff at the initial contact with the office are so helpful. Also the hold the most wonderful film shows to wet your appetite.

The Ardnamurchan peninsula has stunning scenery which the rain did nothing to diminish. And when the sun came out it was even better! Eagles, deer, dolphins and, of course, the pine martens kept cameras clicking and binoculars ever at the ready. A lovely place to stay and the friendliest group of fellow travellers. A very knowledgeable leader who was also very great company and had a good sense of humour (which, I find, is often necessary with Naturetrek groups!)

This was my ninth trip with Naturetrek and I have always had the very best service from the company - which is why I keep going back with them.

The accommodation was at the top of an old US Radar Tower in the middle of the jungle. This gave the opportunity to watch birds and arborial animals at eye-level. Since retiring, I have watched wildlife in several places around the world with excellent Guides, but Alex, the local Guide on this holiday was in a class of his own. His uncanny knack of locating wildlife in deep vegitation was amazing. We saw 223 species of birds and 24 species of animals, most of which I had never heard of before, such as the Kinkajou, Northern Tamandua and Olinga. We also had a visit to the Panama Canal Visitors Centre, which had a huge observation platform with a commentary on the operation of the Canal, details of the ships passing through and their destinations. Altogether a brilliant holiday, exceeding all expectations in every way.

This was my first Naturtrek holiday and will not be my last. The organisation, accommodation, food and staff were all excellent.

What an experience to go on a tour and see more animals than expected. Staying on a small boat with a small boat with a small group of participants and a fantastic hard working, helpful, enthusiastic and knowledgeable crew was a great way to come close to the animals and share experiences with others. We saw multitudes of whales, sea otters. sea lions, seals, birds, grizzlies, black bears and to our surprise a fantastic (two and a half hour long) viewing of three spirit bears. Beside all the viewings, time spend on board was great to learn a lot about the animals from the on board naturalist. Not forgetting the fantastic food which was cooked by Carmen, our cook on board.

They organised the tour well including the parts which we added and were not a part of the original tour. They gave good information in the brochure and on the phone so we knew what to take and what to expect. Their extra tour leader was helpful and sorted any problems out.

We travelled to the Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil on the 8th September. The flights and connections went as clockwork and we were met at our destination by Paulo Ribeiro, our Naturetrek guide. Even the three hour drive from the airport to our first accommodation was an adventure as we spotted a giant anteater, a tapir, a crab-eating fox and a family of coatis! Both SouthWild Lodge and the Jaguar Flotel offered very comfortable twin-bedded rooms with air conditioning and private facilities; we enjoyed excellent meals (loved the fresh fruit!) served in beautiful settings. Nothing about this holiday disappointed; we had several boat rides from both sites, saw fifteen different jaguars (!) and a panoply of other wildlife; walks around the lodge were also interesting as we saw various colourful birds, like toucan and humming birds, amphibians and the ever present capybara. I rate this holiday highly because, as it was slightly shorter than some similar trips, it was affordable for us and yet we felt that we had made a great deal of our eight days; we saw every target animal and bird that we were hoping to see and I came home with hundreds of photographs, including those of jaguars and an ocelot.

The pre-departure information that had been sent to us was very helpful with regard to clothing, health and other essentials and so our stay was as comfortable as it could possibly be. Naturetrek is such a great company with excellent, pleasantly informal, friendly communications; I had hurt my back a few days before we were due to leave but, when I got in touch with the travel office, they were able to organise extra legroom on the flight and wheelchair assistance at the airports - this made it possible for me to enjoy my holiday regardless. We enjoyed a British wildlife holiday with Naturetrek last year and now they have provided us with a thrilling overseas adventure too; we intend to travel with them again next year and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the company to those of our friends that also enjoy wildlife oriented breaks.

The holiday was a wildlife, photographic for us, type to the Pantanal, Matto Grosso. It is a long journey from LHR; some 11 hours to Sao Paulo, 2.5 hours internally to Cuiaba, then approx. 3.5 hours via Pocone, to the first lodge at the South Wild Centre. Here you are on the banks of the Cuiaba River and a host of mammals and birds to sate the most demanding of expectations. This is , of course, after stop/starting on the Transpantaneira enroute to photo an amazing amount of wildlife. At South Wild we had boat trips both early morning to see jaguars before breakfast... most unexpected, and later for giant river otter, etc, etc. etc. In the evening we were spoilt by being able to view the rare ocelot from a specialy constructed hide which is quite new. We then travelled on to Porto Jofre and the main river again... actually the huge area is a confluence of the Cuiaba, the Piquiri, and Three Brothers rivers, all teeming with wildlife. Staying on the eponymous Flotel, providing more than adequate comfort, accommodation and food, we had morning and afternoon 3 hour boat trips exploring this vast area of wetland for 3 days. Apart from the myriad of birdlife, ant eaters, river otters, deer, agouti,etc., the prime target species is of course the jaguar... and we were not disappointed. Including the 'bonus' two we have seen at South Wild, we had 17/18 sightings of these fabulous creatures, with some excellent photographic opportunities. This is our second trip to the Pantanal and it exceeded the first. We are very pleased to recommend this trip to anyone.

The length of the trip, coupled with the balanced itinerary and excellent tour guide, my wife and I felt that it was very good value for money and would recommend for anyone looking for almost guaranteed endemic wildlife species in this wonderful country. As said, we have now experienced two holidays with Naturetrek and are currently negotiating another tailormade type trip for 2018. Communication is always first class and our view is that they are the most competitively priced tour company of their type.