Wildlife Trails Traveller Reviews

We decided to visit India a second time within a couple of month and explore a new area, Satpura/Bori. Wildlife trails managed to arrange a wonderful private safari last minute which is a huge challenge. Thank you for that! The last time we experienced Bandhavgarh NP with the focus on tigers. Satpura offers a different experience as the Sloth bear is with the leopard one of the “big five” of Satpura. Even though it is still a chalkboard to find them. We have been lucky with Sloth bears and even with Tigers in Satpura. Giant Squirrels we have seen many times which was a delight. The Bori area is very beautiful and even more quiet with just a few cars in comparison with the Satpura side. The tiger is seen more often there, also leopards but sloth bears are more skittish. We have been lucky with dhole once. We liked Bori a lot but the core area is quite a long drive from the lodge and only doable in the morning or as a daytrip. So that’s one thing to consider. The lodges were wonderful but I think the more Reni Pani Lodge which is more old Stile we liked a bit better, even though the service was outstanding at Bori Safari lodge, which is very modern. A nice aspect for us was there is a roosting tree for flying foxes directly in the neighborhood. Noisy but fantastic to see them close. Guiding was good, but in comparison with the guides we had at kings lodge in Bandhavgarh not outstanding. But of course we did a last month minute booking we didn’t get the most experienced naturalists. The last afternoon we were guided by the head naturalist of Bori who was brilliant. In total all pickups and transports have been perfect with safe driving. Except a delay of our last pick up at Mumbai from hotel. But we still managed to get in time to the airport. In summary we have to say that we loved the second trip organized from wildlife trails a lot and looking forward to explore another area of the Indian nature soon.

Wildlife trails is extremely helpful to find the perfect journey for you. Very helpful, organizing every perfectly. And for me important 100% trustworthy.

we had an ambitious plan to cover the northern part of India in 18 days, Wildlife Trails helped us develop the bespoke itinerary and it all went perfectly

Alan at Wildlife Trails has a great knowledge of India and its birds and wildlife and happy to talk about options with us, their Indian partner is also fantastic at ensuring everything went smoothly and we were well looked after and had an amazing time

We traveled for a tiger safari to Bandhavgarh National Park mainly to see a tiger in the wild but of course to enjoy Indian wildlife and nature in general. Wildlife trails organised everything perfectly even though is was quite last minute for a tiger safari.. Allan had two very attractive options for us with a private vehicle and exceptional guiding and helped us to choose the right one. We were picked up in Jabalpur by a driver who brought us safely to our lodge. There we were treated so well that it was hard to leave. Food was very delicious. The drives into the National park were every time exciting because you never know what to expect. As we were traveling in November tiger sightings are more tricky due to the coldness and thick vegetation. Our guides also tried to avoid the crowd which can be crazy. We struggled the first days but were rewarded with an excellent and private tiger sighting and a few good ones. But the atmosphere in the forests is magic also without the king of the jungle. The green season has the advantage to see the animals in beautiful lush vegetation. Guiding in general was outstanding. To make it short we were extremely happy and looking forward to visit another National Park in India with Wildlife Trails.

Perfect and personal organization

Srinagar, Amritsar, Shimla and Corvbett National Park

A small organisation with excellent contacts in India who listened to our requirements and built a package to match

We had the most fantastic wildlife holiday in Sabah, Allan is so enthusiastic, welcoming and accomodating. We'd enjoyed an independent trip to Sabah several years before, but this did not even fractionally compare to the one organised by Wildlife Trails. From carefully planned logistics to get us to the remote areas to appointing expert local guides, the whole experience couldn't have been more perfect. The itinerary was a nicely balanced mix of forest treks, jeep safaris and boat rides, both during the day and after dark. We saw a huge list of mammals, reptiles, insects and bird life, the highlights being some great encounters with wild orangutan and seeing pygmy elephants both in the forest and swimming across the great Kinabatagan river. With the help of our fantastic mammal expert guide, Mike, we also saw nocturnal civets, cats, slow loris and flying squirrels amongst so many other species. And of course the ever present hornbill varieties and some truly colourful bird life. The accommodation was described as basic, but was far from it. We always had clean and comfortable ensuite rooms, and were provided with 3 full meals a day which were plentiful and tasty, plus ever available tea & coffee. Allan is experienced in putting together a group of like minded clients, and our group was no exception. He is sympathetic to both the group and each individual's interests and needs, and it was a joy to travel in such close company, something that can be a potential worry for usually independent travellers. Overall we would not hesitate to recommend Wildlife Trails, and we are already planning another trip with them in the near future.

Wildlife Trails are a friendly, helpful Company, who have a worthy reputation built on recommendations from regular and repeat clients. They offer specialist itineraries which are well researched and expertly guided. We highly recommend them and will be traveling with them again in the near future.

We spent three and a half weeks in British Columbia on an amazing wildlife spotting trip. The first 9 days was a cruise on the MV Swell from Bella Bella to Kitimat. It was a brilliant trip, we spotted many Humpback whales bubble netting, lunging and breaching and on our various zodiac trips to remote inlets we saw many grizzlies and black bears and also a brief view of a Spirit Bear! The boat was very comfortable, staff very knowledgable and the food was superb. The second part of our trip was on Vancouver Island, staying at Telegraph Cove, Campbell River and Tofino. We again had many memorable wildlife encounters, particularly the Grizzly bears at Toba Inlet and the Grey whales in Tofino. It was a truly memorable trip that will stay with us for a long, long time!

Everything went very smoothly from start to finish thanks to Allan at Wildlife Trails. We had to postpone the trip twice due to the pandemic and Allan couldn’t have been more helpful helping us through the various rebookings and changes. Wildlife Trails are our go to place for all our wildelife holidays, cannot recommend them highly enough.

This was a place I had dreamed of visiting since childhood and it did not disappoint. This was the first time I had travelled with a small group and I was fortunate that my 5 travelling companions were generous and easy to get along with - as were our guides, Mike and Theo. They spent time getting to understand our interests, our aspirations for the trip and to observe our capabilities and limitations in order to tailor the activities to suit the group. We had a mixture of walking, driving and boat safaris during daylight hours and at night. Mike and Theo did a fantastic job of showing us an incredible array of wildlife. Their skills were astonishing and we saw animals that I still don't know how they managed to spot. We had plenty of space in the boat from Borneo Nature Lodge, unlike some of the more crowded boats we saw elsewhere, and for drives we had the use of purpose built open backed vehicles which meant everyone had a good view in every direction. In addition to Mike and Theo we also had the benefit of experienced rangers and drivers. Although I am a keen photographer I had not expected to take any decent photographs at night, but Mike was particularly adept at lighting subjects so that we could all take photos with whatever kind of camera we had and II came home with better images than I thought I would. We stayed in four different forest areas (Danum Valley, Kinabatangan River, Deramakot and Imbak Canyon) before spending our last couple of days in Sepilok. The accommodation was billed as "modest" in places, but everywhere we stayed we had our own rooms, en suite facilities and sufficient access to power and sockets to charge camera batteries and laptops, even though in most places the power went off later in the evening. I particularly enjoyed Danum Valley Field Centre and Deramakot where there were relatively few visitors and those that were there were a mix of tourists, students and scientists. The experience felt more immersive there than at a tourist lodge. Imbak Canyon was special because it is primarily a scientific study centre and less visited by travellers. All four places were largely off grid there being no internet and little phone signal in some places. I personally found that enhanced the whole experience. Everyone was incredibly friendly and helpful wherever we stayed. The cook at Deramakot even made us cakes for the next leg of our journey. The food was mainly local dishes which were very good and there was plenty of it. Mike met us at Lahad Datu airport and accompanied us during the first three stages of the trip. He then handed the baton to Theo who accompanied us throughout the remainder of the trip and got us to the airport to return home. They saw to all of the transport and all of our meals so we did not have to worry about logistics at all. Even when the road to Imabk Canyon was blocked arrangements were made with no fuss to transfer us and our bags to another pick up on the other side of the blockage to continue our journey. Transfers between forest areas were in vehicles suited to the terrain and the drivers all felt very safe. In all, this was an excellent trip and I would certainly go back and do it all again.

I was looking for a photography trip, but couldn't find one which was going to the places I wanted to go or was within my budget. I spoke to Allan on the phone and he gave me an idea of what I could expect from this trip which was not specifically a photography trip. There was no hard sell and the trip was everything he described it to be and more. The advertised itinerary did not include Imbak Canyon, but Allan was happy to canvas the others in the group to see how it might be added in which it was. The trip was well organised and both the accommodation and partner organisations were well chosen. It was a hassle free, stress free trip from the point of booking right up until I came home. It is clear that the company is run with passion for wildlife and travel and that they have a wealth of experience to draw upon in creating memorable wildlife trips.

Our first visit to Borneo did not disappoint from the accommodation to wildlife sitings. We had no specific wish list however the knowledgable guides, Mike & Theo, worked tirelessly to maximise the experience with pre-dawn & night walks, drives & river cruises. The list of wildlife seen is too long to list here but one of the highlights was seeing a herd of pigmy elephants swimming across the Kinabatangan river in front of us. The accommodation exceeded our expectations for what was described in some cases as ‘basic’, no shortage of hot showers with en-suite facilities along with comfortable beds throughout. The vehicles used for drives were perfect for the task on the tough terrain in the jungle, drivers proved to be considerate & worked extremely well with the guides to maximise the opportunity of wildlife sightings. The transfers between the four wildlife reserves were well organised & worked seamlessly. We were treated to 3 cooked meals a day, most unexpected in the jungle, but allowed us to experience local Asian cuisine. All in all, an unforgettable experience.

A small family run business that specialises in meeting the individual client wishes. We travelled with them several years ago on a bespoke trip, this recent trip was a small group of 5 but Allan took into account our different requests & met them all.

The trip was unforgettable. Our tour was planned perfectly with the three locations we wanted to visit being visited in an order which logically travelled the country. Our guide, Isuru, was absolutely amazing: getting to know us so as to provide experiences for us and sharing all his knowledge on the country. He put us at ease from the moment we arrived and the car was so comfortable - perfect for some of the longer drives. He really made our trip to Sri Lanka extra special. The accommodation which we stayed in was beautiful and every bit as luxurious as we had hoped. The staff at all of them were exceptional and everyone was so welcoming. The chefs on safari even went so far as to make me special non-spicy dishes. Aaron, our safari guide, was amazing at gauging what we were looking for in our animal experience and talking through so many interesting animal facts. Overall, everything from the safari to the hills to the beach was exactly what we had hoped for and more! One day, we hope to go back to this magical place.

Allan and Wildlife Trails were fantastic. Communication was so easy and clear with the tour being tailored to us and everything we had hoped for. We felt listened to throughout the process and feel that Allan really understood what we were after and delivered something that exceeded our expectations. Even when facing the country being red-listed prior to our travel date, the communication was excellent and we felt incredibly reassured. The tour itself was organised in a completely logical and seamless way and every detail had been thought of before we travelled so that our trip was smooth throughout. I can't wait for our next tour with Wildlife Trails next year!

Our first time in Asia and a fantastic wildlife holiday in Borneo, a bespoke package with our own personal wildlife guide and driver giving us the opportunity to experience a range of wildlife with expert knowledge, night safaris by jeep ,boat and by foot were a fantastic experience and something we had never done on other wildlife holidays. We got to see some fantastic wildlife including wild Orangutans , pigmy elephants, proboscis monkeys. binturong, colugo, flying squirrels, amazing leopard cats and rare marbled cat and a multitude of fantastic birds including Rhinoceros hornbills, Pied hornbills and red and black broadbills. A memorable wildlife experience with friendly people, good accommodation and unique wildlife.

A really helpful and personal tour operator who made the trip more enjoyable and tailored to our needs