The Times - UK (2022-04-09)

the times Saturday April 9 2022

42 Travel

Need to

know

ANDBEYOND.COM; ALAMY

The Vira Vira lodge

Three more adventures

to seek out large felines

Cheetahs in Tanzania

Originally set aside for

cheetah research, the

sprawling savannahs of

the eastern Serengeti

are playing fields for the

world’s fastest mammal.

Asilia’s Namiri Plains is

the only camp in the

area, far enough from

the chaos of vehicles

circling the central

region of Tanzania’s

most popular park. Built

from rock and canvas,

ten safari villas thread

through the marshlands

here; they have outdoor

bathtubs within gazing

distance of passing

elephant herds.

Described as a “house

of cats” by local guides,

the area is also ideal for

spotting muscular, red-

maned lions enthroned

on kopjes, as well as

rare melanistic servals

in the long grasses.

Details Five nights’

full board from

£7,500pp, including

flights and transfers

(abercrombiekent.co.uk)

Snow leopards

and tigers in India

Despite being one

of the most densely

populated countries,

India still has enough

forests and mountains

for feline roaming.

Focusing on spots and

stripes, a new escorted

tour takes travellers

to prime locations for

seeing snow leopards

and Bengal tigers, both

highly endangered

species. Improved

infrastructure has

made it possible to

combine the Himalayan

Ulley Valley and Kanha

National Park in a three-

week tour, with a chance

to also see red pandas,

sloth bears and dhole.

Details Twenty nights

from £4,995pp,

including flights,

transfers and most meals

(wildlifeworldwide.com)

Iberian lynx in Spain

Admittedly, Europe has

very little megafauna,

but it does have its own

charismatic, whiskered

species: the Iberian lynx.

And the Sierra de

Andujar National Park in

Andalusia is one of only

two locations where it

can be seen in the wild.

Join an expert

for a five-day immersion

into the semi-

mountainous park,

weaving through ancient

oak and cork forests

while learning about

efforts to protect this

animal, once near

extinction. The birdlife is

exceptional in spring, but

you’ll need to brave

autumn and winter for

the best chances of

seeing lynx and wolves.

Details Four nights’

full board from £1,785pp

(ganeandmarshall.com).

Fly to Malaga

l animaloncenear

The Namiri Plains camp in Tanzania

An Iberian lynx

tious in scale as it is in scope. A few final

days at Vira Vira, &Beyond’s only lodge

in South America, presents a welcome

opportunity for us to relax in Chile’s Lake

District. We row along a river running

alongside the luxury lodge, hike through

forests of ancient monkey puzzle trees

in the nearby national park and take a

helicopter ride above the smoking Villar-

rica volcano, the last eruption of which

was as recent as 2015.

Although there are no big cats prowling

through these parts, conservation projects

have been established to support another

vital but often-overlooked living element

of Chilean culture: the indigenous Mapu-

che people.

In the lively village of Quelhue, a 20-

minute drive from Vira Vira, Fernando

Esparparza explains how a rainwater-

collection system that was funded by

tourism has helped him to irrigate his

crops and orchard. As an expression of

thanks, he presents me with a freshly

dug potato. “Since birth, Mapuche people

understand the importance of the land,”

he explains. “If you plant a seed, it grows.”

Although it’s early days for conservation

in South America, it’s exciting to be part

of the process. From small beginnings,

there’s a sense that something great will

soon emerge.

of granite where condors glide and

pumas skulk.

“Everything the light touches is our

kingdom,” Vergara says, laughing, as she

scans the landscape, soon setting eyes

on Hector, a hulking male puma in pursuit

of a female. Using a combination of

camera traps and observations, she hopes

to build a detailed picture of pumas on

the estancia.

Our exclusive tour gives us access to

areas that are usually off limits to tourists;

we creep along rocky corridors and

walk into lichen-draped forests, step-

ping over a turmeric carpet of autumn

leaves. Sitting silently on a fallen tree

trunk, we listen to the rhythmic tapping

of a Magellanic woodpecker and the

swoosh of a horned owl’s wings, all the

time imagining how many pumas may be

watching us.

Not everyone, however, shares our

enthusiasm for the species. During a

sheep-shearing demonstration at the

estancia, a gaucho named Viktor Sharp

refuses to discuss pumas — although his

sentiments are very clear. Angered by

what he perceives to be a threat to his

livelihood, he warns against “thinking

they can change reality in a place like this”.

In Patagonia, distances are enormous,

making our fast-paced itinerary as ambi-

and Matetic families chose to embrace

ecotourism by inviting the photographer

Pia Vergara to establish a foundation

here, focused on preserving Patagonia’s

precious wildlife and habitat. Foundation

Cerro Guido, which was featured in the

opening episode of the second series of

David Attenborough’s Dynasties docu-

mentaries, is working to reduce conflict

between humans and wildlife by intro-

ducing maremma sheepdogs to protect

the grazing flocks.

Early one morning, before dawn’s

pink fingers have stretched above the

horizon, we drive to Condoreras, a steep,

corrugated ridge sliding into a valley

W the heat, go bigger, go faster”. “The worst
thing that could happen to me just had,”
she says. “In a way it was liberating.”
Conversation and debate are key to an
Impact tour. Although Tompkins’s visit
was a surprise and there’s no promise
that she’ll join future tours, Sofia Heino-
nen, the director of Rewilding Argentina,
will be around. As we sit by the campfire
at Socorro, Carlisle gives presentations
about relocating game and shares anec-
dotes from Africa. We discuss the value
of hunting to conservation and debate
whether animals should be named or
numbered — fuelled by scientific fact,
fierce emotion and lots of red wine.
While the wheels are fully in motion
at Ibera, on the other side of the Andes
conservationists are only starting to break
ground. Swapping vast open plains for the
sharp folds of sawtooth mountains, we
cross the border into Chile and head south
to Torres del Paine, the best place in the
Americas to see pumas.
Next to Patagonia’s premier national
park, Cerro Guido is the area’s largest
estancia — an area so wild and inhospit-
able that full-size dinosaur fossils have
survived untouched.
As recently as a decade ago gauchos
were regularly shooting pumas to protect
their sheep, even though it was illegal. But
attitudes are slowly changing, thanks to an
increase in tourism and improved educa-
tion. Having converted part of their work-
ing cattle farm into a lodge — dressed with
heavy wooden furnishings and floral
upholstery that pay homage to the
1920s pioneer lifestyle — the Simunovic

Sarah Marshall was a

guest of &Beyond, which

has an eight-night full-

board tour of Argentina

and Chile from £6,800pp,

and a 13-night tour from

£12,150pp, including

transfers, conservation

donations and guiding

with Les Carlisle,

departing on October 16

(andbeyond.com). Fly to

Buenos Aires and back

from Santiago

Jaguars from Brazil have been

reintroduced to Argentina

ARGENTINA

CHILE

250 miles

Buenos

Aires

Santiago

Posadas

Tor res

del Paine

Lake District

Cerro

Guido

Rincon

del Socorro

Vira Vira

Ibera

Wetlands