The most magical wildlife adventures to have at night
This was my kind of nightlife. No drunken crowds or pumping bass but plenty of flashing lights: every time I dipped my paddle below the water’s inky surface, it sparked an eruption of fluorescent blue, like big bursts of fairy dust or an undersea aurora.
Beneath a star-spangled sky, the phytoplankton of Tobago’s Bon Accord Lagoon were putting on quite a display.
Stand-up paddleboarding with bioluminescence on a balmy Caribbean evening is arguably one of the best things you can do after dark, anywhere (standuppaddletobago.com). Utterly magical. But then, nocturnal wildlife encounters frequently are.
The natural world is different at night; new species emerge, new behaviours are revealed; new noises are heard. And there’s an extra frisson. With their better adaptations, animals have the upper hand when the sun has gone down. We humans slip down the food chain. Which makes those late-night encounters – from seeing crocodile eyes reflected in torchlight to glimpsing big cats slinking though the bush to hearing what-was-that? snaps and crackles in the pitch-black jungle – all the more thrilling.
So, as the world slowly comes out of lockdown, be ready to book a wild night out.
Hedgehog hunt
Alderney, Channel Islands
Tiny Alderney is home of the world’s only breeding population of rare “blonde” hedgehogs. Guided sunset walks with the Alderney Wildlife Trust are the best way to spot them snuffling about the bushes; with the help of bat detectors you might locate little pipistrelles too. Afterwards, stay at the new Blonde Hedgehog B&B.
Hedgehog walks (Thursdays) cost £6/£4 adult/child (alderneywildlife.org). Doubles from £230 B&B (01481 823230; blondehedgehog.com)
Ursine overnighter
Finland
“After dark” wildlife observation is made much easier at eastern Finland’s Martinselkonen Wildlife Centre thanks to the midnight sun. Between April and October, stay in one of the centre’s forest-hidden hides – which are equipped with reclining chairs, photography hatches, lavatories and bunk beds – to watch brown bears, moose, wolverine and eagles, all night long.
A three-night Finland Brown Bear trip costs from £645pp excluding flights (01822 600600; ganeandmarshall.com)
Beasts with benefits
Laos
Take on a night safari in Nam Et Phou Louey National Park and you’re not just spotting wildlife, you’re helping to save it. Payments are made to locals when animals – deer, gaur, gibbons, even tigers – are spotted, encouraging the protection of the environment. Head out by boat, scanning with torches, immersed in the sounds of the jungle.
An 11-night Northern Laos Explorer trip costs from £2,490pp excluding flights (0117 2443380; insideasiatours.com)
Loris luck
Sri Lanka
Two decades ago Vil Uyana, near Sigiriya, was slashed-and-burnt farmland; now it’s a biodiverse reserve, and one of the best places to spot slender grey loris. Guided night walks have a 90 per cent success rate of sighting the rare creature. You can also set your own camera trap to capture the wildlife action during your stay.
A four-day Wildlife & Culture trip costs from LKR165,000pp (£675) excluding flights (0094 66 228 6000; jetwinghotels.com)
Into the deep
Sulawesi, Indonesia
The black-sand shallows of Lembeh Strait are teeming with weird critters: seahorses and nudibranchs, mimic octopuses and flying gurnards. After dark it gets even weirder. On night dives you might see flashing jellyfish and the bobbit worm, a nocturnal predator – up to nine feet long – that waits for prey to swim by before lunging with its fatal fangs.
A seven-night Lembeh trip costs from £1,395pp including flights (01353 659999; regal-diving.co.uk)
Turtle time
Costa Rica
Time your trip right to Tortuguero to see one of nature’s most moving spectacles: from June to October, green turtles haul on to the beach at night to lay eggs in the sand. Guided tours (using disturbance-minimising red lights) allow you to watch. Combine this with after-dark jungle hikes on the remote Osa Peninsula to spot frogs, opossums, owls and more.
A 15-day Costa Rica Wildlife Discovery trip costs from £3,883pp excluding flights (020 3811 7378; journeylatinamerica.co.uk)
Endangered encounters
Brazil
The Brazilian Cerrado – the world’s most biodiverse savannah – is more threatened than the Amazon. Pousada Trijuncao protects a small chunk of it, and its rare species. Many of these – such as anteater and maned wolf – are more easily seen on night drives, when their eyes shine in the torchlight. The lodge also offers after-dark kayaking in search of dwarf caiman.
A four-night Pousada Trijuncao stay costs from £1,250pp excluding flights (01285 601784; steppestravel.com)
Sundown snapping
South Africa
South Africa’s Zimanga Reserve is animal abundant: from cheetah, leopard and elephant to white rhino, buffalo and bee-eaters. It also has specially-designed hides, set up for nocturnal photography. Visit under a new moon, with an expert photographer, for the chance to capture some of Africa’s most charismatic species against a dazzle of stars.
A seven-night guided Zimanga photography trip costs from £5,195pp including flights; July 10 2021 (01962 302 086; wildlifeworldwide.com)
Wildest nightlife
Madagascar
To tick off all Madagascar’s lemur species you’ll need to stay up late – several are nocturnal. Search for them, as well as chameleons, geckos and tree frogs, in Andasibe-Mantadia and Ranomafana national parks. For the ultimate sighting, add on a night hike at Kianjavato to track down the elusive aye-aye too.
A 17-day guided Madagascar Wildlife Discovery trip costs from £4,520pp including flights; departures October 2020 and 2021 (020 7666 1260; rainbowtours.co.uk)
A rare range
Namibia
Much-visited by TV naturalist Chris Packham, the private reserve of Okonjima offers something quite special after hours. Night drives here often yield an unusually wide variety of nocturnal creatures, from leopards and aardwolves to rare ground pangolin and brown hyena. There’s also a night hide, where, with luck, you can watch eagle owls, snuffling porcupines and honey badgers.
A 15-day Wonderful Wildlife Namibia Self-drive costs from £2,066pp excluding flights (01803 866965; reefandrainforest.co.uk)
