Out of Africa
Adventures
'Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.'
Doris Lessing: Zimbabwean-raised, 2007 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
Where is MTGT Going in 2026?
Early Arctic Spring on Small Expedition Vessel in Svalbard, Norway
April and May are early spring in the Arctic. By the middle of April, the 24-hour midnight sun returns, ending the long Arctic winter and bathing glaciers, mountains, and frozen fjords in soft orange and red light. This is the perfect season to capture Svalbard’s ethereal landscapes and wildlife:
We travel aboard the MS Virgo, a small expedition ship with room for just 12 passengers. Limited rooms on small vessels make them both scarce and expensive. We use Zodiacs for up-close wildlife viewing—a benefit of smaller vessels. On larger boats, you may need to wait your turn for a Zodiac. The MS Virgo can travel up to 12 nautical miles from Longyearbyen, heading west if northern routes remain ice bound in April and May. Either way, the landscapes and wildlife will be spectacular — and we’ll be ahead of the summer tourist rush in June–August.
I enjoy serendipitous encounters. One of my Lusaka guests introduced me to Norway’s pioneers in polar bear research. Thor Larsen began his academic career in 1965 at the Norwegian Polar Institute. From there, he became a member of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Polar Bear Specialist Group from 1968 to 1985. He helped initiate the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears signed in 1973. He spent 11 years guiding visitors on Svalbard cruises. We even have a Zambia connection. He spent several years as a consultant of wildlife management in Lusaka and South Luangwa National Park under then the first President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. Thor has graciously extended an invitation to meet him when I pass through Oslo in May. In an interview with Greenpeace, he described his 50 years of experience in the Arctic as a “never-ending love story.” I feel similarly about wilderness and wildlife no matter its location.
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Polar bears on sea ice and snow-covered land
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Walruses and seals resting on ice floes
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Arctic foxes, reindeer, and seabirds in their natural habitats on land
Trip Information
Focus: Wildlife and Conservation; Wilderness
Where: Begins and Ends in Longyearbyen
When: May 09 – 17, 2026 and April 15 – 23, 2027
Length: 9 DAYS/8 NIGHTS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to six to eight guests.
There are a limited number of single rooms on the MS Virgo.
2026: Waiting list
2027: Book now to secure your cabin
Brazil’s Northern Pantanal: Jaguars
Trip Information
Focus: Wildlife & Conservation
Where: Begins and ends in Cuiaba City
When: August 07 - 17, 2026
Length: 11 DAYS/10 NIGHTS
Maned Wolf Extension:
When: August 18 - 23, 2026
Length: 6 DAYS/5 NIGHTS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to ten guests for the Pantanal; open to six guests for Emas National Park. One room remaining for two people to share or one solo traveller
This is MTT’s third year visiting Brazil’s Pantanal. The Pantanal is the world’s largest flooded grassland. Spilling over into Bolivia and Paraguay, the majority of these flooded savannahs lie within Brazil. Part national park and part UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pantanal hosts the highest concentrations of South America’s wildlife. Its apex predator is the jaguar, the world’s third-largest cat after tigers and lions. Jaguars resemble Africa’s and Asia’s leopards, but their spots are more complex, often featuring a central dot. Unlike leopards, jaguars are active during the day, making boat trips into the Pantanal’s waterways particularly thrilling. It is likely that you will see these water-loving cats hunting their preferred prey: caimans (alligator-like reptiles) and capybaras, large rodents weighing up to 77 kilograms. Although jaguars are the undisputed highlight of the Pantanal, these wetlands also provide excellent opportunities to spot Giant Anteaters, Capuchin and Howler monkeys, Anacondas, Tapirs, Giant River Otters, and Marsh Deer. The Pantanal is divided into two main regions: north and south, each of which must be accessed separately. The north is reached via the unpaved and raised "Transpantaneira Highway," which begins 1.5 hours’ drive south of Cuiabá City. After crossing 122 bridges over seasonally flooded grasslands, the Transpantaneira ends in the town of Port Jofre, the jumping-off point for boat trips into Meeting of the Waters State Park and prime jaguar habitat. The south is accessed by flying into Corumbá or Campo Grande and taking the unpaved Estrada Parque road that cuts across the region. The entire Pantanal is so vast that Cuiabá City in the north is about 700 kilometers from Campo Grande in the south. The North Pantanal’s maze of rivers is widely considered one of the best places to see jaguars. The future for jaguars depends on the Pantanal's rivers, sanctuaries currently under threat from drought and fires. The time to visit the Pantanal and to understand its conservation challenges is now. In the 2026 Pantanal itinerary, we first explore southwest of Cuiabá City along the Paraguay River, providing access to the less-visited Taiama Ecological Reserve.
Emas National Park:
Maned Wolves
The Maned Wolf is one of South America’s most extraordinary creatures. Tall and elegant, with foxlike markings and impossibly long legs built to see above the grass, it seems more myth than mammal. Yet this rare and threatened species still roams the open savannahs of Brazil. To find it, we travel to Emas National Park, a remote sanctuary 10 hours’ drive from Cuiabá City. On August 18, we set out by air-conditioned minibus, leaving behind the bustle of the city and crossing into the wide, windswept landscapes of the Cerrado. It's a long day's drive to Emas, where our base is Pousada do Glória—“Gloria’s Inn”—a humble lodge just outside the park and the closest accommodation to the park. Rooms are simple. There is no air conditioning. Meals are home cooked. We do not return to Cuiaba. It is a shorter drive – eight hours – to Campo Grande where after a night in a local hotel, we fly to Sao Paulo. d luck, we may glimpse a Maned Wolf walking across the plains. We may also see Giant armadillos, Giant anteaters, Pampas and Marsh deer, Crab-eating foxes, Lowland tapirs, and, if we are very fortunate. the elusive puma. The park is also a birder’s paradise: the Cock-tailed Tyrant, Collared Crescent chest, Yellow-billed Blue Finch, and the dazzling Blue-and-Yellow Macaw are just a few of the Cerrado’s avian species. Days in Emas begin at sunrise. With patience an We will explore Emas by vehicle and on foot.
Focus: Wildlife & Conservation
Where: Begins and ends in Cuiaba City
When: August 18 - 23, 2026
Length: 6 DAYS/5 NIGHTS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to six guests. One room remaining for two people to share or one solo traveller
Trip Information
Where is MTGT Going in 2027?
Snow Leopards in Ladakh, India
Focus: Wildlife and Conservation; Culture
Where: Begins and ends in New Delhi
When: February 06 - 17, 2027
Length: 10 DAYS/ 09 NIGHTS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to eight guests.
Trip Information
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MTGT’s third Snow Leopard safari in 2027 is open for registration. Travel to the Himalayas is a rewarding experience in itself, with breathtaking mountains, colourful and vibrant culture, and the knowledge that we are in the habitat of one of the most secret and elusive predators on the planet. There are some exciting changes to our Ladakhi 2027 itinerary. We will divide our time searching for Snow leopards between two valleys and two different homestays. Lying north of the Indus River at the head of the Ulley Valley, the small village of Ulley in Ladakh, India, stands at almost 4,000 metres above sea level. The Ulley Valley has only recently been developed for snow leopard tracking, but it has quickly gained a reputation for observation of the cats. That being said, snow leopards are a difficult sighting. According to the Snow Leopard Lodge, Ulley village’s only homestay and our accommodation on this safari, there is a 60% chance of seeing a leopard between November and April, which is when snow leopards and their prey descend to lower elevations. Ulley’s population of snow leopards is estimated to be around 10 individuals. We remain six days in Ulley to maximize our chances of spotting one. There is other wildlife to see in this Himalayan paradise: Siberian (or Asiatic) ibex, Ladakh urial (a native wild sheep with long legs and relatively small horns), and Himalayan fox and wolf. Among the bird highlights are Chukors (a ground-dweller and national bird of the Kurdish people), Tibetan partridges, Red-billed choughs, Golden eagles, Lammergeiers, Bearded vultures, and Himalayan griffon vultures. The Snow Leopard Conservation Trust The trust works in five of the 12 countries where snow leopards are found – China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Pakistan. Collectively, these five countries contain over 75% of the world’s population of wild snow leopards. Ulley, Ladakh, India, is one of the Snow Leopard Conservation Trust’s bases. The Snow Leopard Trust works through a local partner organization led by local staff members. They conduct snow leopard research, lead community conservation programs, and negotiate policy decisions with local authorities. Culture Ladakh belongs to the Jammu and Kashmir region of Northern India. Leh is its capital and largest town. It is the historical capital of the Himalayan Kingdom of Ladakh. The Leh Palace, the former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, was built in the same style and about the same time as the Potala Palace in Tibet. Ladakh is Buddhist country, with brightly coloured prayer flags fluttering in the wind and long ‘Mani walls’ covered in carved prayer stones, stupas, and chortens. There are many Buddhist monasteries called gompas.
India: Bengal Tigers of Kanha and Sundarbans National Parks
In 2024, MTT Safaris launched its tiger and rhino safari which combined India’s legendary wildlife with its rich cultural heritage. For 2027, we are making a few exciting changes. We are adding a day in the wonderful Kanha National Park. One of India’s largest and most iconic reserves, Kanha is a stronghold of Bengal tigers and among the best-managed parks in the country. Leslie first visited thirty years ago and has never forgotten the park’s breathtaking Sal forests. Then, tiger populations were fragile; today, Kanha’s success story is one of India’s great conservation triumphs. We are adding Sundarbans National Park in Eastern India, a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for its unique mangrove ecosystem, rich biodiversity, and Bengal tigers. Sundarbans is accessible from Kolkata. While tigers are the stars of this safari, India’s cultural richness is woven throughout the journey. We begin in New Delhi, where exploring its history and monuments is an option. Later, we spend two nights in Kolkata, Bengal’s cultural capital, known for its colonial architecture, museums, galleries, music, and theatre To maximize comfort and minimize travel time, the itinerary includes three local flights: Delhi–Raipur, Raipur–Kolkata, and Kolkata–Delhi. Between airports and national parks, we travel in a comfortable, air-conditioned minibus.
Trip Information
Focus: Wildlife and Culture
Where: Begins and ends in New Delhi
When: February 18 or 19, 2027,
following the Snow Leopards of Ladakh, India
Length: 11 DAYS/ 10 NIGHTS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to four guests.
Sri Lanka: National Parks & Cultural Treasures
Trip Information
Focus: Wildlife and Conservation; Culture
Where: Begins and ends in Colombo
When: 01 – 20 March 2027, following India’s Bengal Tigers
Length: 20 DAYS/19 NIGHTS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to eight guests.
Sri Lanka offers so much that no single trip could cover it all—we would need at least five weeks! Our MTGT 2027 itinerary will match the successful 2025 program in length – 20 days - but with a few new experiences. We’ve made some accommodation changes for variety and added exciting new destinations:
We’ll also explore Sri Lanka’s wellness traditions. In Kandy, there’s the chance to join a morning yoga and meditation class at the Samadhi Centre, and we’ve retained the much-loved Sri Lankan cooking class with a local husband-and-wife team in their home.
Wildlife remains a highlight: we visit both Wilpattu National Park and Lunugamvehera National Park (Yala Block 05), where we may spot Sri Lanka’s apex predator, the leopard. While Yala Block 01 is best known for leopards, we prefer the quieter experience of Yala Block 05, away from the crowds.
Our accommodation is with smaller, family-run businesses chosen for their charm and value. Most rooms are fan-cooled, with air conditioning available only at a few locations.
Except near national parks—where full board is included—we follow a half board meal schedule of breakfast and dinner. Lunch is enjoyed at our own expense at simple local restaurants which work best with our travel schedule.
Prepare to eat well! Sri Lankan cuisine is fragrant, colourful, and diverse, dominated by rice, curries, and seafood, and enriched by Indian, Malaysian, and other regional influences.
We travel in a comfortable, air-conditioned 9–12 seater minibus accompanied by an English-speaking guide, his assistant, and our driver. This friendly Sri Lankan crew quickly begins to feel like family as our journey unfolds.
At key historical sites such as the Anuradhapura Ruins and Kandy’s Temple of the Tooth, specialist site guides will join us to share their expertise.
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Jaffna in the north, a centre of Hindu culture and one of the island’s less-visited gems
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Anawilundawa Wetland, a haven for birdwatchers
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Kalpitiya, famous for Spinner dolphins and whale watching
Mongolia: Land of the Eternal Blue Sky, Land of the Horse
Focus: Culture, History, Wilderness, Wildlife & Conservation
Where: Begins and ends in Ulaanbaatar
When: I am ready when you are ready!
Length: 16 - 23 DAYS
Demographics: Mixed, couples, solo travellers welcome
Single Supplement: Yes
Size: Open to nine guests
Trip Information
My years in Africa have imparted an enduring love for big skies, wilderness, and starry nights. Mongolia promises just that. With only 3.5 million inhabitants spread across 1.5 million square kilometers of grassy steppes, panoramic mountain ranges, and sweeping deserts, Mongolia is the least densely populated country on Earth. Over 70% of its population remains nomadic, deeply connected to the history and migration of the Mongol people. Under Chinggis Khaan, the Mongols ruled much of Central Asia. During our visit, we’ll spend a day or two with a nomadic family to experience their way of life. Despite its deep historical roots, Mongolia is very much a part of the 21st century. Once an isolated satellite of the Soviet Union, the country transformed politically, economically, and socially after the Soviet collapse in 1989. While herders and their livestock still live on the steppes, nearly half of all Mongolians now reside in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, with another 25% living in smaller urban centers. Travel within Mongolia is challenging. Internal flights are few and often unreliable, and most travel is by road, many of which are in poor condition. Covering the country’s vast distances takes time. Even with ample time and a flight or two, it’s impossible to see everything—and perhaps we shouldn’t try. Instead, we will focus on Ulaanbaatar’s monasteries and museums, the Gobi Desert with its nomadic culture, wildlife, and paleontology sites, Karakorum as the ancient capital of the Mongol Empire, the Altai Mountains of Western Mongolia and its Kazakh eagle hunters, and the Tsaatan people of Northern Mongolia, renowned reindeer herders and shamans. Mongolia’s travel season is short, with most visitors arriving in July and departing by the end of August. These summer months bring some rain, occasionally heavy. June and September, the shoulder seasons, are less crowded but can still be rainy. By October, the weather becomes cold, and November through April marks the long winter season. I lean towards June as the best month to travel in Mongolia. While we would miss Naadam, Mongolia’s most popular cultural and sporting festival held annually in July, we can arrange for a mini-Naadam during a June itinerary. This private event will showcase riding skills, archery, and wrestling, giving us a taste of the official festival without the summer crowds. Mongolia offers a blend of ancient tradition, stunning landscapes, and a unique cultural experience. Let’s explore it together.