Wild Planet Adventures Receives Award from National Geographic Traveler

By: Tyler Peterson Apr. 22, 2014

A national magazine known for seeking out the unusual and exceptional in travel announced on April 10 that the wildlife specialty tour operator, Wild Planet Adventures' has received its "Top Tours of a Lifetime" award. This is the fifth time in company history that Wild Planet has received this coveted award from the editors of National Geographic Traveler.

The award as part of the magazine's ninth annual "Worlds' 50 Best Trips" recognizes Wild Planet Adventure's "On the Jaguar's Trail; from the Pantanal to the Amazon" wildlife safari in Brazil. Wild Planet operates wildlife eco-tours and safaris in nine countries and has now won this top honor for an unprecedented five of its nine destinations.

"On the Jaguar Trail" is featured in the magazine's May 2014 issue and listed on a special Tours of a Lifetime page on National Geographic Traveler's website. The magazine's selection process looked for 2014's most authentic, most innovative, most immersive, best-guided and most sustainable tours offered worldwide.

See: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/tours/

"This year marks the 30th anniversary of National Geographic Traveler, which has always looked at the world through the lens of culture, nature, and history. The tours we selected go beyond destination to add meaning and context," said Norie Quintos, executive editor. "They open the mind to new possibilities, new connections, and new ways of thinking- all critically important given the world's complex issues."

Josh Cohen, founder/owner of Wild Planet Adventures, says that the way he designs trips, specific to wildlife lovers, sets his company's explorations apart. "The big cats, such as the jaguars in Brazil, are among the most elusive of animals, yet our guests see them time and again in their natural habitats," says Cohen.

"Our track record for seeing the world's rarest and most elusive animals may well be the most comprehensive of any wild animal specialists leading tours today," he adds. "We try to avoid unnecessary intrusion into an animal's personal space or habitat to get a great photo. Instead, we rely on the tracking skills and wildlife expertise of some of the industry's best guides and best practices. We take every precaution we know of to limit our impact so that when our guests witness, for example, a clouded leopard, the sighting is real and authentic."

In addition to sighting jaguars in Brazil, guests on Wild Planet's trips to India may observe tigers in the wild; in Zambia lions, leopards and cheetah are featured; jaguars of Peru are often sighted on tours into the Amazon region; elusive clouded leopards are on the list in Thailand and clouded leopards and marbled (small wildcats) cats award tour participants in Borneo.

Wild Planet Adventures is no stranger to awards. Fodor's named its Costa Rica trip one of the world's top 10 "must-do" trips, Smarter Travel singled out the company for the best new trips in India and Thailand, and National Geographic Adventure named the company "One of the World's Best Tour Operators".