A lemur in Madagascar
4. Mad about Madagascar
Ninety million years of isolation in the Indian Ocean have made the world?s fourth-biggest island a unique reservoir of biodiversity, with over 75% of its flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world. There is a vast array of ecosystems to explore, from rainforest packed with orchids and ferns to the magical Spiny Desert and its cathedral-like baobabs. Keep a look out for the island?s 100-plus species of lemur, with the dancing sifaka and wailing indri top of the hit list. Sure, the roads can be rough and the conservation issues challenging, but for many adventure travellers it doesn?t get any better than Madagascar.
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5. Ice bear essentials
With mounting concern over the impact of climate change on the Arctic ice cap, the plight of the world?s polar bears has never been more in the spotlight. Nowhere more so than in the Canadian town of Churchill, where 500 or so bears spend part of their year on the shores of Hudson Bay. This is remote country, best accessed by rail or plane, but once here be prepared for some stupendous wildlife watching. Specialist guides will lead you across the tundra in search of the big white bears, but keep an eye out too for smaller creatures, such as Arctic foxes, caribou, ptarmigans and even wolves.
A snow leopard in Ladakh, India
6. Spots are the new stripes
Tigers are great, but...