19 July 2025

Inspirations

Hi everyone, my Name is Steffen i am 35years old from Germany and this is my First Posting in this Forum.

While i was very lucky to be able to Visit many different places in earth to Spot Wildlife ( mammals) i would Love to ask the Community for Inspirations.

I love mammal watching, but i really dont Like going by Car especially in Traffic jams( think willpattu or yala (Sri Lanka).

I prefer mammalwatching Walking / hiking and so far the Highlight of my Life was a 4 day walking Tour in chitwan( Nepal) . I loved corcovado ( Costa Rica ) and Ketambe ( gunung leiser, Sumatra). I guess you get the Idea.

Therefore i would be Happy for some inspirations for my next vacations. While i am Not on a super thight Budget i would never spend 400dollars/ night or smt Like this on lodges.

Thanks a Lot ,

Steffen

 

 

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Mamoffel
Post Views: 398

7 Comments

  • 21 July 2025
    Sebastian Kennerknecht

    Hi Steffen,
    A couple of ideas: Torres del Paine region (pumas, guanacos, etc) with great hiking and beautiful landscapes.

    Snow leopards in India, Kyrgyzstan or Mongolia.

    Hope that helps!
    Sebastian
    Cat Expeditions

    1
  • 21 July 2025
    Karina and Andrey

    Hi, Steffen! It’s look like the tours we run in Paraguay fit into your preferences. Lot of walking (at night also), while other people in the reserves and national parks are almost absent. See for instance : https://www.mammalwatching.com/community-post/advertising-face-to-face-with-mammals-tour/
    We can also make a custom tour both in the Chaco area (walking, driving at night and waiting by the waterholes) or in the Atlantic forest (walking mostly in the trails) which will fit into your budget.
    K&A

  • 21 July 2025
    john.morrison@wwfus.org

    Steffen – In addition to the above, here are a couple more:
    1. Chizarira National Park, Zimbabwe (https://www.walkafrica.com/leon-varley-safaris/chizarira.html is one option)
    2. National parks in Alaska (Denali, Noatak, Gates of the Arctic, etc.) where you are likely to encounter caribou, dall sheep, brown bear, moose, wolves, etc. Denali NP is the most accessible (e.g., train), but the others are spectacular and you get to see wildlife on their terms.
    John

    1
  • 21 July 2025
    jurekmammalwatching

    If you want a not too luxurious watching mammals on foot, you might enjoy national parks of Canada’s rockies and sea mammals of Canadian coast. Many places are for independent tourists, so you are not artificially squeezed into crowds, nor forced to pay for luxury lodges. Lemur watching in Madagascar is all on foot but not independent.

    In a long weekend trip from Germany, Abruzzo in Italy has hiking trails with brown bears and southern chamois.

  • 21 July 2025
    Francesco Cuzzola

    Hallo Steffen, fully understand your feeling and I would love if you share more details on your experiences (perhaps you already did on a report?).

    In the brenta group in Italy you also have a chance at brown bear, golden jackal, wolves etc. I have Bieszczady on my list as well.

    I did a wilderness trail experience in the Kruger that was amazing and there are operators offering fly camps in Tanzania and Kenya. Although I suspect Zambia and Zimbabwe are THE place for walking safaris.

  • 23 July 2025
    Flemming Versloot

    Hello Steffen and welcome to the forum.
    One national park where you can walk or bike freely without to many people during the weekdays is Cat Tien National park in Vietnam. Some poaching still happens so most animals are shy, but you can see several species of primates including the black shanked duoc and yellow-cheek gibbons. I also encountered Gaur, flying squirrels, sambar and muntjak. Essentially you just pay the entry fee for the park and after that you can go around and explore, as long as you stay on the paths, a guide is optional, but not required.

    I am planning a trip to Sumatra next year and I was wondering about your hike in Ketambe? How did you arrange it, how may days did you go and which mammals did you see during your trip?

  • 23 July 2025
    Mamoffel

    Thanks for all the Replies. @francesco I never did a proper trip report, but If you are interested concerning my trips and how i organised them i am Happy to share them
    with you.
    For ketambe is was flying to medan. Took a Public Shuttle ( horrific driving , but my girlfriend and me we’re invited to different families on the way.)
    We went with safar ( top Guy , perfect english, great food. )https://sumatrajungle.com/safar-ketambe/

    WE went for 4d 3 n . Spotted many orangs. Siamangs . Thomas langur, but also had luck with a daylight Spot of a palm civet and a binturong. Its quite exhausting so its nice to combine it with samosir . ( Easy with Public Transport )

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