Love animals? Here's where to find some of the most interesting on the Earth.
Leopard Seals in Antarctica
How to Spot One
The safest viewing is from a Zodiac, though a few companies like Oceanwide Expeditions offer diving excursions. 11 nights from $7,950 per person.
Bonus Sightings
Emperor penguins, orcas, and minke whales.
Did You Know?
These 840-pound super-predators are the only seals known to eat warm-blooded animals, including penguins—and sometimes other seals.
Sloths in the Amazon
How to Spot One
Aqua Expeditions sails Peru’s Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, accessible only from the water. Three nights from $3,645 per person.
Bonus Sightings
Pink dolphins, capybaras, Amazon manatees, and squirrel monkeys.
Did You Know?
It can take up to a month or more for sloths to digest one meal. Good thing they burn only 110 calories a day—the lowest rate of any mammal.
Orangutans in Borneo
Pandaw offers trips down the Kapuas River system that include a stop at an orangutan sanctuary in Sintang. Seven nights from $2,326 per person.
Bonus Sightings
Proboscis monkeys, crocodiles, and Storm’s storks.
Did You Know?
This endangered primate, the only great ape in Asia, is the only one in the world to spend most of its life in trees.
Narwhals in the Arctic
How to Spot One
Lindblad Expeditions passengers have reported seeing narwhals off Baffin Island. 23 nights from $23,100 per person.
Bonus Sightings
Polar bears, walrus, ringed seals, and belugas.
Did you Know?
That horn is actually a tooth, and can grow up to 10 feet long.
Tortoises in the Galápagos Islands
How to Spot one?
Inca sails regularly and will bring along naturalist Linda Cayot, an alumna of the Charles Darwin Research Station. 11 nights from $8,395 per person.
Bonus Sightings
Blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, and Galápagos finches.
Did You Know?
Researchers are breeding hybrid giant Pinta and Floreana tortoises to try to resurrect the two extinct species.
