From Polar Bears to Penguins

People often ask us what destinations we’ve enjoyed the most, or the best places for wildlife photography. It’s a fair question, but an impossible one to answer. Each encounter feels like a chapter in a story that’s still being written, shaped by weather, light, the animals themselves, and sometimes sheer luck. These are actually the eleven (because we couldn’t get down to a list of our top 10 wildlife encounters). There are the ones that have stayed with us the most. The ones that made us stop breathing for a second, camera forgotten, just watching the wild unfold.

(in no particular order)

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1. Snow Monkeys in Hot Springs (Jigokudani, Japan)

Winter in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture is cold enough to make your eyelashes freeze, but the Japanese macaques know better. They soak in natural hot springs, steam rising around their red faces like tiny spa guests. Watching them is both comical and oddly serene: grooming, squabbling, sinking into the water up to their chins. They look like little old men having a soak in fur coats, basically evolution with a sense of humour.
→ Read more about our trip to Japan

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2. Swimming with Sea Lions (South Australia and La Paz, Mexico)

If curiosity were a species, it would be a sea lion. In South Australia, the endangered Australian sea lions greeted us like long-lost friends, darting, spinning, and locking eyes before showing off with a flourish of bubbles. They seemed to delight in our presence, as if the encounter was a shared game rather than observation.

In Mexico, the tone shifted but the magic stayed. California sea lions twirled through deep blue water, tossing starfish like toys and gliding past us with effortless grace. Different oceans, different species — the same irresistible sense of play that reminds you how alive the sea really is.
→ Read more about swimming with sea lions

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3. Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Forest (Uganda)

Nothing prepares you for locking eyes with a wild gorilla. The trek through Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is steep, muddy, and filled with anticipation, until suddenly, the forest opens and there they are. A silverback sits inches away, watching as you watch him. The forest hums with insects, and the air feels heavy with presence. It’s a privilege beyond words, not a photo opportunity, but a moment of shared understanding between species.
→ Read more about our trip to Uganda

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4. Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen (British Columbia, Canada)

Imagine calm waters, bald eagles overhead, and the deep quiet of an inlet where the only movement is a grizzly turning over rocks for clams. The Khutzeymateen, Canada’s first grizzly sanctuary, is one of those rare places that feels truly untouched. We spent days drifting past bears grazing on sedge, eagles diving for fish, and harbour seals flicking their tails in the glassy inlet. It’s a place that reminds you how small you are, and how perfectly that feels.
→ Full story coming soon!

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5. Brown Bears at Brooks Falls (Katmai, Alaska)

At Brooks Falls, salmon leap skyward in a relentless, glittering stream, and the bears wait like patient fishermen. Watching them from the platform, you can see hierarchy, technique, and personality all play out at once: the confident dominant males, the clever juveniles, the mothers teaching cubs where to stand. It’s a front-row seat to nature’s persistence, the endless rhythm of hunger and survival.
→ Read more about our trip to Katmai

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6. Mala Mala Safari (South Africa)

Sabi Sands is where wildlife encounters feel cinematic. Lions crossing a dry riverbed at dusk, leopards draped across marula branches, wild dogs racing through the savanna. Every drive brought another story. On one visit, our ranger asked what we hoped to see. “Cats,” we said. Minutes later, we were surrounded by a pack of African painted dogs instead. They were rare, beautiful, and absolutely chaotic – the kind of moment that defines why we keep coming back.
→ Read more about our trips to Mala Mala

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7. Polar Bears and Beluga Whales (Churchill, Manitoba, Canada)

Our first visit to Churchill was in November, when the tundra was frozen and polar bears roamed the ice like ghosts. We stayed out on the tundra itself, watching bears padding through the snow and occasionally standing on their hind legs and thumping the side of our buggy as if checking for a seal beneath the ice – except this time, we were the seal.

We weren’t sure what to expect when we visited in the summer. Fireweed blanketed the tundra in purple, polar bears lounged along the coast, and thousands of curious belugas filled the river. We floated above the beluga on aqua-gliding mats, singing through our snorkels as they swam within arm’s reach.

→ Read more about our trips to Churchill, Canada

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8. Swimming with Humpback Whales (Vava’u, Tonga)

There’s a moment when a humpback whale turns and looks directly at you, and time just… stops. In Tonga, we entered the water gently, drifting above mothers and calves resting in the blue. The sound of their calls vibrated through our chests, and each exhale surfaced like thunder. You don’t swim with whales so much as you float in their presence.
→ Read more about our trips to Tonga

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9. Penguins and Seals (Macquarie Island, Australia)

Halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica lies Macquarie Island, a subantarctic haven where royal and king penguins crowd the beaches in numbers you can’t quite process. The weather does everything it can to keep you away, almost like the Antarctic Sub-islands are testing your resolve to get there. The air smells of salt, seaweed, seals, and penguins. Elephant seals doze like boulders and penguins shuffle past with comic dignity. It’s raw, wild, and the only place in the world you can see royal penguins.
→ Read more about our trip to Macquarie Island

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10. More Penguins and Seals (South Georgia & the Falklands)

If Antarctica is silence, South Georgia is sound, a constant chorus of penguins, seals, and seabirds. The beaches are alive with movement and noise, a living tapestry of feathers and fur. Standing among half a million king penguins is almost overwhelming; the scale short-circuits your brain in the best possible way.
→ Read more about our trips to South Georgia and the Falklands

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11. Ice, Light, and Silence (Antarctica)

Antarctica defies every cliché. The ice isn’t just white, it’s turquoise, cobalt, and sometimes the palest jade. We snorkelled next to icebergs shaped like cathedrals, listened to the crack of calving glaciers, and watched penguins porpoise through the water beside us. It’s a destination that has to be seen (and felt) to understand.
→ Read more about our trips to Antarctica

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So, Which Was Our Favourite?

We get asked this question about once a week. The truth? Choosing a favourite wildlife experience is like picking your favourite child, or cat. Each trip holds its own kind of magic: a sound, a scent, a moment that can’t be replicated.

But the best answer we’ve ever heard came from Greg Mortimer, founder of Aurora Expeditions. When asked about his favourite expedition, he smiled and said,

“The next one.”

And honestly — that’s the only answer that feels right.