Special access to special experiences
Our approach is to exceed the traditional safari model, bringing in deep layers that enhance our guests’ experience.
That could be pioneering new heli routes for multi-generational families, using fleets of up to seven to visit remote wildlife concentrations and communities few have seen before. Or, organising one of East Africa’s largest rhino translocations as part of a thought leadership retreat.
And, we’ve applied this approach worldwide, securing permissions and expert contacts to offer the world’s top wildlife experiences. Expect everything from fixed-wing bear tracking safaris in Alaska to yacht-and-submersible operations that bring you right out among the Pacific’s sharkiest waters.
All media taken on Cookson Adventures trips
Cookson Adventures’ exclusive network of wildlife experts and regional contacts guarantee both unparalleled access and maximum safety. The experiences will give guests a sense of the scale of the surrounding wilderness, while also giving a unique insight into the challenges of preserving such a fragile ecosystem first hand.
More than game drives
We build all of our trips from the ground up. You might want to gallop horses alongside herds of giraffes, compete with friends on a rally course we’ve set up in the bush or simply spend time with top conservationists, getting up close to the elephants they’re working with. Throughout, we’ll take you away from crowded national parks, to private conservancies and off-market properties that offer a more authentic experience, with tens of thousands of acres exclusive to your group.
Conservation
We have the contacts to get you involved with truly transformative projects, allowing you access behind the scenes and them the platform to do greater good. That could be lending a hand with an elephant translocation, visiting elephant orphanages with the founder or tagging sharks with leading researchers.
Serious fun
For those looking for some thrill, we’ve set up everything from heli paintballing and Kenyan DJ parties in the bush to new rock-climbing routes and rage buggy safaris. Or, it might simply be a bar setup near hot pools, reachable only by helicopter. With our expertise and access to private conservancies, we’ll design something unique, fitted around your tastes.
Helis
Not only can you experience incredible migrations and wildlife behaviour from the air, but – with us – helis can bring you to otherwise-inaccessible locations. Spot herds of roaming wildebeest and land on volcanic craters marooned in a turquoise lake, before arriving at remote waterfalls for a drinks setup. Of course, they also mean you can pack more in.
Experts
Alongside an in-house team that includes qualified safari guides, we have a global network of contacts to enhance your trip, depending on your interests. Think award-winning wildlife photographers, conservationists to bring you behind the scenes of special projects or simply the very best wildlife trackers in the business.
Culture
Travelling to remote areas not only lets you have meaningful encounters with local communities, but it means your trip can have more of an impact by reaching people that ordinarily wouldn’t be helped by visitors. Given this, you’ll be having a more authentic experience, learning how unique peoples have carved out a way of life in often-inhospitable locations that’s remained largely unchanged for centuries.
Unique accommodation
We have a menu of the best in off-market properties, so you’ll enjoy special access to the likes of private conservancies and the very finest accommodation – handpicked to meet your needs. Of course, we also specialise in taking our guests off grid, using the likes of yachts and bespoke luxury camps. Whether tracking megapods of dolphins or following bear migrations in Alaska, you’ll have truly special wildlife encounters on your doorstep.
Family
Wildlife experiences can so often help form important bonds between family members. Imagine your child learning to draw with an artist, while herds of giraffe wander by, or grandparents sharing special moments with the whole family as whales breach off the bow off your yacht. Throughout, we craft multi-generational itineraries – perhaps sending littles ones off to learn how to track wildlife by bike while the older generations spend time with a top conservationist. That’s all before reconvening for a celebration dinner in the bush, complete with fire-dancing entertainment.
Wildlife around the world
Next-level safari
The Big Five & Beyond
We find out where your passions lie, so your trip goes beyond the traditional safari. That could be using helis to visit remote regions. Far away from the crowds, you can expect exclusive wildlife experiences and meaningful visits that mutually benefit local communities. Or, you might want to get involved with a conservation project, perhaps visiting a Samburu-run elephant orphanage behind the scenes. Of course, there’s always some adrenaline thrill, maybe racing rally cars in the bush before ending at a bar setup atop a remote kopje rock formation. Then, spending the night in a bespoke luxury camp, complete with dancefloor.
Conservation
Unique access to special projects
From getting your family involved in turtle hatchling releases to organising one of Kenya’s largest rhino translocations to help inspire a thought leadership event, we leverage our network of expert authorities to match our clients with causes that matter to them. Not only will you be able to witness these vital projects up front, but you’ll be able to make a genuine difference, whether tagging sharks to be able to protect migratory patterns or mapping seabeds by submersible to provide new datapoints for research scientists.
Alternative Africa
Safari with a difference
Paddling kayaks to spot the world’s only lemur primates in Madagascar. Being the first to visit a newly habituated gorilla family in the Republic of Congo before taking helis to view erupting volcanoes. Or, staying in bespoke luxury camps on white-sand beaches in Gabon, spotting giant humpbacks and the only surfing hippos on the planet. We’ve taken guests to truly unique destinations. There are also plenty more non-traditional safari options in Africa, from soaring over desert-adapted oryx in Namibia by hot air balloon to taking boats or canoes through the Botswana’s Okavango Delta to spot stalking elephants.
Polar environments
The Arctic & Antarctic
With multi-yacht, heli and submersible operations, we’ve showcased the planet’s polar extremes at their best. And, travelling with world-leading experts, we’ve even discovered a new subspecies of orca as part of a family’s yacht charter. In Antarctica, expect everything from kayak paddles alongside giant elephant seals to submersible dives with plunging penguins, while travelling to the Arctic can reward with giant walrus colonies and polar bears leaping between icebergs. Here, we’ve brought in icebreakers to enable better access to its remote reaches.
North America
Surprising biodiversity
We’ve run some of North America’s most ambitious wildlife-viewing trips. Think flying out in fixed-wings to follow bear migrations in Alaska or chartering yachts to explore Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest. Here, we’ve used echolocators for incredible whale sightings and worked with First Nations trackers to find the fabled all-white spirit bear. That’s alongside everything from paddling alongside coastal wolves and hiking out to spot golden eagles and roaming grizzles, hunting the salmon run.
The Pacific
Unique island life
Using explorer yachts to open up remote regions, we’ve created incredible wildlife experiences across the Pacific. That could be groundbreaking geotagging projects in the Galápagos, dives with giant oceanic mantas in Socorro and world-first sub dives in Fiji, looking out for deep-sea life. Then, there’s the chance to swim with whales in French Polynesia and admire giant congregations of sharks in Cocos Island.
Latin America
From jungle to the sea
We know the best secret spots for genuinely world-wonder wildlife experiences. That could be swimming with hundred-strong dolphin megapods in Costa Rica. Riding with llaneros cowboys in Colombia in search of capybara and flamingos. Or, tracking puma in Patagonia with leading researchers. Of course, that’s alongside the headline grabbers, like diving alongside sea lions and whales in Baja California or taking a yacht along the Amazon to spot giant caimans – the largest of the alligator family.
The rest of the world
Special phenomena
Through our global network, we’re constantly on the lookout for unique wildlife encounters. That might be tracking tigers in India and deer in Scotland. Searching for vultures in Socotra – the Indian Ocean Galápagos, which evolved in isolation from the mainland. Or, getting in the water with manatees in Florida and humpbacks in Iceland. Coming face to face with whales is often described as a life-affirming experience by our guests.
Submersibles & diving
Underwater world
From running the first ever private submersible dives in Antarctica to employing breathwork practitioners that teach techniques for freediving alongside rays, we open up the underwater world like no-one else. And, with an impeccable track record in delivering submersible ops, go deeper, longer and in the company of marine biologists to discover the unique deep-sea life. Then, closer to the surface, we can see you dive in the world’s sharkiest waters or learn to freedive next to gentle turtles.
