Visiting a rainforest is a unique nature experience. During the day, these unique biomes burst with a busy buzz and bright flashes of colour, while at night, the air comes alive with the shrieks and calls of the forest’s many nocturnal creatures. Amidst all this natural beauty, it’s important to tread lightly. Rainforests are home to an estimated 40 to 75 percent of all the world’s plants and animals, including many still just being discovered.

When we got on top of the hill and were enjoying the surrounding natural scenery, we spotted a local horseman approaching us from a distance. I don’t know why, but initially we felt slightly ill at ease, maybe because we were otherwise alone in a complete wilderness.

On the occasion when this picture was taken, we were visiting the Addo National Park, staying at Gorah Elephant Camp, one of the luxury camps found within the park, and were on an afternoon safari. We came across these lions a few hundred meters from the camp. They were on their way to the camp to overnight with two other lionesses and the big dominant male.

Mole National Park, Ghana’s largest protected ecosystem, is surrounded by nearly 30 indigenous rural communities that rely on the land for their livelihood. Addressing these fringe communities’ livelihood concerns is an important part of the work done in the area by one tour company, M&J Travel and Tours, committed to ecotourism in Ghana. It currently works with more than 350 women to support the local shea-butter production efforts for commercial trade.

The vicuña is an Andean camelid. While it can be found living wild in Bolivia, Chile and parts of Argentina, this creature is most closely associated with Peru as it is the country’s national animal, appearing on its coat of arms. The Pampas de Tocra of Peru are home to a large proportion the vicuña population of Colca Canyon and once a year the local people celebrate a vicuña festival called Chacu.

Meeting our ‘ancestors’ is a must when you pay a visit to mysterious Borneo. Sharing over 90% of their DNA with humans, the orangutans, or ‘red apes’, are one of the most endangered species of the 13 types of primate found on the island. In Sabah, one of the best spots to see orangutans is at the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre, located approximately 25 kilometres from Sandakan.