7 Wildlife Sanctuaries That Should Be On Your Bucket List
A trip to a wildlife sanctuary serves as a rebuke to all we have domesticated, destroyed or simply haven't wrapped our heads around.
There’s a sense of calm that engulfs you when you are out in the wild. The lush green around you with its curious silence, the gravelled path worn out by slow jeeps meanders through the wildlife sanctuaries in hope you catch nature working its magic.
The active becomes the passive in the wildlife sanctuaries —you may be actively wishing to spot a rugged tiger about to pounce on its prey, deer poised like statutes, or a herd of elephants casually walking around. But nature demands you become passive as it is watching you instead, imbuing patience and awe.
A trip to a wildlife reserve or somewhere in Natural landscape serves as a rebuke to all we have domesticated or destroyed. Away from the mechanical pace of modern life, the tyranny of man-made schedules, at the wildlife reserve you instantaneously become part of a fragment of earth that reminds you of humility, makes you feel small in the most liberating ways. It snaps you out of the illusions of control that warps you in a concrete world.
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Everything feels indifferent, thriving without intervention. A visit to these places surely fills you with awe and wonder and a great sense of responsibility towards nature.
Wildlife Reserves & Sanctuaries Around The World
Here are 7 breathtaking wildlife sanctuaries around the world that promise reflection, adventure, and amazement.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
To witness the raw, untamed beauty of nature, a visit to Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park is a must-visit biodiversity hotspot. Stretching over 30,000 square kilometers, the place is where the land runs on forever.
Best known for the Great Migration—an epic annual movement of over1.5 million wildebeest, 300,000 zebras, and countless gazelles, Serengeti National Park is the greatest spectacle of wildlife in the world. With a formidable lineup of predators: lions, cheetahs, crocodiles, hyenas, leopards and other animals including rhinos, the safaris here are unforgettable and the sunrise a bath in golden light.
Highlights: From cultural visits to nearby Maasai villages, Guided walking safaris to Ballon safaris for the bird eye view of the herds, Serengeti National Park is a haven.
Best Time to Visit: If you want to capture the dramatic Great Migration, then July to September is the best time to visit, June to October for general wildlife and December to March it’s the calving season in the southern Serengeti so thousands of baby animals and high predator activity.
Mefou National Park, Cameroon
Mefou National Park in Cameroon is located only 45 minutes from its capital city, Yaoundé and is one of the most emotional and educational wildlife experiences.
With a focus of animal rehabilitation and protection of endangered primates, mainly victims of illegal trafficking and bushmeat trade, Mefou National Park is run by an NGO called Ape Action Africa and is a home to mandrills, baboons, drills, chimpanzees, and gorillas.
Activities: Guided educational tours by local staff, up-close views of rescued gorillas and chimpanzees, forest trails and tranquil picnic areas.
Best Time to Visit: June to February
Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Nestled in the southern Surat Thani province of Thailand, Khao Sok National Park is one of the country's most biodiverse and visually striking wildlife reserves.
You can find ancient rainforests, dramatic limestone mountains and deep valleys and green Cheow Lan Lake, with floating bungalows and karst cliffs rising like islands from the water.
Said to be older than Amazon, Khao Sok inhabits wild elephants, gibbons, and clouded leopards, rare birds like hornbill and kingfishers. Along with your visit to the National Park, you can also visit the world’s largest blossom at Rafflesia flower site.
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Activities: Canoe down rivers, hike through thick jungle trails, swim in hidden waterfalls, or sleep on the lake in floating bamboo huts. If you count yourself as a nocturnal, then night safaris will reveal a different world to you—cicadas, frogs and other species.
Best Time to Visit: December to April (Dry season best for hikes and lake stays); May to November (lush green but rainier)
Hemis National Park, India
Hemis National Park is present in the high-altitude deserts of Ladakh in northern India and is one of the most remote yet serene wildlife sanctuaries on the world. Spanning over 4,400 square kilometers, Hemis National Park is the largest national park in South Asia and perhaps the quietest.
Only about 500 snow leopards are estimated to exist in India, of which Hemis is believed to host 200 making it critical sanctuary for them.
If you want to spot the snow leopards in the wild, Hemis National Park is the best spot on Earth! These ghosts of the mountains also share the space with Himalayan blue sheep (bharal), Tibetan wolves, red foxes, golden eagles, lammergeiers, and lynxes.
Activities: Snow Leopard safaris, high-altitude treks through the surreal mountain; cultural visits to Hemis Monastery and in Thiksey.
Best Time to Visit: May to September; December to March for snow leopard expedition (harsh weather expected)
The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Did you know that the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador is also Nature’s living lab? Set nearly 1000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are a chain of volcanic islands infamous for inspiring Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution!
A living, breathing biodiversity, where animals evolved in isolation showing no fear of humans, the islands are home to an astonishing variety of wildlife that are found nowhere else on the planet! From giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, Galapagos penguin, flightless cormorants and more.
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Each island has something different to offer so there are endless opportunities to get immersed in the wild on your visit there. To reach the islands you need to get to Guayaquil or Quito in Ecuador and then a domestic flight to Baltra islands.
Activities: If you love science and exploration visit Santa Cruz as it hosts Charles Darwin Research Station; Isabela is the largest Island is home flamingo-studded lagoons; Espanola is best to find albatrosses in courtship dance, while Fernandina, the youngest and most pristine island boasts marina iguanas basking on black lava shores.
You can also snorkel with sea turtles, enjoy time on small-ship cruises as you hop on and off remote islands.
Best Time to Visit: July-August (peak seasons); May -December (dry season so comfortable walking)
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Spanning across Wyoming Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park pioneering conversation of wildlife. It is known to be one of the most ecologically diverse places in North America.
The park sits atop a supervolcano which fuels its extraordinary geothermal features including steaming geysers, roaring waterfalls, and the vast forests. Shaped by fire and water, the National Park is home to the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48 states, including bison, wolves, bears, black bears, elk, moose, and mountain lions.
Activities: Best spot to go to for rich viewing opportunities of wolves and bears is the Lamar Valley. You can drive along the Grand Loop Road, hike the summit of Mount Washburn, Fairy Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, or wait at dawn by riverbank to experience Nature’s drama.
Best Time to Visit: April to May and September to October
Banff National Park, Canada
Known for its turquoise lakes and rugged peaks, Banff in Canada is also a shelter for wildlife including elks, moose, and the grizzly bear.
The Banff National Park established in 1885 is tucked away in Canadian rockies and is one of those places that instantly transports you to perfect postcard scenery with its thriving wildlife.
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It is also Canada’s first national park and a UNESCO World heritage site famous for its glacier-fed peaks and dense coniferous forests.
Activities: You can enjoy wildlife safaris, hiking trails like Johnston Canyon and Plain of Six Glaciers and walk around Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.
Best Time to Visit: June To September for hiking and wildlife spotting.
Final Thoughts
Walking through a wildlife sanctuary is a poignant reminder, almost uncomfortably, of how far modern man has drifted from the natural order. Visiting these places not only as tourist attractions but also as last redoubts of Nature feels like we are witnessing a glimpse of something that feels truer than anything found in cities.
We must conserve not simply because its a policy but its triggers a shift in the mind. It brings to the forefront the reality of Earth beyond human existence. Wildlife tours are not tours to museums of nature, they're not for spectacle, but shared mutual respect to co-exist on the planet, undisturbed.
By saving the wild we are also preserving a part of ourselves that has not yet bowed to the clock or the profit margins. Conservation reminds us that things should exist beyond utility: beauty, wildness, and mainly, life for its own sake. When you reserve you resist: not just the destruction of species but of the narrow human vision.