Dear fellow traveling families,

Family Safaris and Wildlife Expeditions Special!

Welcome to the Safari/Wildlife edition of our newsletter!

At Quivertree we pride ourselves on offering the very finest family wildlife and safari expeditions available anywhere in the world.

Just imagine your family in a luxury tent on the African plains, riding on your horses past giraffes and zebras, or crashing through the veldt in a 4X4 in search of a family of leopards or cheetahs. Imagine riding on elephant back in search of the mighty Royal Bengal tiger in India or swimming with sealions in the Galapagos. Seeing a sloth outside your hotel room in Costa Rica, feeding a a giant panda baby in China or journeying into the deepest Amazon of Peru, Colombia or Ecuador. Sunbathing on a beach with a colony of penguins, witnessing a private meerkat experience, staying on a working ostrich farm or bathing and swimming with elephants in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia or India!

Just Imagine!!

And later this year we will be introducing trips to see the orangutans of Borneo and the Komodo Dragons of Indonesia!

Shai, Abigail and their kids bathing with elephants in Northern Thailand

Family trip to South Africa

Tom, Charm, Lucy, Annabel and Emma from Australia traveled to South Africa. "We had a fabulous trip and loved

every second of it. We swam with seals, went to an elephant sanctuary, rode ostriches and woke up with meerkats. And that was all before the actual safaris!

The family enjoying our unique meerkat experience

One of our safari highlights was a large pack of 30 wild dogs chasing giraffes & zebras. The giraffes and zebras retaliated and started charging the wild dogs!

Our accommodation was fantastic - we wanted to stay much longer. Highlights were all the new borns - 2 week old baby elephant and 4 week old lion cubs - and cheetahs eating their kill.

All in all it was a fantastic trip - thanks for making it so special!"

Mom Charm getting to grips with an ostrich

Some Quivertree safari and wildlife family trip photos

Quivertree families have had incredible wildlife experiences all over the world. First up Africa, where our family friendly lodges offer never to be forgotten, intimate viewings.

Below is Adam who was featured with his family in our last newsletter. We had this message from Adam's sister:

"My name is Eleonor. I am 8 years old.

My favorite part of Africa was at the safari camp. It was a cool sunny morning. We were on our morning safari. We had been tracking leopards. We had our eyes open for a leopard. Geoff, one of our safari guides, was talking with other guides to see if any other safari guides had found a leopard. We had to follow the tracks and talk to other guides. Rebel (our other tracker/guide) was following the tracks. Then we saw a leopard run across the road! It was amazing! If you ever think about going on safari, you should go because it is awesome!"

Next, Bastian 8, from Austria with his mom, Sigrid. They managed 3 different safari parks on their month long trip in South Africa in November!

The Galapagos (below) is a unique family destination. That's Sean, an experienced Quivertree traveler, making a new friend.

Barbee traveled to the Galapagos with her granddaughter Grace last summer.

And Jackson and Andrew (below) take a break from snorkeling to admire a sealion!

Liana and Mark went on a 3 continent, 10 week adventure including Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Australia is a great add on to our exciting New Zealand trips.

We just have to include some of our various Asian experiences! Here is Peter with his kids Sofia and James giving this elephant a good scrub in India.

While Thomas and dad Richard learn some skills in Laos.

The photo below was taken by Quivertree travelers, Don and Danielle in Ranthambore National Park in India.

China is a terrific, diverse destination and many Quivertree families, like Alex, Athena, Anthony and Anson (a Quivertree 'A' team, below) love the Giant Panda Research Center near Chengdu.

Possibly the most family friendly, close to city wildlife experience anywhere is Boulders Beach, Cape Town, where you'll come face to face with a huge colony of African penguins.

Notes, tips and observations

Our unique meerkat experience is featured in Rough Guides' Top 20 Animal Encounters.

http://www.roughguides.com/gallery/animal-and-wildlife-trips/#/0

Cape Town is the New York Times' Number 1 Destination for 2014!

http://nyti.ms/1ahSMdx

Rough Guides' Best Value Destinations for 2014 includes Quivertree favorites Ecuador, Vietnam and Portugal.

http://bit.ly/1cWZtl0

When you go on that trip to South Africa - and you should, soon!- here are some foods you must try.

http://thetravelbite.com/travel_and_food_blog/top-5-things-to-taste-in-south-africa/

For our Top Ten Travel Tips, click on the link:

http://quivertreeworld.com/pdf/Quivertree-Top10-TravelTips.pdf

And finally, as usual, a few photos that represent the surprises and joys of traveling. The first few you'll see in South Africa on one of those safaris you have to take!