“Nature is not a place to visit, it is home” – Gary Snyder

Dear Friends of Just Nature Expeditions,

As always it is a pleasure to reach out to the community we love most, our fellow travellers. A
new year has come upon us and with this, we have launched a calendar of journeys designed just
for you. But let us first talk about the year that was 2023. Our experiences took us from the
high mountains of the trans-Himalayas in search of the grey ghost of the mountains to the
sunny coast of Sri Lanka to seek the largest mammal in the world, the blue whale. We journeyed
with like-minded enthusiasts to the most ancient rainforest on our planet in search of the only
great ape found in Asia, the orangutan. We travelled to the far reaches of the Brazilian
Pantanal to find giant megafauna like jaguars, capybaras, giant river otters and more that are
best seen in what is the largest wetland in the world. These are just the highlights, and there
were many more experiences and species to see in every one of our journeys and destinations.
And now on to 2024, let us see what the new year brings for us.

CALENDAR 2024

The time between we last wrote to you and now has been very eventful. Our journeys led us to
the Pantanal to see the third large cat in the world, the jaguar. And boy, did we see them well!
We had 15 different sightings over 4 days of jaguar searching. Apart from the jaguar some of the
highlights were tapir, giant river otters, caimans, jabiru storks, black skimmers and more. We
explored the Masai Mara and its conservancies in the off-peak season of November and what a
pleasant surprise this was. Great sightings, without the crowds! We had a Cheetah with 5 cubs,
lions, leopards and just the bliss of the greenery during the short rains. We again explored on
horseback, and as if tracking a leopard was not enough, we tracked lions this time, who eagerly
followed us till we retreated. What an experience that was! Our most recent visits were to Sri
Lanka, where we searched for leopards, sloth bears and blue whales and to Kaziranga, where
our friend and colleague Sagar Gosavi, led a photo safari to capture the wonders of this
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Now, we have handpicked and designed our favourite tours for you in the upcoming months.
Can’t make the dates, we can design a program just for you…
Ask our team to tailor an itinerary to all our destinations as per your unique needs.

Can’t make the dates, we can design a program just for you…

Ask our team to tailor an itinerary to all our destinations as per your unique needs.

SPECIES OF THE QUARTER

Snow Leopard

The Snow Leopard, locally known as Shan, is one of the rarest large cat species found
anywhere in the world. It is so difficult to see largely because of the tough and rugged terrain
it is found in. It is a large cat species primarily found in the high mountain ranges of Central
and South Asia and it is an endangered species as listed by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature. Snow leopards have evolved to live in some of the harshest
conditions on Earth. Their thick white-grey coat spotted with large black rosettes blends in
perfectly with Asia’s steep and rocky, high mountains. Because of their incredible natural
camouflage, rendering them almost invisible in their surroundings, snow leopards are often
referred to as the “ghost of the mountains.” Snow leopards play a key role as a top predator,
an indicator of the health of their high-altitude habitat, and, increasingly, an important
indicator of the impacts of climate change on mountain environments. If snow leopards
thrive, so will countless other species and the largest freshwater reservoirs on the planet. In
India, Snow Leopards are best seen in the trans-Himalayan regions of Ladakh and Spiti in
Himachal Pradesh. Just Nature Expeditions has annual tours to both of these locations since
2017 and to date we have seen a snow leopard on each one of our tours. We travel again this
March to see the elusive cat, and fingers crossed that the sighting spree will continue. To know
more click here.

WHAT GUESTS HAD TO SAY

Nonita Lall Qureshi, Delhi, India

“Just back from my 5th trip with Just nature expeditions, and they have all been Superb. This time we
were a group of 10 individuals travelling to Sri Lanka and we had the time of our lives, ably led by
Erwin from Reni Pani who was awarded naturalist of the year at the TOFT awards, and Suchitra
Hettiarachi from Jetwings in Sri Lanka who was an excellent naturalist and keen birder too. Wilpattu
National park is an absolute gem about three hours’ drive from Colombo airport. It is a very scenic
wetland area with large grassy meadows that support large elephant herds and some solitary tuskers,
and big natural lakes that are called Willus, and is how the park gets its name. These are interspersed
with tracts of quite densely wooded tracts that provide great ambush opportunities for the ultimate
predator in Sri Lanka the leopard. We saw a total of 8 different leopards in 3 days but the highlight was
a sighting that lasted for two and a half hours as we followed a mother and her sub adult cub down the
road as she marked and patrolled her territory while her cub playfully ambushed her along the way.
Amazing photographic opportunities for Raptors and Hornbills at eye level perches that were a real
treat. The resort we stayed at was a hidden gem too, As we were able to do a night walk during which we
spotted Mouse deer and three slender Grey Loris which was an added bonus. Then on to Mirissa for
some Whale watching and chill time, the Blue whales disappointed by not showing up but a solitary
Bryde’s whale more than made up for that. Plenty of bottle nosed dolphins and spinner dolphins hunting
Yellow Fin Tuna were a treat to watch and some very large Jelly fish too. Our last evening, we visited
the fort at Galle for a lovely sunset and stroll through the fort followed by a lovely dinner at the
Lighthouse hotel, the perfect end to a fabulous trip that finished much too soon. A big shout out to Just
Nature Expeditions who did a fabulous job as always in curating this trip for us.’