A summer of wildlife and gardens

Travel company Cox & Kings, has teamed up with the Natural History Museum and the Royal Horticultural Society to provide two unique travel programmes for 2009 featuring one-off, expert-led tours focusing on the wildlife and gardens of the world.

The company has announced spaces available on some of its tours this summer, including Gardens of St Petersburg with John Cushnie, Borneo with Steve Leonard and Brazil with Chris Packham.

Expert-led tours such as these are really increasing in popularity, as travellers look to maximise the value of their trips in 2009 and the experience they will gain while abroad. Cox & Kings’ Senior Product Manager, Nigel Hosking, says: “in the same way that seeing a destination in the company of a local adds a further dimension, so learning about a place from a dedicated expert is certain to enhance your travel experience.”

IMPERIAL GARDENS OF ST PETERSBURG WITH JOHN CUSHNIE
15 – 21 August 2009, 6 nights from £1,925

One of the most elegant cities in the world, St Petersburg is renowned for its magnificent palaces, world-class museums and imperial gardens. Many of Europe's best architects and landscape gardeners, including Rastrelli, Rossi and Cameron, were employed by St Peter the Great to create this monumental city.

John Cushnie presents Greenmount Garden for BBC1 and has been a regular panellist for Radio 4's Questions Time for more than 15 years. He lectures, designs and landscapes gardens throughout the British Isles.

BORNEO WITH STEVE LEONARD
13 – 28 August 2009, 13 nights from £3,295

Borneo’s landscape of steamy jungle and twisting rivers provides a rich habitat for the country’s amazing diversity of wildlife. Explore this complex ecosystem and its high concentration of orang-utan, proboscis monkey and birdlife.

TV vet Steve Leonard shot to fame in 1996 - somewhat accidentally - when the BBC filmed final year Veterinary Science students at Bristol University for the hugely popular Vets School series. Steve has since been involved with Vets in Practice and Vets in the Wild as well as his own documentaries including Ultimate Killers and Extreme Animals. He will give three talks during this special 13-night tour of Borneo.

BRAZIL WITH CHRIS PACKHAM
3 – 13 September, 11 days / 8 nights from £3,095

Brazil, the largest country in South America, is considered to have the greatest biodiversity on the planet. It has most known species of plant, freshwater fish and mammal, and a large number of bird and reptile species. Explore the country’s highlights, including glamorous Rio, thundering Iguacu Falls and the wildlife-rich Pantanal on this exclusive tour lead by Chris Packham.

Chris Packham is a television presenter, photographer and author with a passionate concern for conservation and the environment. Chris’s career began with the award-winning ‘Really Wild Show’ in 1986 and more recent credits include ‘Go Wild’, ‘Postcards from the Wild’, ‘Hands on Nature’ and ‘Nature’s Calendar’.

For more information on these, and other tours from Cox & Kings, see Coxandkings.co.uk.