Nam Nern Night Safari

The Nam Nern Night Safari operates in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area, a 4,229km² reserve across three provinces in northeastern Laos and the country's last remaining home for wild tigers. The 24-hour trip starts with a longtail boat ride upriver, guided by Khmu villagers from Ban Son Koua, past birdlife and forest before a lunch cooked in the village and a briefing from park rangers on the effort to protect tigers and their prey. Guests overnight in bamboo huts at a remote ranger substation reachable only by boat.

The safari's centrepiece comes after dark, when boats cut their engines and drift downriver by torchlight, picking out sambar deer, otters, civets and owls along the banks. By day there's tracking at the Boung Man salt lick, birdwatching, and time in the village learning traditional cooking.