18.05.2026 Updated: Amrit Singh
"Of all the wonderful places in the world, one continent holds more riches than any other. If you think you've seen the best of what the natural world has to offer, think again!" ~ Sir David Attenborough, 2024.
The words of the nation's most loved and widely travelled naturalist beautifully capture Asia's extraordinary scale, beauty and wild possibilities. From India's tiger forests and Sri Lanka's leopard country to Borneo's Orangutan canopy and Indonesia's coral seas, Asia reveals nature in countless moods: secretive and silent, lush and theatrical, ancient and fragile.
To celebrate the great man's 100th birthday, his passion for Asia, and his lifelong devotion to the natural world, we invite you to explore the continent's fascinating natural wonders on one of our carefully curated, sustainably led trips that embody Sir David's philosophy.
As the UK's leading Asia holiday specialists, we at TransIndus would love to show you Asia's bountiful beauty. If you feel inspired and wish to travel to Asia, please enquire and one of our experts will get back to you.
Happy 100th Birthday, Sir David Attenborough!
Explore the Diversity of Asia's Wildlife
Sir Attenborough has long argued that we must first value and feel wonder for the natural world, its wildlife, habitats and remote communities before we can rescue and preserve it for future generations. In that spirit, carefully managed wildlife travel can play a vital role, bringing travellers closer to Asia's extraordinary habitats while supporting conservation efforts and local communities on whom their future depends.
Following in Sir David Attenborough's footsteps, here are some wildlife experiences our clients have enjoyed most, with the corresponding episode of his fantastic Asia BBC series noted so you can watch Sir Attenborough bring these destinations to life with his inspiring narration.
We invite you to join these journeys with TransIndus to witness nature’s living diversity firsthand.
India's Tiger Country
Once, tigers roamed throughout Asia from Sumatra and Bali in the south, India in the west up to Siberia in the north. Today, Sir Attenborough places India at the heart of the tiger's historic range, where a journey into India's great National Parks is not just a journey in search for a magnificent predator, but an encounter with one of Asia's defining wild presences.
As a supporter of the Save the Tiger Project, which has helped revive India’s tiger population, Sir Attenborough emphasizes that a tiger sighting in the wild is inseparable from the urgent conservation story, habitat protection, and coexistence.
Watch on BBC'S Asia Episode 2: Above The Clouds; Episode 5: Crowded Continent.
Nepal's Himalayas & Forests
An ever-changing wilderness awaits in Nepal’s High Himalayas, where survival hinges on balance, stealth and remarkable adaptation. These snowy peaks host “The snow leopard,” an elusive icon of the wilderness, a creature few humans have glimpsed. Wildlife watching here feels almost pilgrimage-like, shaped by silence, altitude, and the tantalising possibility of the unseen.
In the lower mist-laden forests, offer a chance to experience sightings of one of Asia’s shyest mammals, the Red Panda, otherwise known as the Firefox of the Himalayas, while the grasslands shelter the One-Horned Rhino, a conservation success story which now roam secure in their protected habitats.
Watch on BBC's Asia Episode 2: Above The Clouds
Wildlife of Nepal Tour
Sri Lanka's elephants with character
In the series, Sir Attenborough speaks fondly of Sri Lanka's elephants, describing Raja, a Sri Lankan bull elephant, as one who "employs his four-ton physique to create a blockade and request a toll". Sri Lanka's elephants, are not only impressive in scale; but are a gentle, intelligent, and adaptive presence sharing space with people. Few places illustrate a delicate balance as vividly as Sri Lanka, where ancient forests, village life and elephant corridors coexist in near harmony.
The leopard-filled National Parks and the coastal waters frequented by blue whales and Spinner Dolphins reveal another layer of the Emerald Isle's natural splendours.
Watch on BBC's Asia Episode 5: Crowded Continent
Borneo's Kinship in the Canopies
"It's very striking when you sit as close to an orangutan as this, to see how similar they are to human beings," Attenborough says at Camp Leakey in Borneo. To watch an Orangutan in the rainforest is to meet intelligence, curiosity and kinship in one unforgettable moment. In fact, one of our client's favourite wildlife experiences over the years has been visiting the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre at Sepilok, an ethical project where orangutans have 43 sq km of tropical forest to roam wild and re-learn essential survival skills which may have been lost due to displacement.
Every encounter with these great apes carries a quiet emotional force, reminding us how close their world is to ours. "Orangutan mothers spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating," Sir Attenborough explains and makes each orangutan family a part of the rainforest's future, helping sustain the living web.
Watch on BBC's Asia Episode 4: Tangled Worlds.
Discover Borneo Tour
Indonesia's Coral reefs, Dragons and Island Wilds
"Nowhere are these beauties and wonders more evident than here in Southeast Asia, the Coral Triangle, the global centre of marine diversity", says Sir David Attenborough. From Indonesia's coral gardens and island reefs to the prehistoric realm of Komodo dragons, this is Asia at its most elemental and astonishing.
You can snorkel and dive among kaleidoscopic marine life, sail between volcanic islands, and step ashore in reptile-haunted landscapes. Few regions offer such a vivid display of the natural world’s endless wonder.
We recommend watching Zoo Quest, often credited with kickstarting Sir Attenborough's career, along with the following episodes of the more recent ASIA series: Episode 1: Beneath The Waves; Episode 7: Saving Asia.
Mongolia: The Ultimate wilderness
Mongolia's vast wilderness and untamed beauty that have long captivated Sir David Attenborough. He has described the 'Gobi' as the most remote place visited by the Planet Earth Team, where wildlife appears sparingly but memorably: gazelles on the steppe, Takhi horses, Pallas's cats, wolves and the critically endangered Gobi bear.
A journey here also touches deep human history at Kharkhorin, the former Karakorum, once capital of the Mongol Empire, where Erdene Zuu Monastery rises beside the Orkhon Valley.
For travellers drawn to horizons, Mongolia offers nature in its purest form: austere, elemental and unforgettable.
Final note
Of course, Asia's natural phenomena and incredible wildlife far exceed those mentioned in this article. I haven't touched upon India's Asiatic Lions, Japanese Macaque's, China's Giant Pandas - the list goes on! I recommend viewing our luxury wildlife tours in Asia to see our wide range of nature and wildlife tours to every corner of Asia.
If you would like to explore Asia through responsible, expert-led travel, browse our luxury tailor-made holidays and small group tours to Asia for further inspiration.
