Danube Delta Birdwatching Safari

Romania

The Danube Delta Nature Reserve is the finest short-haul wildlife destination from the UK – to find something comparable you would have to travel to Africa or beyond.

Comprising more than 2,000 square miles of waterways, lakes, reed-beds, islands and forests, the delta has vast ecological importance as a breeding ground for several hundred species of migratory birds. After various threats to drain the wetlands for agricultural development, this vast area - where the Danube splits into three main channels before spilling into the Black Sea - now has protected status.

Getting there involves a long but interesting drive of some 200 miles east from the Romanian capital, Bucharest. The road passes through rural expanses dotted with small villages and offers perhaps a last glimpse of a vanishing world, where the pace of life is slow, manual labour in the fields is a common sight and the horse and cart still an everyday mode of transport (with old number plates stuck to the back of the cart as a cursory nod to EU bureaucracy).

Birds are undoubtedly the main attraction, and include by far Europe’s largest colony of pelicans, plus terns, ibis, egrets, spoon-bills, herons, grebes and many more. Float past endless varieties of cormorants perched on branches drying their wings before rounding a corner in the tall reed banks to find a vast lake full of water lilies and a pod of up to a thousand pelicans. It all feels distinctly African, and the lack of crocs and hippos seems like an oversight.

Once guests have had their fill of wildlife watching, local excursions are equally rewarding. There are monasteries and a caviar farm to visit, as well as wine-tasting at local vineyards, and a nearby community of ethnic Russians known as Lipovans, who continue a way of life largely unchanged for centuries.