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One of my favourite aspects of going on a cruise is the amount of organisation I have to do - virtually none. Having chosen (& paid for!) my trip, I’m free to sort visas &  book flights if necessary, and then spend leisurely time browsing the ship’s route on Google Earth, just to keep my excitement simmering until it’s time to pack. It makes a refreshing change to the independent adventures I used to have; fun as they were, I can now admit to myself that organising them was also quite stressful.

Always an animal-lover, I’m currently shortlisting destinations for my next “safari” cruise, as I call them - boats are perhaps the least intrusive method I’ve found for animal-spotting. The best wildlife cruises are designed to take you deep into natural habitat, & employ local guides to get you as close to the creatures as possible without disturbing them.

Borneo’s Rajang River, for Orangutans, Clouded Leopards & Pygmy Elephants

Borneo certainly ticks many boxes; the idea of cruising through ancient jungle, not to mention one of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems, is infinitely appealing. Orangutans are probably Borneo’s most famous jungle dwellers; the corporate devastation of their rainforest habitat is widely publicized. Reserves & conservation areas, like Danum Valley, protect large areas of primary jungle, where you can usually count on spotting orangutans after relatively little guided searching.

Most cruises offer day-trips for this, but if you choose a vessel with a shallow draft (ie, it doesn’t need deep water to stay afloat) you can drift upriver into otherwise impenetrable jungle, & maybe see the primates from your boat. Orangs aren’t Borneo’s only rare creature, either - keep your eyes open for Clouded Leopards, Proboscis Monkeys, rhinos & pygmy elephants. Birdlife here is spectacular, too, with many colourful river species to keep us entertained in our deck-chairs.

India’s Brahmaputra River for elephants & tigers

A famously hectic country, it turns out that India possesses thousands of tranquil miles of riverway, passing through dense jungle habitat, wildlife sanctuaries, tribal villages & beautiful rural vistas. Being everso slightly intimidated by my friends’ accounts of Delhi, Kolkata & other bits of urban India, the idea of discovering the country by river feels very relaxing. I’d get the chance to see river dolphins, gibbons, a splendid array of birdlife, tigers, elephants, leopards & water buffalo, with a couple of jeep safaris thrown in for extra exposure.

Mekong River for Irrawaddy dolphins & Javan rhinos

The 3,000 mile long Mekong flows all the way from Tibet through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam, until fanning out into the fertile Mekong Delta just south of Saigon. Not quite so diverse on the wildlife front, it must be said, as Borneo, but Mekong cruises do offer the ultra-rare Irrawaddy dolphin & the Giant Catfish (the world’s largest freshwater fish) amongst 1,500 other fish species, with tigers & Javan rhinos in the riverbank jungle. Head to Cambodia & Laos for the best wilderness - the Mekong’s Southernmost stretches are fascinating, but bustling with human river communities, making your animal-spotting odds a little slimmer.