About Wild Discovery
Dan & Rachael Brown
Dan and Rachael welcome you to Wild Discovery.
We are a husband and wife team, avid naturalists, professional ecologists and natural leaders who simply love giving people amazing wildlife experiences.
It has been a natural progression for us to establish Wild Discovery. We have taken our passion and expertise and created something new for those who love to experience wildlife. We offer custom-made experiences as well as set departures, all supporting conservation programmes and sustainable initiatives at every opportunity and promoting green livelihoods.
Introducing Wild Discovery
What makes us different
from everyone else?
We believe that the wildlife travel industry needs to embrace conservation and sustainability in a more holistic manner so we created Wild Discovery. This ethos is at the heart of what we do. By partnering with and supporting conservation organisations on our expeditions we create an enriched experience for our guests. This network of experts helps to cultivate knowledge and in doing so enables our guests to support and promote conservation-orientated tourism in an informed way.
Dan is a semi-professional photographer
We provide tangible contributions to conservation initiatives and associated green livelihoods from the delicious, locally-sourced food you eat and the comfy bed you sleep in, to the places and species you experience. By joining us you help to highlight the real value of Earth's most vital asset, its natural world. As well as utter enjoyment and unforgettable memories, your time with us will provide long-term benefits to local communities and save some of the planet's most endangered wildlife.
The result: your experience with us will be far more than just a holiday!
As professional ecologists we bring an immense amount of expertise, experience and enthusiasm to every one of our expeditions. We are at our best when working together so having us both as hosts and guides on your expeditions provides you with an exceptional level of personal care and attention to every detail resulting in a superior travelling experience.
We have worked within the tourism, conservation and commercial sectors of Ecology for nearly 20 years and personally believe that effective long-term conservation in most regions of the world is dependent on well-structured community-based projects and functional partnerships that value and encourage environmental stewardship.
Travel with Purpose
Whether you want to watch Basking Sharks, Otters and Eagles on the West coast or Pine Martens and Black Grouse in Royal Deeside, our unique fully inclusive expeditions and Royal Deeside Days focus on giving you the best experiences possible with enigmatic and charismatic wildlife whilst supporting conservation at a local and landscape scale.
Rachael searching for cetaceans off the picturesque coast of Tasmania
We show you a side of a country or region that most people will never see, whether it’s a behind the scenes look at conservation projects, access to restricted reserves, meeting passionate land managers, there will always be something extra to discover. In due course we will be launching a series of very exciting international expeditions.
Through the unique experiences offered, our aim is to connect our guests with nature aided by our growing network of organisations and local initiatives. The stage is set to learn how our best-loved species are being brought back from the brink and how more cryptic species play their role, often with surprising consequences.
Through bespoke arrangements with our partners and network, your wildlife experiences with us provide support directly to the wildlife, land and local communities you are visiting.
Who we are
Dan and Rachael Brown
Dan and Rachael are professional ecologists who have been involved in just about every aspect of the discipline from commercial to conservation, tourism to art.
For many years Dan and Rachael worked as ecological consultants on a variety of projects from cetacean, turtle and Chimpanzee research in Western Africa to biodiversity assessments in Scandinavia and Croatia. Their work as consultants has covered a huge spectrum of projects from renewable energy and infrastructure, to creating a biodiversity action plan for Scotland’s largest ferry provider, advising hospitality infrastructure developments on green initiatives and promoting ecological values and more recently working with an ecological foundation and rewilding project (see our Consultancy section). They also work as freelance Scientific Advisors for the BBC Natural History Unit, Silverback Films and other production companies.
Inquisitive King Penguins on Macquarie Island, Australian Sub-Antarctic
Dan has never known a point in his life where he wasn’t obsessed with wildlife and started exploring at an early age.
He grew up in Bangor University’s Botanic Garden (North Wales) where he was surrounded by hundreds of plants and animals and many inspiring individuals. He spent six weeks in the Drakensberg Mountains when he was 16 and just two years later travelled in the footsteps of Shackleton as a member of the first youth expedition to the Antarctic. Dan has worked for several wildlife and birdwatching tour companies and both Dan and Rachael are now senior expedition voyage staff working as lecturers, guides and zodiac drivers for several companies.
Dan has authored two books on British birds, a photo identification guide for those just starting out and a book tailored to finding and enjoying the best birding experiences in the UK (many of which you will enjoy with us on our Scottish Expeditions).
Dan also writes for popular birdwatching magazines and his articles can be found illustrated with many of his photos from around the world. Dan is a keen artist and photographer having contributed illustrations to a book of finding mammals in the UK.
Rachael is a passionate naturalist with a particular love for coastal wildlife. She was born in Yorkshire, England before moving to Scotland where she started her career as an ecologist. She has worked for ecological consultancies where she provided expert advice on species and landscape ecology throughout the UK. Projects ranged from the protection and monitoring of endangered species to assessing the impacts of developments such as road infrastructure on the Caledonian Forests of Scotland and offshore renewable energy on Basking Sharks.
Rachael carefully navigating a boiling sea of King Penguins off Macquarie Island, Australian Sub-Antarctic
Rachael’s love of wildlife and travel combined with her inherently inquisitive mind and her enthusiasm for meeting people allowed an easy step into the world of expedition travel.
During their work aboard expedition cruise vessels Rachael and Dan have had the privilege of sharing and enhancing the guest experience whilst exploring many extraordinarily wild places from the Arctic to the Antarctic.
Their once nomadic lifestyle has also allowed further explorations into Asia and Australasia, with recent adventures including living with Yak herders whilst searching for Snow Leopards on the Tibetan Plateau, finding Red Pandas in China, Steller’s Sea Eagles in Japan, Pygmy Flying Squirrels in Borneo, Whale Sharks and Birds of Paradise in West Papua and a host of other wonderful wildlife, cultural and (of course) culinary experiences.
Recent global events have brought Dan and Rachael back home to Scotland. They have loved re-discovering Scotland’s world-class wildlife and finding new hidden gems. Their base in Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms National Park is the perfect location from which to explore the best of Scottish wildlife all year round.
Rachael and Dan are passionate about engaging young people with nature. Biodiversity conservation starts at home and Rachael and Dan work to inspire and enthuse young people by sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm through personalised videos, school visits and simply talking to people. They are also available for more formal evening presentations and lectures to groups, clubs and societies.
Calum Urqhart
Calum joins our team as an experienced guide. He shares Dan and Rachaels ethos and has wide ranging passions from birds and botany to beetles and bugs.
Calum is a lifelong naturalist with a wide variety of interests, ranging from birds and invertebrates to wildflowers and mosses. Growing up in the Cambridgeshire fens, he spent his younger years birding, botanising and moth-trapping in the flat lands, before heading to hilly Cornwall for university where he studied Conservation Biology and Ecology at Exeter university's Penryn campus. He then moved to the mountainous Highlands of Scotland, where he has lived for several years working as an ecologist, conservationist and wildlife guide. In his spare time, he is usually found walking, running or scrambling in search of wildlife in the mountains, moors, bogs and forests of the Highlands. Or, on an island somewhere...
Calum scaling one of Scotlands munroes
We all look forward to exploring the natural world with you.
Get in touch
Talk to us about tour options, locations and how we can help you experience more on a Wild Discovery tour