Blancaneaux Lodge, Belize. Mara Explorer, Kenya. Taj Safari Lodges, Madhya Pradesh, India. Sal Salis at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Picture: Archie Sartracom Source: Supplied FOUR top destinations to bring you closer to wildlife. THIS 10-tent camp on the Talek River is a chic and affordable option in the Masai Mara. It is set at the confluence of the national park's four prime game-viewing areas and ranger-escorted drives twice a day spot the fabled big cats, plus herds of buffalo, wildebeest, zebra and various species of antelope. At camp, you have bathing hippos on the watery doorstep and families of banded mongoose frolicking about the well-appointed tents. More: wildlifesafari.com.au. THERE are three lodges and one tented camp linked in a circuit through the national parks of India's central Madhya Pradesh, including the wilderness that inspired Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Start in the state's north at Pashan Garh (pictured) in Panna National Park, where 12 stone cottages are strung at discreet intervals; jungle cats frolic in the branches of gooseberry trees and mugger crocs rule in the Ken River. More: tajsafaris.com. YOU'LL be swimming with whale sharks and manta rays faster than you can say "pass the zinc cream" at this luxury, nine-tent safari camp in the sand dunes of WA's Cape Range National Park. The remote Ningaloo Coast, recently declared a World Heritage Area, is a cornucopia of marine life and a breeding ground for hawksbill, green and loggerhead turtles. And there's no shortage of land-based animal attractions. More: salsalis.com.au. THE dense forest of Central America, with its waterfalls and turquoise lakes, would make the perfect setting for a film. But Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola had relaxation on his mind when he transformed an abandoned lodge in Belize into a family retreat in the 80s. Now open to the public, the 20-room getaway in the Maya Mountains is the perfect vantage point from which to explore a wonderland of wildlife. More: coppolaresorts.com.