Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, China 

What's black and white and quite possibly the cuddliest thing you've ever seen? That's right. Pandas. At this breeding facility and conservation centre in Chengdu, Sichuan, visitors can watch the roly-poly bears in up close action. Need something more convincing? Come and watch! 

Cheetah Outreach Centre, South Africa

The cheetah has its own claim to fame: this spotted cat is known for being the fastest land mammal, clocking speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. At the Cheetah Outreach Centre, outside Cape Town in Somerset West, you can spend time in a pen petting adult cats and baby cubs. But it gets better: the sanctuary also offers visitors a chance to take grown cheetahs for a "walk" along a nearby beach - and experience handler-led cub strolls on the centre's grassy grounds. 

Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Costa Rica

You'll need to take a boat or a small plane to get to this naturalist-guide staffed property located along a riverbank in Costa Rica's over-51,000 acre Tortuguero National Park, but it's worth the extra travel effort. Between late June and September, you can spot Atlantic green turtles laying their eggs along the beach - and witness the hatchlings crack out of their shells starting in late August.

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain 

Rafalca, the 22nd famous dressage horse, may have mad horse skills, but there's an entire region in the Andalusia area of southwestern Spain dedicated to the art of equestrian dance that combines classical dressage, flamenco - and riders dressed in eighteenth-century garb. At the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, you can catch a show featuring six to eight different forms of choreography, such as Doma Vaquera, the "cowboy" form of dressage used to herd cattle in the countryside.

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

If you're willing to wait until autumn to head south of the border, you'll witness one of nature's greatest migrations. Each year, between October and March, millions of monarchs make their way en masse from eastern Canada to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a natural protected area that spans 200 square miles in western central Mexico. Once they land, the butterflies cloak the forest's tree trunks and branches, producing a gorgeous orange-and-black panorama.

Ancient Horses Roam Wilderness, Spain 

In an oak wood spanning the border of Spain and Portugal, an ancient sight unfolds: wild horses not saddled or shoed, but roaming free as they did centuries ago. Overall in existence there are only about 150 Retuertas, an ancient breed of horse, in Europe that are being recovered to try to help manage an ecosystem which has been abandoned due to the migration of humans from this part of the country.