Llamas don't spit unless provoked. They're usually as fuzzy, nuzzly and pliant as sheepdogs, and they make fine trail companions, since they do the work. Llamas lug all the gear when Red Rock 'n' Llamas (www.redrocknllamas.com) takes families, in groups of no more than 10, camping in the canyon country of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah.
A 20km multiday hike geared to children follows the Upper Escalante River. Kids, always with a guide, can explore, swim, handle a llama, view Anasazi rock art or make their own paintings with native ocher and other plants.
Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, is Animal Planet come to life. Among its unique residents are ruffed lemurs, Diademed sifakas (big lemurs), Indri indris (even bigger lemurs) and a kaleidoscopic array of chameleons.
Reef and Rainforest Tours' Family Adventures program (www.familytours.co.uk) founded by a British couple with two young children, has 14-day wildlife viewing trips that take you from the country's rain forest to its otherworldly spiny forest (named for its pointy, cactuslike trees).
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