>>831358are you looking into wildlife or into landscape?
in general i would take an apsc-sized consumer dslr with a lightweight plastic zoom lens
i use a 2008 Pentax k200d
positive: very cheap, rugged, weather sealed, takes aa-batteries, small files
negative: heavy, bad lowlight, slow autofocus
also take a look at film compact cameras like the yashica t4; they are lightweight, compact, have a big sensor and a sharp lens