Why Africa?

With more than 1,100 different species of mammal found in the continents’ 54 countries, it’s not surprising that Africa has a powerful hold over the imaginations of wildlife lovers. The presence of such iconic animals, from the noble lion and stealthy leopard to the mighty mountain gorilla, means there’s never a shortage of drama. But there’s more to African wildlife than the charismatic giants. There are more than 2,600 species of bird found in Africa, from ‘living dinosaurs’ (shoebills) to luminous bee-eaters, living alongside alien-like rock agama lizards and odd-looking lemurs found nowhere else on the planet.

First time on a safari?

A safari will never disappoint, but for first-time visitors to Africa (and families travelling with children), there are some ‘classic’ destinations with a high likelihood of memorable wildlife encounters.

One of the big ‘classic’ parks is Kruger National Park in South Africa. Kruger is a vast wilderness, home to over 140 mammal species, as well as over 500 bird species and a diverse range of scenery from riverine forest and savannah grasslands, to mopane woodland and prickly thorn thickets. It is renowned for abundant wildlife encounters. If you get to a waterhole before dawn you may see buffalo and antelope drinking and a giraffe grazing on the canopies of acacia trees. Some other species you might see include elephants, lions and maybe even a leopard, cheetah or white rhino.

The Okavango Delta in Botswana is also legendary, a watery wilderness that’s one of the best places in the world to see herds of elephant (especially in Chobe National Park), as well as rare African wild dogs, and more, which you can observe from a safari vehicle or mokoro (canoe).

Kenya also has Samburu National Reserve, fantastic wildlife with a gentler pace than some of the better known parks in Kenya, Lake Nakuru, a haven for flamingos, and Amboseli National Park for up-close encounters with giant ‘tusker’ elephants and snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, across the border in Tanzania, for a backdrop.

Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is another classic, a World Heritage Site whose vast plains are teeming with lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, and more.

At Ngorongoro Crater, also in Tanzania, you can descend into the massive caldera of an ancient volcano, looking out for lazing lions, lumbering rhinos and galloping zebra. Lake Manyara makes a gentle introduction to the country, with tree-climbing lions and massive flocks of flamingos, while Tarangire National Park has majestic baobab trees and one of the country’s largest concentrations of elephants.