5 BEST AFRICAN SAFARI TOURS
Image: Tobin Rogers
Africa is the 2nd largest continent on earth, and with so much range, it’s hard to know where to experience the best safari. African sunsets, magnificent views and not to mention observing the Big 5 in all their glory are just some of the things we seek on our ideal safari trip.
Experiencing a wildlife safari is one of those life-changing moments. A bucket list destination of many, and a sultry adventure you’ve only ever dreamed of through the eyes of any David Attenborough documentary.
Racing high speed through the Serengeti Plains on board a 4x4 to catch a glimpse of a graceful leopard sauntering through the lush green bushes, a pride of lions sleeping in the shade of the baobab trees, giraffes moving slowly in the outline of the burning magenta sunset and a lone bull elephant wandering for miles and miles along the Serengeti. Full of inspiration from the day’s adventures and soaking up the pure humbling and unique experience of Africa, tomorrow can’t come quick enough. The sounds of vervet monkeys clamber on your tent top in the morning sunrise waking you with their chattering sounds. It’s a dreamy experience that stays with you forever and one you wish would never come to an end.
Africa is the world’s best safari experience that is unique in every way and that no other continent can replica. Africa has an abundance of exceptional places and national parks to visit - some unknown and some very well known, it would take a true safari lover to roam the continent to find the most unusual safari locations. Lucky we are here because here is our top pick of the 5 Best African safari tours!
AFRICAN LION SAFARI
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PS: Browse our 5 best African safari tours below for inspiration. We visit some of these magnificent locations on our African Lion Safari! If these locations appeal to you, simply contact one of our Travel Experts and they'll be more than happy to help.
5 Best African Safari Tours / Image: Jorge Tung
1 - Serengeti + The Great Migration
If you’re wondering “which African country is the best for safari?” Tanzania is one of the best places for safari. Specifically The Serengeti and The Great Migration.
The beautiful Serengeti plains are some of our most idealistic desires in what we crave in a classic safari trip. If you’re fortunate enough to get to go on a Serengeti safari tour, then the Serengeti national park stretches for miles and miles and have some of the most breath-taking scenes you will ever encounter. The Serengeti is sacred. Cherished by the wild animals that live there and by the people who visit. The Serengeti is home to a plethora of wild animals. If game viewing and spotting the Big 5 is your thing, you will not be disappointed!
5 Best African Safari Tours / Image: Jenny Zhang
Lets not forget The Great Migration! The Serengeti is famed for its annual wildebeest migration. If you ever get to witness this whilst in the Serengeti national park - you will watch in awe. The wildebeest migration is when approx 8 million (yes million!) hooves cross the open plains in the search for fresh grazing. Amongst wildebeest - zebra’s and Thompson gazelles join the journey too. Predators follow the migration as well and there are many sightings of big cats hunting the animals which can be particularly captivating if it doesn’t make you want to cover your eyes with the brim of your safari hat.
A short drive away from the Serengeti national park is the Ngorongoro Crater. If you haven’t heard much about this crater - you might be thinking ‘Is the Ngorongoro Crater worth visiting?’ - The answer is a big ‘Yes’. The Ngorongoro Crater is definitely worth visiting and extremely spectacular. If you are in the Serengeti then this location is a near drive away. The crater is the world’s largest inactive and unfilled volcanic caldera. The Crater formed when a large volcano erupted and collapsed on itself two and a half million years ago. When it was still an active volcano, it was a similar size to Mount Kilimanjaro, one of the world’s biggest mountains. The Crater is filled with the most mesmerising wildlife and the location is very different compared to the Serengeti. The Crater can be done in a day of your trip and it’s an out-of-this-world sight. If you’re driving along the rim and able to see the clouds part to witness this massive crater, or driving down into the base to surround yourself in the beauty of the unfilled volcanic caldera - you will be sure to love what your eyes will see.
What’s the best thing to see on this safari trip?
The Great Migration
We tour the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and all the above on our African Lion Safari Trip
5 Best African Safari Tours / Ngorongoro Crater by Hendrik Cornelissen
2 - Botswana
Botswana offers some of the best African safari tours around and with it’s royal connections, luxury campsites and varied terrains - Botswana boasts to be one of the most desirable locations to book a classic safari trip. Botswana is alluring because it’s very different from the other African countries. Botswana not only has premium game reserves, but it also has the fascinating Salt Pans, Delta and Desert plains to explore.
5 Best African Safari Tours / Okavango Delta by Wynand Uys
Love elephants? Botswana is home to the magnificent elephant empire. In fact it is THE place to come for elephant spotting and conservation. The Big 5 also live in its stunning scenery and on any note-worthy classic safari trip, you will be able to spot lion, leopard, black rhino and buffalo too. A vast variety of equally impressive animals live here - antelopes, giraffe, zebras, wildebeest, hippo, red lechwe and puku can all be seen in abundance in Botswana’s two biggest safari parks - Moremi Game National Park Reserve and Chobe National Park.
If you’d like a day or two’s break from sighting the Big 5 then we highly recommend discovering the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. It’s a natural feature and a visit here is thoroughly rewarding. The Salt Pans are situated in the middle of the dry savanna of Botswana and is the most inhospitable terrain you will ever encounter on a safari trip . It’s the remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland but dried up thousands of years ago.
A visit to the Okavango Delta should be on the top of your list too and is great to see any time of year (see image). The best time for a wildlife safari and canoeing on the water is from July to October. You will be sure to experience a trip of a lifetime here.
Lastly, the wonderful Kalahari Desert. The Kalahari desert becomes a lush animal habitat during the rainy season. It’s home to desert animals such as meerkat, bat-eared foxes, cape fox and brown hyena. What’s exciting and rare is that all three African big cats can be found here too - cheetah, Leopard and the famous black-maned Kalahari lions.
If varied terrains and endless adventures in different scenery is your thing - then Botswana encompasses everything all in one go!
What’s the best thing to see on this safari trip?
Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
5 Best African Safari Tours / Kalahari Desert Owl by Alan J. Hendry
3 - The African Mountains
South Africa / View from table mountain by Tom Podmore
Whether on foot or by car, if you’re hiking one of the beautiful African mountains then you’ll be sure to experience game viewing on foot along the way. There’s no better way than to combine it whilst hiking one of these hand-picked mountains available in eastern and southern Africa. We’ve specially selected a handful of our favourites with magnificent views good enough to make your eyes water.
If you’ve chosen southern Africa and Cape Town for your desired safari trip, then head to the most photographed attraction - Table Mountain South Africa. Table Mountain is a flat topped mountain forming a prominent backdrop throughout the city of Cape Town in Southern Africa. Ideal for hiking with great views, you will also be able to spot many wild animals on the way to the top. You will encounter the rock hyrax, rare frogs, tortoises, snakes, lizards, birds and porcupines as well as so much more. Lions also used to live here but the very last lion was killed in 1802 and now the only thing that is visible are the occasional spores from Leopards.
Along with Table Mountain, there is a wonderful mountain in South Africa named Giants Castle. This mountain is located within Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, Southern Africa. The mountain is known for its hiking trails and attracts hikers from all over the globe. It’s an easier and more varied climb than other mountains listed here but its views are just as eye-catching. Upon Giants Castle you will get to encounter the bearded vulture and view the large sandstone cave containing prehistoric San Rock Art.
In eastern Africa there are mountains that are plentiful. And before we get to the main mountain that’s on everyone’s wish list, let’s talk about another treasured mountain that goes by the name of Mount Longonot.
Mount Longonot Kenya is hugely spectacular because of its location and form. This crater mountain rises from the floor of the Great Rift Valley of Africa. Mt Longonot last erupted in the 1860s. It is now a dormant volcano that is located southeast of Naivasha in the Rift Valley. Ideal to add onto a Kenya safari tour and essential to view the Great Rift Valley at the same time. Its unique feature is its thick forest you get to experience within the crater. Its name is derived from the Maasai and means ‘mountains of many spurs’ or ‘steep ridges’. The crater rim provides amazing views of the stunning Rift Valley. You will also encounter a wildlife safari along its trails…including buffaloes, lions, leopards, bushbucks, zebras, giraffes and gazelles. This mountain has the most wild animals to encounter on route. If Mount Longonot Kenya takes your interest - we climb parts of Mt Longonot on our African Lion Safari Tour.
Last but not least if high mountains attract you and want to base your safari trip around climbing one of the worlds best tourist attractions then head to Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Kenya.
Mount Kilimanjaro is based in Tanzania and is a dormant volcano and is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain in the world. If you’re up for walking around 6 hours a day and can deal with the altitude then you’ll want to travel here. Although you need to be in the fittest physical condition of your life. Kilimanjaro is perfect for a walking safari too - you might be asking ‘What animals do I see on Mount Kilimanjaro?’ You are guaranteed to see many animals - giraffes, warthogs and water buffalo, colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, bush bucks and dik dik as well as many, many birds. If you’re lucky even elephants or hyaenas.
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. Is Mount Kenya hard to climb? It can definitely be hard to climb. It takes approx 4-6 days to climb the mountain and it is a challenge. It is easier to climb than Kilimanjaro because it is lower and you spend less time in the cold, thin-air zone. Mount Kenya is basically a forest reserve in which a number of amazing animals live. Aside from elephants, a plethora of other animals live there too - Leopards, waterbucks, tree hyrax, white tailed mongoose, bushbucks, black rhino and buffalos.
What’s the best mountain to climb on a safari trip?
Mount Longonot Kenya
5 Best African Safari Tours / Image by Redcharlie
4 - Namibia
Is Namibia good for safari? Namibia is great for safari because a Namibia safari trip is unlike anything you’ve experienced before. Don’t let the emptiness of the desert fool you. There are creatures and secret treasured locations everywhere. Namibia is home to an abundance of amazing wild animals. From desert lions, elephants, giraffes to cheetahs, black and white rhinos, jackals , ostriches, even seals and much more!
5 Best African Safari Tours / Sossusvlei by Ramon Bucard
A classic safari in Namibia is a huge contrast to a Kenya safari but if you dare to travel to this sparsely deserted area of Africa, you will not be disappointed. Not only does it have the most interesting desert wildlife but you get to learn about how they survive with so little water. If you delve into this region properly on your safari trip - you will get to encounter lots of fascinating places. From the haunting Skeleton Coast with its shipwrecks spanning from hundreds of years ago to the picture perfect Sossusvlei (pictured right). Hidden gem Spitzkoppe is an unknown beauty with its big soft boulders - it’s well worth a visit! If you like Flamingos then you will want to visit Walvis Bay on your trip too. The pink haze of wild flamingos is a sight to behold. Ghost towns and shipwrecks are plentiful in this forbidden land - head to the Kolmanskop Ghost Town and witness this abandoned town slowly sinking into the sand dunes. A spot of hiking should definitely be on the cards on your safari trip - head to Fishriver Canyon and explore the dunes with vigour. That’s just a taster of what a classic safari in Namibia has to offer and on our ‘best things to do in Namibia list’!
On a side note, Namibia is extremely sparsely populated, it’s also the second least densely populated country in the world, with an average of just five people for every square mile. Namibia’s desert takes up most of the country. All in all if you’re looking to experience an african safari tour with a difference - this would be the place to come. It also has an array of outstanding Namibia safari lodges to stay in right in the middle of the desert.
What’s the best thing to see on this safari trip?
The Shipwrecks of Skeleton Coast. Be sure to take a nighttime safari trip too!
5 Best African safari Tours / Namibia by Gregory Brown
5 - Kenya
Welcome to the Wild West of Africa! Kenya has some of the best national parks in the world! If you are able to go on a Kenya safari then you will encounter some of the most incredible adventures. Kenya not only has a rich history, but a variety of legendary stories of wild animals, explorers and man-eating lions to immerse yourself in.
5 Best African Safari Tours / Rhino by Harshil Gudka
Most people head straight to the Masai Mara national park. Why is the Masai Mara a great place to go on a safari trip? The Masai Mara is a great place to go on a classic safari trip because it’s one of the most famous and important wildlife conservation and wilderness locations in Africa. It’s also world-renowned for its remarkable wild animal populations. Masai lions, African leopards, Rhino, Tanzanian cheetahs and African bush elephants all roam the Kenyan plains. On a Kenya safari - you will also get to encounter The Great Migration too.
However, there is much more to see and history to uncover if you go further afield. What attracts us to exploring Kenya isn’t the most common locations but the vibrant stories telling us about Kenya’s exuberant past. Famous books that paint a picture of the real Kenya that captures the imagination of your soul. There is Tsavo National park, once famous by the book “The man eating lions of Tsavo” by J.H. Patterson. George Adamson (Father of Lions) lived, journeyed and carried out his remarkable life with lions in Kenya his book “A Lifetime with Lions” is definitely worth a read too.
The Great Rift Valley is a major part of Kenya! Why is the Great Rift Valley important? The Great Rift Valley is not only important but famous for stretching from Lebanon to Mozambique. Africa’s famous Valley is a 6000 mile crack in the earth’s crust and much of it is to be found in Kenya, where it has literally cut the country in two. It also contains some of the world’s most amazing lakes, mountains and plains. That’s what makes the Great Rift Valley pretty important.
Aside from all this, Kenya is an excellent place to learn about the conservation of lions. Kenya is also a great centre for conservation and research. If adding a sprinkling of conservation and learning more about the great african lion interests you for your next safari trip - then we recommend taking a look at our upcoming African Lion Safari where we will be dedicating a day towards Lion Conservation in the most spectacular and privileged way. A unique opportunity during our Tanzania and Kenya safari tour.
.What’s the best thing to see on this safari trip?
Immerse yourself in the history and conservation of lions
Make An Impact On Your Next African Safari!
Discover an African Safari with a unique perspective. We have developed one of the most extraordinary experiences that bridges Lion Conservation with adventure travel.
Our expedition takes us on a thrilling route through Tanzania - exploring one of the most extraordinary journeys in Africa.
Our African safari trip will highlight Lion Conservation and we will be exposing travellers to resources and experiences you will only encounter through this adventure. Experience lion conservation from the worlds best lion conservation experts and registered conservation charities to enable you to broaden your safari experience above and beyond your wildest dreams.
‘AFRICAN LION SAFARI’ Is Our Biggest Adventure Yet
Main pic: David Close