20-35 years of age
The real Africa.
I've been living and working in Zambia for 4 years now. Mainly in the Luangwa Valley, but also in Liuwa Plain National Park.
South Luangwa is one of the premier parks in Southern Africa, with abundant and diverse wildlife and a true remote feeling. North Luangwa is even remoter, about as remote as you can get in Africa those days.
In South Luangwa lions are commonly seen, and the nightdrives offer a good chance of seeing the nocturnal animals, including the ever elusive leopard, which is often seen.
Wild dogs are also regularly seen and the Luangwa Valley host (near) endemice subspecies of Thornicroft's Giraffe, Crawshay's Zebra and Cookson's Wildebeest.
With over 400 bird species recorded the Luangwa Valley is a birders dream. Specialties are the southern carmine bee-eater colonies from late August to November. Pel's fishing owl is also regularly seen, as are numerous other raptors.
South Luangwa is the home of walking safaris, originally started by Norman Carr. While you might not see the likes of lions and elephants as well as from a vehicle, walking between those animals is a truly exhilirating experience!
Liuwa Plain National Park (I visited in October-November 2010) is a park for the advanced Africa traveller. Very remote and offering wide views or a vast, flat plain. It hosts the second biggest wildebeest migration (after the Serengeti-Masaai Mara migration) of about 40,000 wildebeest (the number is growing). Wild dogs and cheetah are home on and around the plain, where hyaenas are numerous. The lion population, which was down to 1 female (lady Liuwa) is slowly being restored and 2 males (in 2009) and 2 subadult females (in 2011) have been reintroduced.
The plains are a birders dreams, with tens of thousand migratory birds (like Caspian Plover, Pratincoles). Pelicans, grey crowned cranes, wattled cranes, fuellerborn's longclaws are numerous. Liuwa Plain NP is a truly unique experience.
Lower Zambezi National Park (August 2008, 2009) is an exclusive park. The actual safari area is quite small, but the game is plentiful and the (luxury) camps don't just offer game drives and walks, but also boating and fishing (releasing of the catch).
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35-50 years of age
Botswana was beautiful, wild, warm and true
Camping our way through several Botswanan and Zimbabwean parks was one of the most transformative journeys I have ever made. (And I have traveled). The land has a sense of immensity that is humbling and awe-inspiring. The camping was very basic, with no modern amenities or fences, so the feeling of being in the wild, versus watching a performance of the wild, was complete. The guide was truly learned and local: A dedicated naturalist not a tour guide. And the camp hands were amazing. Warm, knowledgeable, friendly, and excellent cooks given one pot and a fire. The wildlife. What can you say? I was perpetually transfixed, even when rooted to the spot with terror (a face-off with a Bull elephant and hyenas raiding the cool box in our truck come to mind). The cats (the big drawcard for me) were astounding. Many lions, a close-up with a leopard in a tree above us, and a dusk sighting of two cooperating cheetahs hunting. At night we saw a serval, so incredibly hard to spot and very high on my list. Crossing into Victoria Falls was wonderful: despite the woes of its country, a town and a people so warm, funny, smart and welcoming. And I was surprised by the quality of the wildlife there, too (as well as the white water rafting and nightlife). Botswana and Zimbabwe are countries that will sear images onto your retina and memories into your mind, and and these things conspire over the years to produce a kind of soul-magic not easily found in other places. They call you back to Africa.
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50-65 years of age
Review about Tarangire National Park by Sally
Wonderful wildlife viewing.
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50-65 years of age
Review about Serengeti National Park by Sally
Thrill of a lifetime to see the Serengeti.
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50-65 years of age
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50-65 years of age
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Sally
A place frozen in time - trying to preserve these endangered species.
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50-65 years of age
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20-35 years of age
Review about Selous Game Reserve by Athena
While the wildlife was a bit more difficult to spot - more spread out - but the "bush vibe" was intense. We had plenty of wildlife in our camp at night - monkeys and monitor lizards during the day, with bush babies and more monkeys at night. You have to fly in - giraffes were on the runway and had to be chased off.
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50-65 years of age
Tanzania offers world-class wildlife viewing - plus historic sites such as Zanzibar Stonetown.
Tanzania has very good infrastructure to support tourism. Most folks understand the benefits of the tourist dollar, and work to be sure guests have a positive experience. On my multi-day safari, we saw all the big five, plus many, many other animals. I'm not a birder, but the birders in the group were thrilled with all the species they observed. Weather was generally fine, although unseasonably cold and wet (snow) on the Kilimanjaro climb, oh well. Accomodations were quite adequate, especially if you have traveled in third world countries before and are not expecting western standards. It's just not the same. Not a foodie place, but that's not why you're going to Tanzania. A visit to Tanzania is a life experience - be sure visit Zanzibar, too.
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20-35 years of age
Review about Tanzania by Athena
There are lot's of safari destinations in Tanzania, more than a few the size of a small country and the wildlife viewing is incredible. The landscape is varied and gorgeous and the people of Tanzania are welcoming. I enjoyed birding considerably, though am not a serious birder - my trips to Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda, however, convinced me that birding is an exciting and fun hobby.