Expert Reviews
A Wildlife Nirvana on the Shores of Lake Kariba
Matusadona is one of southern Africa’s most remote and beautiful national parks. It extends southward from Kariba, the world's largest humanmade lake, and most game viewing takes place on the wide grassy floodplain that divides the lakeshore from the wooded mountains of the Zambezi Escarpment. As...
Zimbabwe’s Best-kept Secret
Gonarezhou National Park exceeded all my expectations. As this was our first visit to the park, we had set aside a week to explore every corner of this underrated wilderness area. On the first day, we entered the park in the south and traversed all the way to the Chipinda Pools area in the north....
Granite Whalebacks and Invisible Leopards
“Go take a hike,” said my tour guide once we had set up our tents in the Unesco World Heritage Matobo National Park. “It's awe-inspiring territory out there”. He wasn’t wrong. The smooth granite hills that typify Matobo are easy to walk upon, and the scenery is to die for (especially if...
Black Rhinos & Cantankerous Camels
I have always been of the opinion that camels are both bad-tempered and cantankerous creatures with bad teeth and even worse breath. As such, I must admit to not being all that keen on them, so when I was given the opportunity to tour the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and its surrounds as a guest on a...
A lesser-known gem on Tanzania’s Northern Circuit
Named after the river that runs through its heart, Tarangire National Park is one of the smaller members of the celebrated Northern Circuit family and probably the quietest, but it’s a lovely park with a lot to offer, including one of the highest densities of elephant of any park in Africa, a...
Rwanda’s Phoenix Forest
Gazetted in 2016, Gishwati-Mukura is not only the newest national park in Rwanda, but also by far the smallest and the most affected by human encroachment. Despite this, the very existence of the park represents an exciting development in Rwandan conservation and ecotourism, as it was motivated in...
Beautiful landscapes and a sanctuary for black rhinos
Laikipia County is in the middle of Kenya. The conservancies here (mostly former ranches) are leading the way in black rhino protection, with around half the country’s population in their care – and more. Ol Pejeta Conservancy, for example, is home to the last two northern white rhinos in the...
Rewilded, scenic park, just two hours from Kigali
In the past few years, Akagera has burst on to the safari scene, first being successfully rewilded with the Big Five and then with its first luxury camp (Magashi) opening in 2019. Considering its relatively short development as a safari destination, I’ve had amazing wildlife viewing there –...
Malaria-free, Big Five safari
Madikwe is a malaria-free reserve about five hours’ drive from Johannesburg. I’ve had incredible rhino viewing here – both white and black varieties. The rest of the Big Five is present, too. Leopards are hit and miss – I’ve seen one, but apparently that was lucky. Wild dogs are frequently...
Ruaha National Park
Visitors are often surprised to learn that Ruaha is bigger than the Serengeti. At more than 20,000km2/7,700mi2, this is Tanzania’s second-largest national park (after Nyerere) and one of those safari destinations that tends to attract the ‘best-kept secret’ epithet. It’s true that for such a...
Wild, remote Ruaha – the land of lions
Ruaha is the star of Tanzania’s lesser-known Southern Circuit. Not only is it wild and remote, it’s home to East Africa’s highest population of elephants and 10% of the entire continent’s lions, with some 28 lion prides roaming its plains. Don’t be surprised if your guide gets out a...
A chance to get your feet/wheels/hooves into the African dust
It was already early evening when I drove into the hills of Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. Covering just 46km2/29mi2, Mlilwane doesn’t take long to drive across but I had to keep stopping to gawk: the highland landscape was spectacular with the gold-tinted flank of Nyonyane Mountain looming above...
Pristine wilderness in the Swazi highlands
Malolotja is a beautiful hiking destination. On my visit, I wasn’t equipped for an overnight trail, but that is the way to really appreciate this pristine area. I went on a day hike and enjoyed looking at little grassland flowers – easily overlooked but stunning from close up. I visited in the...
A Primate’s Paradise
Every time I visit Nyungwe, I’m overwhelmed by its scenic beauty. The main road bisects the park and even before you get to your destination, you’ll get some incredible views across the never-ending rainforest extending over rolling hills into the distance. With 15 trails available, you can hike...
Rwanda’s Scenic Savannah
We have visited Akagera several times between 2000 and 2022, and it is heart-warming to see how this park has made a comeback from total neglect. The turning point was in 2010 when the non-profit African Parks took over its management. After fencing, they reintroduced lots of animals, most notably...
Unique Refuge by Lake Kariba
Matusadona is home to four of the Big Five (black rhinos are absent), and while lion numbers have declined of late, elephant and buffalo are common. The park’s remote situation between Lake Kariba and the Matuzviadonha Hills is stunning. The closer you get to the 700m summits, the wilder and...
A story of success
Majete, in southern Malawi, is beautiful with its gentle rolling hills, lush miombo woodlands and majestic Shire River forging its way to the Zambezi. But if you’d have visited 15 years ago, you’d have seen very little wildlife – it had almost been poached out. Now, thanks to the efforts of...
A Resurgent Gem
When I first visited Akagera in 2000, it was barely functional, suffered badly from encroachment and poaching, and seemed destined to become one of those forgotten African parks that exist only on maps and in the statute books. The situation deteriorated over the next few years, but was reversed in...
Leopards and rolling grasslands
With its highlands scenery at 2000m-plus above sea level, the Nyika Plateau is a hit with landscape photographers and travellers who want to escape from the lakeside crowds – and are prepared to brave the corrugated road to the lodges and campsite at Chelinda. Visiting this distinctive part of...
Live like Tarzan
The first time I visited Nyungwe National Park, within the space of 24 hours I watched a habituated troop of colobus monkeys frolic in the branches of great rainforest trees, stared in wonder at a beautiful lime-green snake, was wowed by the iridescent colours of sunbirds hovering above tropical...
Rwandan Big Five
Rwanda is best known for its gorillas and, to a lesser extent, chimpanzees, but few people seem to realise that out in the far east of the country there’s also a Big Five savannah park. Way back in the 1980s, Akagera National Park was regarded as one of East Africa’s better savannah parks, but...
Majete: wilderness restored
With two perennial rivers traversing the 691km2 park and a variety of habitats to choose from, Majete is a small but diverse wildlife reserve. The riparian forests found along the Shire and Mkulumadzi rivers give way to mature mixed woodlands, while granite-topped hills dominated by Brachystegia...
A conservation success story
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a brilliant place to indulge in some fine accommodation and see some of Africa’s most coveted wildlife. It’s the kind of place where you go to bed to find a hot water bottle strategically placed under the covers, and fresh brewed coffee by your bedside in the...
Pilanesberg: Busy & Beautiful
Pilanesberg is so easily reached that my first experience of the park was the antithesis of everything I love about the African wild – paved roads, traffic jams, and tour guides with loud microphones. The fact that there were rhinos, both black and white, in numbers, lions, elephants, and rumours...
Marakele: Wildlife & Landscapes
Marakele rarely features in discussions of South Africa’s premier parks, but surely that’s only because few people know about it. For starters it’s a stunningly beautiful tract of land, with red buttresses of the Waterberg range watching over rolling hills scarred dramatically by a 2017 fire....
The best of the Kalahari
Where Botswana meets South Africa and becomes one, Kgalagadi is one of the Kalahari’s most beautiful corners, with wildlife to match. The park’s signature species is the black-maned Kalahari male lion – the park is home to around 450 lions – but there’s a decent chance you’ll also see...
Good variety of wildlife in formidable landscapes
With vast concentrations of buffalo, elephant and plains game and healthy populations of the big cats, I’ve always had interesting and varied game-viewing in Ruaha. In fact, as soon as you enter the park at the Ibuguziwa Gate (where you first cross the Ruaha River) and drive the short distance to...
A volcanic chain of scenic misty green hills with a fantastic view of Kilimanjaro
The little-visited Chyulu Hills National Park is effectively a dispersal zone between the more famous Amboseli and Tsavo (East and West). But numbers of animals are not as great because of the Chyulu’s altitude (the highest peak is 2188 metres). On one visit, I attempted the steep four-wheel-drive...
It Should be on your bucket list
Like many, I once associated Zimbabwe solely with tales of corruption, a downtrodden populace, and unchecked wildlife destruction. Yet, my repeated visits to the country have shattered these assumptions. Zimbabwe is a paradoxical gem, where the warmth of its people contrasts sharply with its...
Bush and Beach
This very underrated reserve is less than an hours drive from Diani Beach, the biggest beach resort in Kenya, and is ideal for an easy morning game drive. True the wildlife variety and concentrations don’t come close to Kenya’s big name parks and reserves but for a break from the beach and a...
Island in the Sky
Even with the new tarmac road that currently extends halfway to Marsabit from Isiolo and the Samburu National Reserve area, travelling to Marsabit, in the far north of Kenya, is a long, bumpy and hot bounce through semi-desert acacia scrub country. But then, in the heat haze ahead rises the huge...
Find Your Inner Tarzan
Very different to almost any other park in Kenya, Kakamega is a slab of Congolese-like tropical forest buzzing with butterflies, shrill with birdsong and bustling with primates. True, it’s not going to tick any of the classic safari boxes but otherwise spending a few days exploring Kakamega is an...
Big 5 and beautiful landscapes close to Jo’Burg
Found in Limpopo Province, the Waterberg region’s varied scenery and topography includes broad rolling hills, magnificent red sandstone cliffs, perennial rivers, open plains and savannas. Since 2001, a large tract of this ancient landscape has been demarcated as a UNESCO Biosphere. A number of...
Big 5 in the Eastern Cape’s Frontier Country
Kwandwe is one of the most exclusive private reserves in the Eastern Cape, home to all of the Big 5 and with just 2 small luxury lodges and 2 private villas dotted across 22,000 hectares of picturesque hills and valleys on either side of the Great Fish River, it has one of the highest land to guest...
Elephants and more elephants in Addo
Addo does exactly what it says on the tin: the park is absolutely teeming with elephants, more than 600 of them in total. But that’s not all that this sizeable national park has to offer: there are more than 400 buffalo, a growing rhino population and predators including leopard, lion and spotted...
Who would have thought…
It was 1994 when it happened. A terrible time in the history of humanity when the people of Rwanda turned against each other and slaughtered hundreds of thousands in an eruption of genocidal madness. We all saw it on the news. Fast forward to 2023 and it’s hard to imagine such a horrible event...
Africa’s Unexpected Winter Wonderland
With fingers and toes numbed by the cold, I survey the mountainous scene of snow and ice laid out before me, enraptured by an all-encompassing feeling of awe. It’s beautiful up here above the swirling mists and clouds atop the 3,482m Thabana Ntlenyana in Lesotho. Beautiful, empty, and wild. ...
A Gem in the Thornveld
South Africa's newest national park is small compared with the likes of Kruger, but certainly not short of wildlife. Black and white rhinos, buffalos, giraffes, zebras and a long list of antelopes are found in the park's 20,000 hectares. I spent a couple of hours driving around one morning and...
The Other Gorilla Park
Like the more famous Bwindi, Uganda’s smallest national park (just 34 sq km) hosts habituated mountain gorillas. But here there is only one habituated group (as opposed to more than 20 in Bwindi), so Mgahinga is less often included on safari itineraries. If you do track gorillas here, it is...
Home to Habituated Chimpanzees, This Is an Excellent Murchison Falls Add-On
Though the Budongo Forest is rarely a destination on its own, it makes an excellent add-on to Murchison Falls National Park. You probably won’t see any safari species on a forest walk here; rather people come to track its community of habituated chimpanzees. There are no big hills to climb here,...
As remote as it gets in Tanzania
With its soaring green hills abutting Lake Tanganyika and troop of habituated chimpanzees, Mahale Mountains National Park is often described alongside the more famous Gombe National Park. But, the much bigger Mahale is way more beautiful and remote and by far the more satisfying destination if you...
Meet the chimpanzees in Jane Goodall’s old stomping ground.
Gombe is synonymous with Jane Goodall, who did her pioneering chimpanzee research here – research that continues today. The 100 or so chimps that live in the park are fully habituated and pay visitors nearly no mind during the hour you are allowed to spend with them. The juveniles in the group...
Scenically Stunning but With Only Limited Wildlife
Also referred to as the Matopos, this small national park and Unesco World Heritage Site was primarily established to protect a section of the Matobo Hills – the unique boulder-strewn landscapes of southern Zimbabwe. Extruded granite has been weathered and eroded over time to form the iconic...
Scuba Diving with Crocodiles
Nsumbu lies perched on the shores of gigantic Lake Tanganyika. It is a long way off the popular Zambian safari circuit and few tourists, except diehard fishermen and crazy scuba divers make it all the way here. The park does boast good numbers of rare sitatunga, a handful of elephants and skittish...
Gambling and Game-viewing
The Pilanesberg is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea … After-all late night carousing seldom goes hand-in-hand with early morning game drives, but there are some who love it. Obviously, visitors have the choice of skipping Sun City’s casinos all together to rather concentrate on the wildlife...
Land of Giant Boulders
Matobo National Park lies in the Matobo (or Matopos) Hills, a stunning landscape of gigantic granite domes and bizarre balancing rock formations situated around 30km south of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. In addition to the magnificent boulderscapes, the park contains some superb...
Rare Birds and Gorillas in the Mist
Uganda is one of only three countries in the world (the others being Rwanda and, when it is open to tourists, the DRC) where the iconic mountain gorilla can be tracked on foot, an experience I’d have no hesitation recommending as the most thrilling wildlife encounter Africa has to offer. And of...
Low-key game viewing in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg foothills
I would bit recommend this as a wildlife destination per se. There is a good chance of seeing white rhino, giraffe and a long list of antelope (including the endemic blesbok) on the small road circuit through the reserve. It also offers some pretty good birdwatching. But the nicest aspect of...
Endemics hideaway
This medium-sized park near the small town of Cradock is notable for its striking landscapes of green rolling hills. It hosts a wide range of native South African wildlife that go some way to evoking the Karoo landscape as it must have been prior to the colonial era. The biggest draw is the...
Lost city on the Limpopo
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, this relatively new national park is not primarily a wildlife destination, so it ranks quite poorly judged on those terms. Its centrepiece is Mapungubwe Hill, site of the medieval capital of a wealthy trade empire that supplied locally sourced gold,...