Expert Reviews
Go for the Gorillas, Stay for the Forest
Seeing Bwindi for the first time was an emotional moment: there it was, the fabled rainforest. Everyone told me I’d love the gorillas, but no-one mentioned it was the forest that I would fall for. Disclaimer: gorillas were never top of my travel bucket list. In fact, I’d ended up in Bwindi by...
Gorillas in demand
When demand outstrips supply, things tend to get pricey, and that’s what has happened in Rwanda with its gorilla trekking permits. It has become a grade-A bucket list activity, but there are only so many habituated gorilla families available. Strict rules mean that tourist groups are limited to 8...
Off-grid and wild
The Makgadikgadi Pans are what remains of Lake Makgadikgadi, a lake that was the size of Switzerland. These vast salt pans are south of the Okavango Delta and provide a real off-grid, wilderness experience – there is no signal and the few camps provide no Wi-Fi. Sitting on the pans, watching the...
Vast plains, rocky outcrops, migration herds
The great plains of the Serengeti are the quintessential safari landscape. There’s prolific predator action here – I saw several lions and leopards in the northern Serengeti (and even a serval sat calmly on the road); cheetahs are easier to see in the south. But the Serengeti is probably best...
Underrated and low-key place to kick back
We arrived after a long day on public transport, with our backpacks on our shoulders and covered in red Malawi dust. Arriving at a game reserve without any personal transport might seem crazy, but it can be done here. We stayed in a basic cabin and we spent a few days reading books and watching...
Lion King Country
The Serengeti would have to be my favourite safari destination in all of Africa. It is the Lion King brought to life (if only Disney didn’t give the hyenas such a bad wrap)! The Serengeti is breath-takingly beautiful with sweeping grassy plains, stuffed full of wildlife. This reserve is of course...
A Vast Nothingness
The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park offers a unique travel experience, with its vast open space, timelessness and complete nothingness. For much of the year, most of this desolate area remains waterless and large mammals are largely absent. But during and following the rainy season, the pans flood,...
Living with Elephants in paradise
I came to the Okavango Delta to write a story on a brilliant project called Living with Elephants for World Elephant Day, a deeply moving experience that remains a highlight of my travel-writing career. The organization is based on the Sanctuary concession, one of many private concession areas...
Uganda’s Forgotten Savannah Reserve
Nestled up against the remote South Sudanese border in the far northeast of Uganda, Kidepo Valley National Park has long been a byword for inaccessibility and remoteness. This is partly due to geographical distance from Kampala and the southwest safari circuit, an isolation exacerbated by the risk...
Kenya’s Ultimate Adventure
Let’s get some of the ‘boring’ factual stuff out the way first. Firstly, Lake Turkana per se isn’t a national park. However, there are three parks on or bordering the lake: these are Central Island National Park, South Island National Park and, on the northeastern shores of the lake, Siboli...
Black rhinos, desert elephants and time travel in Kaokaland
Namibia’s entire population is less than 3 million, dispersed across an area roughly four times the size of the UK, which has a population of more than 60 million. Nowhere are these statistics given more grounding than in the wild, remote and ruggedly beautiful northern region of Kaokoland. The...
Madagascar: As Unique as You Can Get
Madagascar is a remarkable place, and unique in so many ways. Not only is this tropical country the 4th-largest island in the world, but it’s also one of the most geographically isolated, and as such, is sometimes known as the 8th continent. For the naturalists among us, there are over 100...
Unlike Any Other Place in Africa
I wouldn’t go to Ethiopia for a safari experience. There are no vast herds of elephants or antelope, and there are very few lions and leopards. The reason I love to visit this landlocked country is for its uniqueness. It really is like no other place I know. Firstly, let’s talk about the...
Elephant encounters
The largest elephant herd I ever saw was in South Luangwa. After weeks of travel, I opted out of a morning wildlife drive and was sitting at our campsite, fretting over my potentially regrettable decision when I was alerted to a herd of elephants crossing the river. We watched as they made their way...
Adventure on the High Sands
This park is a major challenge even for experienced African hands. Remote and largely undeveloped, a safari here should only be attempted by a convoy of at least two vehicles and you need to be experienced in travel through Africa’s harsh desert regions. At the very least you will need GPS and...
Abundant Wildlife at Your Doorstep
There are so many reasons to go on safari in South Africa: wildlife is abundant, diverse and easy to spot; infrastructure is well developed; accommodation is of a high standard and reasonably priced; landscapes are stunning and varied; and, the network of protected wildlife areas spans the country,...
Historical sites and endemic wildlife
Having explored Ethiopia extensively over the course of more than half-a-dozen trips since I researched the first modern guidebook to the country in 1994, I’d regard it to be one of the most profoundly rewarding travel destinations in Africa, and possibly my personal favourite. Admittedly, it...
A world apart
Madagascar is, in a word, strange. Mind-bogglingly so, in certain respects. The world’s fourth-largest island, it is sometimes referred to as the Eighth Continent on account of its unique biodiversity and high level of endemism. Home to an estimated 10,000 animal and plant species found nowhere...
Safari Along the Wild Nile River
Uganda’s largest national park features on most safari itineraries because of its mix of beauty and wildlife. Four of the Big Five are here (only rhinos are absent, but they can be seen at the Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch on the drive from Kampala), and lion and leopard sightings are pretty...
Canoeing the mighty Zambezi
Zambia is known for its adventurous approach to safaris, and no reserve epitomises this so clearly as Lower Zambezi, which is best explored by canoe, following the wide main river or one of the narrower and more dangerous channels that flank it. Most of the time, canoeing in Lower Zambezi is...
Zululand travel base
The neighbour of Phinda, Zulu Nyala, this small reserve in Zululand is centered upon an affordable lodge with a pretty hilltop setting,. The surrounding sanctuary is a good place to photograph elephant, cheetah, rhino and buffalo, in part because it is so small that it would be difficult to go on a...
Superb malaria-free Big Five viewing
The 750-sq-km Madikwe Game Reserve is quite simply one South Africa’s most alluring destinations for those who want to see a good range of iconic wildlife in a short space of time. It is one of the closest reserves to Johannesburg and O.R. Tambo International Airport, making it a convenient add-on...
Sea of fossils
Better known for its scenery than its wildlife, Karoo National Park lies in the semi-arid Western Cape interior flanking the N1 close to the town of Beaufort West. The area once lay below a large inland sea, and it is renowned for its wealth of fossils dating back over 50 million years, some of the...
Emerald splash in an untamed terrain
Visiting Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake in the world, is a real adventure. For the cash-rich and time-poor, it’s a flight in a private light aircraft over the blistered earth below. For everyone else, it’s a couple of days of hardy overland travel from Nairobi. However you choose to come,...
Elephant central
Your experience of Chobe will depend on which part of the park you visit. The waterfront area in the north, which is within a day trip of Victoria Falls, offers game viewing for the masses, with boats cruising up and down the Chobe River from many large lodges along the bank, and a busy network of...
Close-Up Chimpanzee Encounters & Stunning Scenery
Mahale is an outstanding destination both for close-up encounters with chimpanzees and for the stunning scenery. Forested mountains rise up directly from the lakeshore, and the remote location means that you will likely have your patch of Lake Tanganyika sand to yourself. When you first arrive, the...
An adventurous safari in a huge expanse of dry woodland savannah on the edge of the Kalahari
Remote and little-visited, Khaudum is a vast region of dry, brittle thornveld, and like Kaokoland in Namibia’s northwest, a tough part of the country to travel in – you need a four-wheel-drive in a convoy of at least two vehicles, have experience in driving in soft sand, and be completely...
Well off the beaten track, on the trail of elephants and wild dogs
Kaudom (sometimes spelt Khaudum or Khaudom) is little visited as it’s difficult to reach (you have to choose between flying in or, once you’ve left the main road, a long, sandy journey by 4WD) and there are no lodges, just areas set aside for camping. Despite this, I think getting there is worth...
Walking in the valley
The game viewing in South Luangwa is fantastic. If you love leopards, like I do, you’re in for a treat. There are few places where these notoriously shy big cats are so habituated. A highlight for me was watching the flirtatious rituals of a mating pair over two days – something I haven’t...
Not your stereotypical safari destination
There is much more to the ‘the country of a thousand hills’ than initially meets the eye. Small, compact and easy to travel around, friendly Rwanda has well and truly consigned the tragic genocide of 1994 to history. The country has reconciled and rebounded spectacularly from this tragedy and...
Dynamite comes in small packages
Known as the warm heart of Africa, Malawi is an enchanting and welcoming country that is undoubtedly home to the friendliest people in all of Africa. While it might lack the abundant wildlife resources and expansive protected areas of some its more illustrious safari neighbours, Malawi makes up for...
Beautiful Country, Beautiful People
Ignore all the negative connotations this country may have: Zimbabwe is one of the most beautiful African countries with some of the friendliest people. The previous political troubles have not impacted on the safari destinations – other than the staff are even more delighted to see you. And what...
So many different types of desert!
Three times bigger than the UK, but with a population of only 2.5 million, there is a lot of space and wilderness in Namibia. Much of it is desert, comprising the Namib Naukluft in the west and the Kalahari in the east. The landscapes are astonishing with rocky mountains, moon-like gravel plains and...
Africa at its Best
First a confession. I love Kenya. It’s by far and away my favourite African country and I refuse to accept that there might be an even better African safari destination. But then I went to Botswana and nothing could wipe the smile off my face. I’d long heard stories of what a wonderful wildlife...
The Crown Awaits
For many years I’ve been travelling around different parts of Africa experiencing safaris in many different parks and environments. Throughout all this time whenever talk has turned to safari guides, training or community conservation one word above others kept cropping up, ‘Zimbabwe’, but...
The Continent in a Country
Without a shadow of doubt, South Africa is one of the most exciting countries in the world in which to travel. This of course is no great secret and tourism here has boomed since the dark days of Apartheid came to an end some twenty years ago. The country received another massive boost in popularity...
East Africa’s Most varied Nation
Kenya is the original home of the safari. This is the land of the world renowned Masai Mara National Reserve where tawny coloured lions feast off the hundreds of thousands of wildebeest that annually migrate into the country from neighbouring Tanzania. This is the country where lakes can be brushed...
An array of animals
Of all the African countries people visit on safari trips, South Africa is probably the easiest to travel around. Infrastructure is excellent, accommodation for every budget is abundant and wildlife-watching opportunities stretch far beyond the Big Five. Elephant lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo are...
Southern Africa's Safari King
Botswana is rightly regarded as one of Africa's best safari destinations. The mellow, stable country packs in the Okavango Delta, the Kalahari, the Makgadikgadi salt pans and Chobe National Park, offering myriad backdrops for your animal photos. In the space of two weeks here, I saw countless...
Great Apes, Great Landscapes, Great Adventures
Most people understandably come to Uganda for its gorillas. Almost half of the world’s population of around 1,060 mountain gorillas lives in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla national parks, and spending that precious hour with them has become a “must-do” for anyone who loves...
Much More than a Migration Destination
For me, Tanzania is a country of two halves. Both hemispheres have been richly endowed with natural beauty and plentiful wildlife, but there are some big differences when it comes to the type of safari experience you’re looking for. The northern safari circuit takes in the world-renowned...
Adventurer’s Africa
One of my top five experiences in more than 30 years of African travel was a canoe safari in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park. This is a total wilderness experience, offering the exhilarating immediacy of being right there, in the bush, on the river, without an engine in earshot or window...
The home of the safari
Kenya is the original land of the safari. It is here that the likes of Karen Blixen and Ernest Hemingway pioneered the original early 20th century hunting safaris that eventually morphed into the more populist and eco-friendly photographic safari as we know it today. And it was also Kenya that first...
A Brilliant Past and an Outstanding Future
Yes, Zimbabwe is still beset with political and economic difficulties but none of this affects visitors much, especially those who book their stay with travel agencies and prepay most of the trip. Despite everything, Zimbabwe remains many people’s favorite country in the region, with great...
Safaris for aficionados
Zambia has emerged relatively slowly on the safari map. Overshadowed for many years by neighbouring Zimbabwe, and suffering from a poor conservation record and neglected parks, its attractions were best known to insiders. In recent times, however, many operators have woken up to the fact that the...
Tanzania – Classic African Safari Destination
Few areas of the continent offer the amount, variety and accessibility of wildlife that Tanzania does, against such a scenic backdrop. Wildlife is abundant, species diversity excellent, and evocative acacia- and baobab-studded landscapes provide a wonderful setting. Most of Tanzania’s parks are...
An all-round destination with diverse landscapes, fascinating wildlife, beautiful coastline and intr
Kenya offers the classic quintessential image of a safari in Africa, and rightly so; the rolling hills and grassy plains really are stocked full of all the African animals people expect to see, including high concentrations of the crowd-pulling Big Five. Additionally, its stunning tropical coastline...
The first class airline cabin in of the safari scene
Botswana is the first class airline cabin of the African safari scene. Expensive (for the most part), exclusive - and absolutely worth it. The Okavango Delta is one of the world’s most spectacular wild places, and a bucket list destination for any dedicated safari enthusiast. The camps and lodges...
Paradise in Crisis
Zimbabwe really deserves top billing as a safari destination. In landscape terms it contains some of Africa’s greatest scenic splendours, from the awesome spectacle of the Victoria Falls to the bare granite domes of the Matobo Hills with their Verreaux’s eagles and prehistoric rock-art caves....
A World in One Country
South Africa is my home and I love it. I’ve been traveling the highways and byways of this diverse country for almost 30 years, and I never tire of it. As a tourist destination, I can’t think of a more diverse country. From white sandy beaches, rugged mountains, stark deserts and fairy forests...