Expert Reviews
Home to the shoebill
One of Africa’s most important wetlands, this vast mosaic of lagoons, papyrus-fringed channels, seasonal floodplains and wooded islands stretches over some 10,000km², running south from Lake Bangweulu. It differs from many protected areas in Africa insofar as it comprises a network of community...
Chameleons great and small
Madagascar’s most northerly national park protects the forested upper slopes of the 1,477m-high Montagne d'Ambre (Amber Mountain), a volcanic mountain named after an amber-like tree resin that supposedly has curative qualities. We hiked several of the short trails that run through the park,...
Africa’s largest national park
Extending over 22,500km², and with more mammal species recorded than any other African reserve, much of this vast park is covered in monotonous miombo woodland, where we found wildlife to be quite sparse. However, it is almost impossible to overstate the quality of Dry season game viewing on the...
A photographer’s favourite
The centrepiece of this immense park is Etosha Pan, a 5,000 sq km flat dustbowl, denuded of vegetation, than transforms into a vast shallow lake during the rainy season. The park is at its best, however, in the dry season, when the pan dries up and a series of fringing waterhole form the only source...
Africa on horseback
One of the oldest reserves on the Laikipia Plateau, Lewa has been the home of the Craig family since 1924, initially as a cattle ranch, but since 1983 as a non profit private wildlife sanctuary, the proceeds of which are either pumped back into conservation, or diverted to local community projects...
Life in the Treetops
For most visitors, myself included, a visit to this montane park really means a visit to one of two so-called ‘tree hotels’ (hide like construction where all game viewing is done from the hotel and all rooms face a waterhole) that lie on its forested lower slopes. Treetops is the older of these,...
Primate Capital of Africa
Dubbed the ‘Pearl of Africa’ by Sir Winston Churchill, Uganda is one of the continent’s most beautiful and welcoming countries. This small landlocked East African nation possesses a staggering wealth of natural assets. Foremost amongst these are the world-renowned primate safaris through the...