Expert Reviews
An Exciting Off-the-Beaten-Track Gem
Zinave is a national park with a troubled past but great prospects for an exciting future. Situated half-a-day’s drive inland of the popular beach resort Vilanculos, it protects a large tract of pristine bush bounded by the Save River to the north and dotted with shallow pans including...
Walking with Elephants
It seems sacrilegious to say so, but after having heard so much about Mana Pools over the years, when I did finally get to visit this legendary park in 2023, the reality was slightly disappointing. To be fair, this is largely because my expectations had been raised sky high. One of my favorite parks...
Secret retreat in the Luangwa Valley
One of Zambia’s older and smaller national parks, Luambe is situated in the heart of the Luangwa Valley, sandwiched between South Luangwa and North Luangwa National Parks. Unlike these two better-known parks, Luambe extends eastwards from the Luangwa River, but in most other respects it is very...
A one-trick pony
This small hilly reserve was created in 1976 to protect what was then the largest population of Swayne’s hartebeest, an endangered antelope endemic to Ethiopia. There are now around 500 hartebeest in the reserve and sightings are all but certain. You can also be reasonably sure of encountering the...
A compelling volcanic landscape
Set in the heart of the Rift Valley east of Addis Ababa, Awash National Park protects a starkly magnificent volcanic landscape bisected by the Awash River and an associated ribbon of riparian woodland. It is a very scenic park in its own rather desiccated way, hosting such landmarks as the...
As Remote as It Gets
The main Mozambican component in the 150,000km2 Selous-Niassa Transfrontier Conservation Area, the Niassa Special Reserve protects a vast tract of flattish miombo-swathed dry plains interrupted to thrillingly dramatic effect by a liberal scattering of black granitic inselbergs that rise hundreds of...
Archetypal African river setting
In footballing terms, Liwonde isn’t quite good enough to crack the first division, but subjectively it ranks among my very favourite African national parks. Dominated by the Shire River, it evokes every romantic notion of untrammelled Africa, especially at night when the air resonates with the...
A engaging but low-key gem for self-drivers
Set in the luxuriant Shire Valley, this little-visited national park ranks low on the Big Five scale (only buffalo and possibly a few secretive leopard are present), but it is an ideal budget-friendly destination for self-drivers with a broader interest in African wildlife. It protects the most...
Elephants and more in the forests
Nkhotakota is a rising star among Malawi’s major reserves, following African Parks’ historic translocation of over 500 elephants and 1400 game animals from Majete Wildlife Reserve and Liwonde National Park. Whereas the 1800km² of dense miombo forests was once poached empty, I heard elephants...
Flamingo heaven
The hordes of flamingos that once inhabited the shallow waters of Lake Nakuru NP left sometime ago for another nearby lake – Lake Bogoria. I was stunned by the sheer numbers of these beautiful creatures wading delicately in the shallows of the picturesque lake, itself dwarfed by some humongous...
A neat small park good for a stopover on the way to primate country
One of Uganda’s few savannah parks, Lake Mburo is easily accessible thanks to its central location off the main road that crosses between Kampala and the forested reserves and parks in the west. You can even reach it by public transport – combined with a boda-boda (motorbike), taxi or lodge...
A flat-topped sandstone plateau harbouring unique species
Namibia’s only mountainous game park, Waterberg owes its name to the springs surfacing on its slopes (berg is Afrikaans for ‘mountain’). It has a crown of lush-green vegetation on top, which I found a refreshing and wonderfully scenic contrast to the monotonous, scrubby plain below. Waterberg...
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...
Tower Block Safari
I can’t say enough good things about Nairobi National Park. I’ve visited the park numerous times over the years and have never had a disappointing safari. The park is situated hard up against the city of Nairobi and for those who want a ‘pristine’ wilderness experience then Nairobi National...
A hard act to follow…
Justifiably Botswana’s premier attraction, the Okavango Delta is a safari experience like no other. In the wet season, the delta stretches out into swampy corridors spreading between small islands and edged by tall reeds and papyrus. A trip along these tranquil waters in a traditional mokoro (a...
Hilly Gateway to the Western Safari Circuit
Lake Mburo’s billing as a stronghold for the impala – a handsome antelope that’s otherwise absent from Uganda but abundant elsewhere in southern Africa – smacks slightly of desperation. But while this low-key national park has no lion or elephant, and doesn’t really bear comparison to the...
Where the Beach Meets the Bush
The only viable East African wildlife sanctuary to boast an Indian Ocean beachfront, this likeable second-tier national park bills itself as the place where the beach meets the bush. In truth, while wildlife numbers have increased significantly since the former wildlife reserve was expanded and...
Below Mount Meru
This small national park doesn’t score too highly as a conventional safari destination – of the so-called Big Five, elephant are rather uncommon, leopard scarce, and lion and rhino absent altogether. Taken on its own terms, however, it makes for a wonderful excursion from northern Tanzania’s...
Photographers’ and birders’ paradise
What most distinguishes this small Zululand reserve is its network of three photographic hides overlooking waterholes that seasonally attract incredible numbers of wildlife. The best of these is Masinga Hide, a stilted wooden construction that stands above the water offering exceptional photographic...
A Very Well Managed Park
This is a lovely, large, flagship reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal boasting the Big Five and much more. The speciality here is rhino, black and white, both in very large numbers. The rangers know their reserve and its animals intimately, which makes it a brilliant place to start off your game...
Relax on pristine beaches
Nsumbu National Park hugs the shores of Lake Tanganyika, at Zambia’s northernmost tip, taking in cliffs, beaches and sheltered bays, as well as hills and valleys in the interior. It isn’t a great place for seeing big game – there are antelope, buffalo, zebra and occasionally lions and...
The pink-tinged lake
Nakuru National Park is a short drive from Nakuru town, making it one of the most visited parks in Kenya. Whilst it doesn't rate highly as a true wilderness experience, that’s not to say that a visit here isn’t worthwhile. White rhinos are common here, and there are also large numbers of...
Bald Is Beautiful
On my most recent visit to Matobo, in April 2018, I found it little changed from my last visit nearly 25 years earlier. The park’s unique appeal appears unspoilt by the difficulties that have affected other conservation regions in Zimbabwe. The other-worldly landscape of balancing stones and...
Animal-rich grasslands sheltered by volcanic hills
Thanks to its volcanic character, Tsavo West is hillier than Tsavo East and is dissected by the A23 road between Voi and Taveta. To the north of this road, and also bounded on the east by the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway (A109), is the ‘Developed Area’ where most of the lodges and game-driving...
A pleasant bush drive in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands
The small Weenen Game Reserve covers an area of typical inland KwaZulu Natal acacia grassland, and the distant blue peaks of the Drakensberg make a pleasant backdrop. Weenen is an excellent example of how a severely degraded habitat can be successfully rehabilitated – it’s hard to believe this...
East Africa’s Unique Safari Destination on the Beach
Saadani is Tanzania’s only park with ocean frontage, but it wasn’t as scenic as I had expected; fairly flat and featureless, and the beach scruffy and not the paradisiacal swathe of sand usually seen in East Africa. But I enjoyed the boat trip up the Wami River and saw plenty of crocodile and...
A scenic park with a range of interesting habitats in the shadow of Mount Meru
The drive to Arusha National Park was through cultivated coffee bushes, but the landscape abruptly changed to shadowy dense montane forest at the park’s Ngurdoto Gate. (It’s always good to see a large tract of trees, given that most of Tanzania’s hardwood forests have been decimated for...
A Wildlife Extravaganza in an Easy Game-Viewing Landscape
Hwange is Zimbabwe’s answer to a typical African game reserve: unspoiled bush teeming with all the animals people expect to see on safari. But because of the relative lack of visitors in recent years, it’s without the normal camera-clicking crowds. I’ve had some incredibly rewarding...
A road runs through it
Mikumi’s relative proximity to Dar es Salaam makes the park the perfect weekend getaway, so you'll generally find a few more tourists here than in the Southern Circuit’s more remote Ruaha National Park. With the Tanzam Highway running straight through the centre of the park, it doesn’t have...
Mellow uMkhuze
If you’re into birding then you’ll love uMkhuze Game Reserve – it's home to some 400-odd different species which have flourished in the park’s swamps and woodlands. For bigger mammal lovers like myself, the park has all of the Big Five, as well as nyala, wildebeest, warthog, impala, kudu and...
Being in the bush in Weenen Game Reserve
My recent visit to Weenen Game Reserve was slightly disappointing. The small park only has a very short driving circuit. I completed the same circuit several times, but didn’t see much except from some giraffe in the distance, warthogs and a few eland. After that I settled down in a hide...
Bush & Beach
As the only park in Tanzania with a beachfront, Saadani National Park has a unique selling point. Don’t get your expectations up too high though. This isn’t the Serengeti. A good variety of wildlife is present, but densities are low and predators are not easy to spot. Elephant numbers have...
The hot Semliki Valley – a birders paradise
The Semliki Valley is reached by descending the long, windy tar road from Fort Portal. There are several viewpoints on route which are worth stopping at. The hot valley has a real wilderness feel, but unfortunately wildlife is sparse due to abundant poaching in the past. We didn’t see many...