The 50 best safari holidays

Most travellers are keen to see the big five CREDIT: STEVIE MANN

By Brian Jackman

13 February 2017 • 1:00pm

To go on safari is to take part in one of life’s last great adventures – and the word from the bush is that safaris are likely to get a lot more adventurous still in 2017, the industry’s response to demand from those looking for an extra dash of adrenalin.

Most safari newcomers are keen to see the Big Five: elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard. But after an initial bush baptism, you might be tempted to stray off the regular tourist trail, sign up for a walking safari, go gorilla tracking, seek out a remote destination, or choose one of the less visited parks such as Kafue in Zambia.

Overall, tourism to Africa has bounced back after the shock of Ebola and the wider fears of terrorism. Namibia is doing so well that it’s wise to book early, and South Africa should also remain popular because of the favourable currency exchange rate.

As for Kenya, the sleeping giant of African tourism, there are signs that the country is recovering from the terrorist threat of Al-Shabaab. The Indian Ocean coast is coming back into favour, at least south of Mombasa where luxury lodges such as Kinondo Kwetu and Saruni Ocean are doing well. The Maasai Mara and its epic wildebeest migration continue to be a priceless asset and Kenya could be the surprise destination of 2017. But that will depend on trouble-free elections when it goes to the polls in August.

The biggest concern for cash-strapped Britons is the Brexit effect. Suddenly, like everything else, safaris have become more expensive. In Tanzania, national park fees have gone up by 18 per cent since July, and Botswana remains a destination beyond the reach of those who would otherwise flock to the Okavango Delta.

“Out of Africa, something new” is a phrase coined in Ancient Greece that still holds true today, and you will find plenty of exciting new destinations and itineraries on the following pages.

Here, from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, are 50 of the best safaris – for every budget and every wildlife experience.

• Travel with The Explorations Company (01367 850566; explorationscompany.com).

Best for first-timers Kenya in a nutshell

Where better for a first taste of wild Africa than Kenya? This is where safaris were born, and Nairobi is only an eight-hour flight from London Heathrow. From here you will fly to Elsa’s Kopje, a five-star lodge in Meru, the park where George and Joy Adamson lived with Elsa, the Born Free lioness. Follow this with the chance to see all the Big Five at Lewa, on the Laikipia Plateau. As for a grand finale, it has to be the Maasai Mara in the migration season (July until October).

• A 10-night Kenyan safari with three nights at Elsa’s Kopje, two nights at Lewa Wilderness Camp and three nights at Elephant Pepper Camp in the Mara costs from £6,065

Essential Tanzania

Northern Tanzania is where most first-time visitors go, lured by the magic of its most famous parks: Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Tarangire. Together they offer an unbeatable feast of big-game viewing and sensational scenery that will leave you longing to return. This 10-day safari visits all four parks, staying in a mix of lodges and permanent tented camps. Travel is by 4WD safari vehicle, accompanied by a tour leader throughout.

• Prices from £3,839

Malaria-free South Africa

Don’t let the threat of malaria put you off going on safari. Unlike east Africa, much of South Africa is free of the disease, including some of its finest wildlife areas. Among them is Kwandwe, a private Big Five game reserve not far from the Garden Route, and the Marakele National Park in the foothills of the Waterberg. A combination of three nights at Kwandwe Ecca Lodge and three at Marataba Bush Camp would make a great introduction to the safari life.

•  Prices for this tailor-made six-night safari are from £4,850

For families Ultimate East Africa

Led by Alex Walker, a fourth-generation Kenyan with impeccable bush credentials, this brand-new holiday takes the joys of safari to another level as your family, including children of all ages, will learn how to guide like a professional, drive your own 4WD across the Serengeti and simply fall in love with Tanzania. You’ll hunt with the last Hadzabe Bushmen, fly-camp under the stars and get up close with the Big Five before ending up on the white sands of Zanzibar. Accommodation is at the Highland Lodge near Ngorongoro, Alex Walker’s own Serian camp in the Serengeti and Baraza Zanzibar.

An African elephant

• Thirteen days from £28,500 (for a family of four)

Chongwe River House, Zambia

This architectural fantasy of thatch and timbers on the Chongwe River is ideal for a family safari. Overlooking the lower Zambezi National Park, it comes fully self-contained and staffed with a host and hostess, guide, chef and housekeeping team, allowing you complete freedom to plan your days. Children need to be 12 or over to go on accompanied walking safaris or canoe trips, but the staff love to arrange alternative activities for youngsters.

• Six nights for a family of four costs from £11,703 (£2,925 per person)

Child-friendly Madikwe

Leave your malaria pills at home when you visit Madikwe, a South African game reserve the size of Lincolnshire. Base yourself at Lelapa Lodge, in a family suite with its own plunge pool. There is no age limit and children will enjoy the special activities – making pizzas, star gazing and games nights – as much as the thrill of going on game drives to see the Big Five.

•  A five-night safari here costs from £2,275

Kruger to the Cape

Trafalgar has added South Africa as a destination for the first time in 2017. Its new South African Adventure Family Experience is a 13-day exploration that begins in the Kruger National Park, tracking the Big Five and other endangered species, and finishes in Cape Town. Guests will also venture to the southernmost tip of Africa for encounters with ostriches, monkeys and penguins, and perhaps catch a glimpse of the southern right whale along the way.

• Prices from £4,425 per person, excluding flights

For luxury Tswalu, South Africa

Imagine a wilderness twice the size of Norfolk with just two luxury lodges, and you realise why Tswalu is South Africa’s largest private wildlife reserve. It is owned by the Oppenheimer family, whose dream is to restore this vast sweep of the southern Kalahari to how it used to be. Explore it by private vehicle with your own personal guide and tracker, looking for desert rhinos, black-maned lions, meerkats and sable antelopes.

• Seven nights from £5,960, excluding flights

Singita Grumeti, Tanzania

Situated in the Serengeti’s western corridor, Singita Grumeti is a private wilderness bigger than Bedfordshire, where exclusivity is paramount. Although roughly the same size as the Maasai Mara, Singita Grumeti has only three camps and lodges. Sasakwa Lodge, the company’s flagship property, is an Edwardian manor located on a Tanzanian hilltop; Faru Faru Lodge is set in an enchanted forest beside the Grumeti river; and Sabora Tented Camp, with its air-conditioned Bedouin tents, is down on the plains where the action is.

• Seven days from £10,125

Best of Botswana

Jack’s Camp should be on everyone’s list of the 10 best places to stay in Africa, not just for its unique location in a palm grove on the edge of the Makgadikgadi salt pans but also for its style and sheer romanticism. Pair it with Belmond Eagle Island Camp, on the Okavango Delta, and you have the perfect desert and delta deluxe safari.

Special photography courses are available on some safaris Credit: Credit: Peter Carey / Alamy Stock Photo/Peter Carey / Alamy Stock Photo

• Three nights at Jack’s Camp and three at Eagle Island cost from £6,580 per person

Royal Malewane, South Africa

To immerse oneself in Royal Malewane’s colonial splendour is to experience life in the bush at it’s most outrageously luxurious. Thornybush private game reserve, adjoining the Kruger National Park, provides the setting, with head ranger Juan Pinto (see panel, right) and Africa’s most highly qualified guiding team on hand to show you the Big Five.

• An eight-day trip with four nights at Royal Malewane and three nights at the Silo, Cape Town’s newest high-end hotel, costs from £7,175 per person

Mkombe’s House, Serengeti

Built into the rocks of a towering granite kopje, Mkombe’s House is the first and only true house in the Serengeti. With room for four adults and six children (no age limit), it comes with its own chef, a gorgeous swimming pool and views over the rolling savannahs of the Lamai Wedge, between the Maasai Mara and Mara River. Those in the know reckon this far north-west corner of the park is unsurpassed for scenery and wildlife, especially at migration time.

•  A 10-day safari with four nights at Mkombe’s House and three nights at Entamanu Camp on the Ngorongoro Crater rim for a family of six costs from £23,000

For walkers In Livingstone’s footsteps

The Luangwa Valley is where the concept of walking safaris was reinvented, and at Tafika, an idyllic camp on the banks of the Luangwa River, it has been fine-tuned to perfection by John Coppinger, one of Zambia’s most respected guides. Accompanied by a guide, an armed scout and a tea bearer, you follow elephant paths and game trails across South Luangwa National Park, staying overnight at exclusive small bush camps (six guests maximum).

•  Eight nights, including one at Tafika and five at Chikoko Trails Camps, cost from £4,285 per person

Kichaka Bush Camp, Tanzania

For safari diehards, this small, back-to-basics, no-frills bush camp is the way to experience the rugged beauty of Tanzania’s wildest big-game stronghold. The accent here is on walking safaris, led by the owner, Andrew “Moli” Molinaro, whose knowledge of Ruaha and its wildlife is legendary. Back in camp at the end of the day, guests can look forward to outstanding meals by Noelle Herzog, Moli’s partner.

A view over Victoria Falls Credit: Credit: Westend61 GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo/Westend61 GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Seven nights from £5,960, excluding international flights

Goliath Safaris, Zimbabwe

Walking with giants is the main attraction at Mana Pools, an old-school bush camp on the banks of the Zambezi. The giants in question are the big elephant bulls that guide Andrew “Stretch” Ferreira has got to know over the past three decades. It is worth coming here just to walk in the company of this legendary character, looking for lions and wild dogs among the riverine forest glades of Zimbabwe’s most beautiful national park.

•  Five nights from £5,560

Beho Beho, Tanzania

Beho Beho, meaning breeze in the local dialect, is the most comfortable lodge in the Selous Game Reserve. It is renowned for its walking safaris, and the standard of guiding is as good as it gets. Options include early morning bush walks with a picnic breakfast and late afternoon walks ending up with sundowners. But best of all is fly camping, sleeping out under the stars with nothing between you and the lions but a flimsy mosquito net.

•  A seven-night safari, including five nights at Beho Beho, costs from £5,595

Walking with camels

Northern Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau is a mosaic of rangelands and private wildlife conservancies such as Lewa, where this walk takes place. Two nights at Lewa Wilderness should enable you to see all the Big Five before the five-night walk begins, accompanied by local Maasai guides and a string of baggage camels. Riding camels are also available whenever the terrain allows, with overnight fly camping in lightweight dome tents. The last night is spent at Il N’gwesi, a community-run lodge on a rocky hilltop with an infinity pool.

• Ten days from £5,235

For bush and beach Sabi Sands and Benguerra Island

Set in the Lowveld of the Greater Kruger, Sabi Sands is a private game reserve renowned for its big game and luxury lodges. Check in at Selati Camp to look for the Big Five, then fly direct from Nelspruit to Vilanculos for a 15-minute heli-hop to Azura Benguerra Island Lodge in Mozambique. Surrounded by the pristine waters and white sands of the Bazaruto Marine National Park, it is hard to imagine a dreamier location for a taste of the barefoot beach life.

•  Three nights at Selati Camp and seven nights at Azura Benguerra cost from £5,640

Southern Tanzania and Ras Kutani

First, spend four nights at Sand Rivers Lodge in the fathomless wilderness of the Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s biggest. Next come four nights at Mwagusi Safari Camp in Ruaha with its sand rivers, giant baobab trees and nights that echo to the rumble of lions. And finally, six nights to wind down at Ras Kutani, a classic barefoot beach lodge on a blissful stretch of unspoilt coastline near Dar es Salaam.

• This two-week tailor-made trip costs from £7,050

Mara North and Msambweni

Mara North is a private wildlife conservancy adjoining the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Spend your days looking for big cats on the rolling savannah, and your nights at Saruni Mara, a stylish boutique safari lodge hidden in a secret valley. Then fly down to Msambweni to relax at Saruni Ocean Lodge on Kenya’s coral coast. If the sea is not big enough, the lodge has its own vast infinity pool.

•  An 11-day safari with four nights at Saruni Mara and four nights at Saruni Ocean Lodge costs from £5,095

For high adventure Climbing Kilimanjaro

Africa’s highest mountain offers its toughest boots-on-the-ground challenge. You need to be super-fit to stand on its snow-capped summit, 19,000ft above sea level. Even so, 75,000 people climb it each year. The biggest obstacle to reaching the top is acute mountain sickness (AMS), so choose an itinerary that allows time to acclimatise, and an experienced operator.

A giraffe in front of Mount Kilimanjaro

•  The Shira Route eight-day trek costs £1,729 per person, excluding flights

Wings over Africa

See Namibia from the air on a flying safari from Windhoek to Etosha National Park and return, staying overnight in remote desert camps and lodges. Highlights include the Skeleton Coast, the world’s highest dunes at Sossusvlei and the chance to spot rare desert elephants among the canyons and bone-dry rivers of the Namib – “the land God made in anger”.

•  Eight days from £7,455

Gorillas in your midst

Capture your own David Attenborough encounters with the rare mountain gorillas of Rwanda, where Wilderness Safaris is opening a new luxury lodge this summer. Called Bisate, it is set in the natural amphitheatre of an extinct volcanic cone with stunning views of the Virunga Massif, where more than half of the world’s mountain gorillas live. From here you can set out to track one of 10 habituated groups that live in the Volcanoes National Park.

•  Three nights at Bisate combined with three nights at Ol Seki costs from £8,900

Horseback safaris If you are an experienced equestrian, then look no further than Kujwana Camp in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, for the ultimate in horseback safaris. Kujwana is owned and run by P J and Barney Bestelink, the couple who pioneered riding holidays in the country. Rides last between four and six hours a day, cantering over flooded grasslands past red lechwe antelope and stopping to observe elephant breeding herds.

•  A seven-night riding holiday at Kujwana Camp costs from £5,080

For birdwatchers In search of the shoebill

Also known as the whalehead, the shoebill is Africa’s most sought-after bird species, and Zambia is the best place to see it. In particular it frequents the vast Bangweulu wetlands of northern Zambia, where David Livingstone died in 1873. The entire region is a birder’s paradise, home to wattled crane, African finfoot and Pel’s fishing owl as well as thousands of black lechwe antelope. Also included on this two-week safari are three nights in South Luangwa National Park (home to 400 species, including 39 raptors).

•  Prices from £7,695

Birds of Uganda

Lush, green and mountainous, Uganda is where the east African savannah meets the West African rainforest: a birdwatcher’s dream with a thousand species, including shoebill, great blue turaco, black bee-eater and more. Look and listen for them in the Kibale Forest at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains (also renowned for chimps and butterflies), in the Queen Elizabeth National Park and at Bwindi, where one day is set aside for mountain gorilla tracking in the Impenetrable Forest.

This 12-day guided tour costing £5,199 per person

For photographers Maasai Mara with Paul Goldstein

Raconteur, conservationist and photographer, Paul Goldstein is the man to improve your camera skills. Be warned: he is a human dynamo, but he will make sure that you go home with fantastic shots from Kenya’s finest big-game stronghold. The Maasai Mara is his second home – especially the private conservancies where you stay at Kicheche’s award-winning camps.

 Nine days from £4,699

Focus on the Land of Giants

Rich in predators and renowned above all for its elephant herds, Mashatu Game Reserve is one of Botswana’s best-kept secrets. Over the years, thanks to the creation of numerous hides, it has become a top destination for wildlife photographers. Strategically placed beside a waterhole, they enable you to take ground-level close-ups in perfect safety as elephants come to drink.

•  A six-night tailor-made safari based at Mashatu Tented Camp costs from £4,990, including six days of private game drives in a fully customised photographic vehicle, three sessions at waterhole hides and tuition from a resident wildlife photographer

Ol Donyo Lodge, Kenya

Wake up to the finest wide-angle view in Africa – of Kilimanjaro presiding over the game-rich savannahs of a vast and private Maasai group ranch in the Chyulu Hills. Then stroll down to the open-air hide to photograph giant tuskers at Ol Donyo’s waterhole. No camera? No problem. All guests are offered professional Canon camera equipment – and a private vehicle and guide to go with it.

•  An eight-night safari, including three nights at Ol Donyo and three nights at Tortilis Camp in Amboseli, costs from £4,515

For big game Kenya’s big cats

Picked by the BBC as the location for its Big Cat Diary television series, the Maasai Mara is home to the world-famous Marsh Lions and other prides. Cheetahs roam across its grasslands and you may see a leopard or two. Jonathan Scott, the renowned wildlife expert and Big Cat Diary presenter, calls the Mara “the ultimate big cat destination” – so who better to reveal its wonders on this unique Telegraph Tours safari? He will join you in the Mara at Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp.

• The eight-night itinerary costs from £4,995, based on two sharing, and includes three nights in Laikipia at Ol Pejeta, home of the world’s last three northern white rhinos

Lions of the Serengeti

Stay at Namiri Plains Camp and you’ll have a dozen lion prides to look for, including the Kibumbi Boys. Ironically, this area was closed for 20 years for cheetah research. The cheetahs are still there. Leopards too, but very few vehicles because the nearest camp is miles away. The other great area for lions is around Kogatende in the far north, where Asilia’s lovely Sayari Camp occupies a prime position close to the Mara River. There are lots of dramatic granite kopjes here, perfect for the big cats to pose on.

A lioness hides her cubs in long grass Credit: Sueb1photography/suebg1 photography

•  A seven-day safari including three nights at Namiri and three nights at Sayari costs from £5,295

Elephant Watch Camp, Kenya

Nowhere else in Africa can you get closer to wild elephants or learn more about them than at this exotic eco-camp in the Samburu National Reserve. This is hardly surprising when you discover that it was created by the wife of Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the world’s leading authority on elephant behaviour, and is now run by Saba, Iain’s eldest daughter.

• A seven-night safari including four nights at Elephant Watch Camp costs from £4,000

For happy campers Okavango mobile camping

Nothing beats a no-frills guided mobile camping safari to bring you closer to the Okavango Delta. Grant and Brent Reed, who own and operate Letaka Safaris, know the most idyllic campsites, and their guiding team is second to none. You travel in 4WD vehicles with a maximum of nine guests, and stay in walk-in tents with en-suite bucket showers.

•  An eight-night trip to Botswana, including six nights with Letaka, costs from £3,450

Serengeti migration

Nomad’s Serengeti Safari Camp is designed to put you in pole position to witness the greatest wildlife show on Earth when the wildebeest thunder past. The camp moves every couple of months as it follows the herds, but will not move during your stay. Accommodation is in spacious walk-in tents with en-suite loos and bucket showers. Game driving is unlimited and you are free to plan the days as you wish.

•  A seven-day stay costs from £5,082

Tanzania under canvas

A tailor-made tented camping safari to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti really is the trip of a lifetime, especially when coinciding with the wildebeest migration. If you have only one chance to visit Africa, this is the way to fulfil the dream. Don’t even think about first-time nerves. Sleeping out in the bush under canvas is supremely comfortable, and once you are safely zipped up in your walk-in tent with its solar power and en-suite bathroom you’ll be safe as houses. With your own private guide and 4WD Land Cruiser, you can set your own pace as you explore Tanzania’s greatest natural wonders.

• Five nights cost from £3,599

For remoteness Zakouma National Park, Chad

Welcome to unknown Africa’s last wild secret, a savage wilderness heaving with game and huge flocks of birds. French-speaking Chad is five times the size of the UK. Just to fly to Zakouma from N’Djamena, the capital, takes three hours. But you’ll have it all to yourself when you arrive at the exotic Camp Nomade, like something out of The Arabian Nights, with great food and outstanding guiding.

Camp Nomade, Zakouma National Park, Chad Credit: This content is subject to copyright. /Westend61

• Eleven days cost from £7,875 per person

Chada Katavi, Tanzania

There’s a real end-of-the-line feel about Katavi, Tanzania’s wildest and least visited national park. It takes at least four hours by light aircraft from Arusha just to get there, but the journey is so worthwhile. Abundance is what this park gives you: thousands of buffaloes, massive prides of lion, elephants, hippos and antelopes galore on Katavi’s endless floodplains. Chada Katavi camp is small, shady and luxurious, and is part of the Nomad portfolio, meaning the guiding is of the very best.

•  Seven days cost from £4,565

Mambeti Camp, Liuwa Plain

Set in the far west of Zambia, this jewel of a park is just about as far off the beaten track as you can get. Renowned for its fantastic bird life and blue wildebeest migration, Liuwa Plain is not just remote but has traditionally lacked accommodation, presenting visitors with a challenge. Now, the park’s first permanent camp is due to open. Called Mambeti, it has six villas on raised decks which will provide an oasis of luxury in the heart of the plains.

• Five nights cost from £4,056, excluding international flights

Miavana, Madagascar

Miavana is an ultra-luxurious eco-lodge that is about to take barefoot beach holidays to a new level when it opens this year on this wildlife-rich island in the Indian Ocean. Nosy Ankao is where it’s all happening: a private island, off the northern tip of Madagascar, whose turtle beaches, pristine reefs and aquamarine lagoons set the scene for a blue-water safari. Go swimming, scuba diving, whale and dolphin watching, or visit the mainland to spot lemurs.

•  Nine days cost from £16,100

Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

At 9,840ft, Simien Lodge is the highest safari accommodation in the whole of Africa, perched among the dizzy canyons and snaggle-toothed peaks of Simien Mountains National Park. This sky-high Unesco World Heritage site is home to a host of rare and fascinating creatures, including the gelada baboon, Simien wolf, Walia ibex and bearded vulture. See them on a trek in this extraordinary country.

•  A 16-night trip to Ethiopia, visiting Lalibela, Axum and the Omo Delta, including two nights at Simien Lodge, costs from £11,479 per person

New camps and lodges Thanda Island, Tanzania

Move over, Mnemba! Tanzania’s most exclusive barefoot beach retreat now faces hot competition from this private island midway between Mafia Island and the mainland. If you’ve ever wanted to swim with whale sharks and sea turtles, this is the spot, encircled by reefs in its own reserve, and from April you can book it exclusively: eight hectares of wide blue heaven and sugar-white beaches with a five-bedroom villa sleeping 10.

•  Five nights for a group of 10 costs from £5,133 per person

Okavango Delta

If you think you have wandered into a film set, you are right. Duba’s floodplains and whispering reeds have provided the setting for many of Dereck and Beverly Joubert’s award-winning wildlife documentaries. It’s the delta at its most pristine, home to huge herds of buffalo, aquatic lions and rare Pel’s fishing owls.

•  A six-night safari, with three nights at Duba Expedition Camp, left, and three nights at Jack’s Camp in the Makgadikgadi, costs from £7,115 per person (international flights from £850)

Saruni Rhino Camp, Kenya

The camp, which opened this month, is set in the Sera Wildlife Conservancy, which is bigger than Luxembourg. Part-funded by Tusk Trust, it is a sanctuary for 11 black rhinos you can track on foot with Samburu guides. With room for just six guests in two stone cottages under swaying palms, it’s a unique opportunity to observe one of Africa’s most endangered species in the wilds of northern Kenya.

•  One week – three nights at Saruni Rhino Camp and three nights at Saruni Samburu – costs from £4,495