Your hotel room, Chobe National Park, Botswana (Source: own photo)
This is a a quick overview of how and where to go on an African safari, especially if you are new to this kind of activity. Let me start by strongly encouraging you to go on safari in Africa! No continent on earth comes even to Africa in terms of wildlife experiences. Only Africa can offer the unique combination crazy beautiful landscapes and a genuinely incredible variety of wildlife in huge numbers that roams free on the great plains. Make sure you go before it is gone!
Entry level safari - Kruger National Park, South Africa
How do you start? For first timers, I would recommend South Africa, particularly Kruger National Park. Kruger offers excellent game viewing, both in the main national park as well as in the concessions, which are privately operated reserves on the border of Kruger National Park itself.
I have visited a number of Kruger's concessions as well as the main Kruger park itself and can recommend combining both, say, 3 days in the main park and 3 days in a concession. I particularly like Simbavati for general game viewing and Arathusa specifically for world class leopard spotting.
You do not have to do your own driving. You can fly into Kruger or the concessions, get picked up by the team at the lodge where you are staying, who will take you on game drives in open jeeps with a tracker out front and a guide at the wheel.
You will stay at a lodge in bush and get treated with great food and accommodation.
In Kruger, you are almost certain to see the 'Big Five' although you can never be 100% sure since this is completely wild nature. The general rule is that the more you pay the more you see, because get the better guides.
If you want to step up a level, you can easily self-drive in South Africa. You'd typically land in Johannesburg, pick up your rental vehicle in the airport, and then drive by yourself to Kruger.
The route from Johannesburg to Kruger passes through some incredible landscape, including Blythe Canyon, so the drive itself is totally worth doing.
On my last trip in South Africa in 2022, I worked with a tour company called Cedarberg Travel. They were good, but there are many others, so shop around.
You do not need a 4WD vehicle for Kruger, because the roads in South Africa are so good that 2WD is absolutely fine. When you reach the park, you drive to the lodge and leave your car in their car park. The lodge guides will take you on game drives in the camp's vehicles twice a day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon (and sometimes night game drives too). When your safari is over you get your own car back and you can continue to your next destination in South Africa.
Leopard from Kruger National Park (Source: own photo)
Stepping up - self-drive Namibia and Botswana
If you discovered a love of safari after your visit to Kruger, then you will soon want a bit more of a challenge. For those ready to take the next step, I strongly recommend self-drive in Botswana and Namibia.
Botswana and Namibia are both easy and safe travel destinations. The tourism industries in both countries are set up for precisely this kind of safari and the systems run like clockwork.
The parks in both countries have excellent facilities, including fresh water, toilets and showers, fuel stations, restaurants, shops, etc. You can even get your tyres fixed and other repairs done if you need it.
The parks are incredibly rich in game, especially Chobe and Moremi in Botswana as well as Etosha in Namibia. You can expect to see the 'Big Five', particularly if you include Etosha with its rich rhino population in your itinerary.
Namibia stands out for its extreme and completely unique landscapes, so it is worth taking the time to explore Namibia to see landscapes rather than solely focusing on game drives. Include Sosusvlei, the Skeleton Coast, Damaraland, and Fish River Canyon in your itinerary.
If you decide to self-drive in Botswana and Namibia then reach out to DriveBotswana (link here). I have rented vehicles from DriveBotswana several times and will do so again in the future. They will allow you to make your own itinerary, or aid you if you need help.
You can choose to camp or a stay in lodges, or a combination of both. Lodges are more expensive, obviously, but very convenient. Camping is fun, however, so if you are fit and healthy I would strongly recommend camping. Personally, I am fond of a combo: I camp for most of the trip and then treat myself to a stay at a lodge at the end of the safari.
By the way, the tents on the safari vehicles sit on the roof of the vehicle, so you most likely will not get eaten by lions!
Fish River Canyon, Namibia (Source: own photo)
Advanced self-drive safaris
If you are experienced, you should really consider Tanzania, particularly the Serengeti and Ngorongoro national parks. Tanzania also has many lesser well-known parks, which are worth exploring.
Tanzania's national parks are - in my humble opinion - the best wildlife parks on the planet.
However, Tanzania is dirt poor and roads are awful and booking systems, etc. do not always work very well. Therefore, you have to be prepared to manage your expectations and to be flexible, patient, and ready to improvise.
The good news is that Tanzania is not dangerous, but it can be frustrating if things do not work out as planned (which is quite likely).
The facilities are not nearly as well developed in Tanzania as in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Provisioning is therefore extremely important. You will buy food and drink and fuel for much of trip in the big towns, such as Arusha, where there are shopping malls and supermarkets just like in rich countries. Once you are in the bush, however, you are on your own.
Tanzania's national parks do have lodges and fuel stations, so you are not completely on your own. You may be given a sat phone with the vehicle, which will allow you to call for assistance if your car breaks down, but you are not likely to need it.
I have done safaris in Tanzania with Safari Drive (link here). It is not the cheapest outfit, but even they sometimes have problems in Tanzania. Still, do not let that put you off. Tanzania makes up for all the challenges by the sheer awesomeness of the landscapes and the game viewing. There is quite simply nothing that beats a couple of weeks of complete freedom in your own 4WD driving around Serengeti during the Wildebeest migration!
Serengeti lioness after a meal being cleaned by flies (Source: own photo)
Other destinations
I should mention that you can also rent vehicles in Madagascar with Roadtrip Africa (link here). Madagascar's attractions are many and they are different from conventional safaris on mainland Africa. Roadtrip Africa do a great good job in what is quite a challenging country. They also have operations in Tanzania and Uganda so check them out.
Family of lemurs in Madagascar (Source: own picture)
Safari Njema!
The End
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