Where to go: Walking Safaris
Where a walking trip goes: the countries, parks, islands and coasts, and what each one is for.
Walking destinations
In Southern Africa, South Luangwa's bush camps are the classic, the Lower Zambezi adds canoeing between walks, Zimbabwe's Mana Pools is one of the few parks where walking is allowed almost everywhere, and Hwange's concessions put you on foot among the elephant herds.
Walking is more restricted in East Africa's national parks, but Kenya's private conservancies around the Masai Mara allow it, and Tanzania's Tarangire and the highlands around Ngorongoro have camps where a morning on foot is part of the week.
Tanzania: Arusha, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Tarangire and 7 more
The Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and a long Indian Ocean coast, with Zanzibar as the classic beach finish.
Tanzania holds the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, and a beach on Zanzibar. The northern circuit is the famous one. The south - Ruaha and Nyerere - is the quieter one.
The wildebeest migration is in Tanzania for most of the year. River crossings in the north are a mid-year event. Calving in the south is around February. Neither is guaranteed on a given morning.
Tanzania destination guide
Arusha
The northern safari hub, sitting between Kilimanjaro and the road to the crater highlands.
Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed volcano whose floor holds a full spread of wildlife in a single day's drive.
Serengeti
Tanzania's great plains park, continuous with the Masai Mara, and the path of the wildebeest migration.
Tarangire
A baobab-studded park south of Lake Manyara, especially busy with elephants in the dry months.
Lake Manyara
A compact park under the Rift wall, mixing groundwater forest, soda lake, and open flats.
Nyerere
The current name of the great southern reserve long called the Selous, with boat safaris on the Rufiji.
Ruaha
A large, quieter southern park of baobabs, sand rivers, and strong predator viewing.
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania's largest city and the flight link for the southern parks and Zanzibar.
Kilimanjaro
Africa's highest mountain, climbed from the Tanzanian side on routes that take several days.
Lake Tanganyika
A deep Rift lake bordered by Tanzania, Zambia, and the Congo, visited for chimpanzees and quiet shoreline camps.
Rubondo Island
A forested island national park in the Tanzanian waters of Lake Victoria.
Kenya: Masai Mara, Nairobi, Samburu, Amboseli National Park
Savannah reserves, highland lakes, and a palm coast, usually linked by short flights from Nairobi.
Kenya is the original safari map: the Masai Mara, Laikipia and Samburu to the north, and a coast when you want to stop driving.
The migration river crossings, when they happen, are in the Mara from roughly July into October. The rest of the year the reserve is still one of Africa's great big-cat parks.
Kenya destination guide
Masai Mara
Kenya's best-known reserve, continuous with the Serengeti, and the stage for the Mara River crossings.
Nairobi
Kenya's capital and the usual first night, with a national park on the edge of the city.
Samburu
A dry northern reserve on the Ewaso Ng'iro, home to species rarely seen further south.
Amboseli National Park
Open plains and swamps beneath Kilimanjaro, known for big elephant herds and a clear view of the mountain.
Zambia: South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi, Kafue National Park
Walking safaris in South Luangwa, river camps in the Lower Zambezi, and the Zambian side of Victoria Falls.
Zambia is where walking safaris became the point of the trip. South Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi, and Victoria Falls are the three reasons most people come.
Parks sit far apart, so the trip is usually a flight between them rather than a long drive.
Zambia destination guide
South Luangwa
A wildlife-rich valley park where walking safaris were pioneered, along the Luangwa River.
Lower Zambezi
The Zambian bank of the Zambezi opposite Mana Pools, with canoeing, boating, and game drives.
Kafue National Park
Zambia's largest park, with the Busanga plains in the north and the Kafue River through the woodland.
Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls, Hwange, Mana Pools, Matobo National Park and 1 more
Victoria Falls, Hwange's elephants, and the canoe country of Mana Pools.
Zimbabwe is Victoria Falls, Hwange's elephants, and Mana Pools on the Zambezi. The falls town is also the easiest place in the region for a scenic flight or a day on the river.
Dry-season wildlife is excellent, and the country links cleanly to Chobe and to the Zambian side of the falls.
Zimbabwe destination guide
Victoria Falls
The waterfall on the Zambezi between Zimbabwe and Zambia, with the town of Victoria Falls on one bank and Livingstone on the other.
Hwange
Zimbabwe's largest park, a dry woodland where elephants and painted wolves visit pumped waterholes.
Mana Pools
A Zambezi floodplain park known for walking safaris and canoe trips under albida trees.
Matobo National Park
Granite hills south of Bulawayo, with rock art, black rhino, and walks among the boulders.
Matusadona National Park
A remote shoreline park on Lake Kariba, reached by boat or light aircraft.
Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, Linyanti, Moremi
Water and desert in one country: the Okavango, Chobe, and the Kalahari, usually flown camp to camp.
Botswana is water and desert in one country: the Okavango's channels, Chobe's elephant herds, and the open Kalahari.
Most safaris here are fly-in. Camps stay small, and the north is set up for boats and mokoros as well as game drives. Cape Town, the Namib, and Victoria Falls are straightforward to add before or after.
Botswana destination guide
Okavango Delta
An inland delta of channels and islands, explored by mokoro, boat, and game drive.
Chobe National Park
A northern park famous for elephants along the Chobe River and for the drier Savuti interior.
Linyanti
A private concession of marshes and woodland between Chobe and the Okavango.
Moremi
The protected eastern side of the Okavango, mixing dry land, lagoons, and high wildlife density.
South Africa: Cape Town, Sabi Sands
Cities, vineyards, mountains, and some of the continent's best-known wildlife reserves, all easy to join into one trip.
South Africa can be a city, a wine valley, a malaria-free reserve, and a beach in one trip. The roads and the flights make that practical.
Kruger and the private reserves beside it are the wildlife. Cape Town is the start or the finish. You do not have to choose.
South Africa destination guide
Cape Town
A harbour city between Table Mountain and the Atlantic, useful as a start or finish to a longer safari.
Sabi Sands
A private reserve open to Kruger, widely visited for leopard viewing and small camps.
Namibia: Damaraland, Etosha, Swakopmund
Desert, coast, and Etosha's wildlife, with long distances that suit a fly-in or a careful self-drive.
Namibia is desert, coast, and one great wildlife park. Sossusvlei's dunes, Etosha's waterholes, and Damaraland's desert elephants can sit in a single self-drive.
It is one of the easier countries to travel without a private guide, and one of the most striking if you do.
Namibia destination guide
Damaraland
Rocky desert west of Etosha, tracked for desert-adapted elephants and ancient rock art.
Etosha
A huge salt pan park in the north, where animals gather at floodlit and daytime waterholes.
Swakopmund
A small German-influenced town on the Atlantic, between the dunes and the sea.
Mozambique: Bazaruto Archipelago, Gorongosa National Park
A long Indian Ocean coast of islands and reefs, easy to pair with a Kruger or South Africa safari.
Mozambique is 2,500 kilometres of Indian Ocean coast, plus a handful of real wildlife parks inland.
The usual trip is a beach in the Bazaruto islands, sometimes after Kruger, which sits just across the South African border. Gorongosa is the park if you want elephants without leaving the country.
Mozambique destination guide
Bazaruto Archipelago
A marine park of sand islands off Vilanculos, visited for dhows, dunes, and reef snorkelling.
Gorongosa National Park
A restored floodplain park at the foot of Mount Gorongosa, inland from Beira.
Congo: Odzala-Kokoua, The forest clearings
Forest parks in the Congo Basin, including lowland gorilla tracking that needs extra travel time.
The Congo is a forest safari, not a savannah one. Lowland gorillas, forest elephants, and very few other visitors.
It takes more planning than Rwanda: longer flights, stricter permits, and camps that are not a road transfer from a capital hotel. Come for that, or choose Bwindi.
Congo destination guideOdzala-Kokoua
The best-known gorilla and bai area in the north of the Republic of the Congo. Camps are deep in the park and reached by light aircraft.
The forest clearings
Bais are the place you actually see animals in the open. Trails between them are the rest of the day, with a guide who knows the families.
Seychelles: Private Islands
Granite islands in the Indian Ocean, usually Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue on one ticket.
The Seychelles are granite islands in the Indian Ocean: pale sand, huge boulders, and water that stays warm all year.
Most trips hop between Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue. It is a natural finish after a Kenya, Tanzania, or gorilla safari, and it is also a complete beach holiday on its own.
Seychelles destination guide
Private Islands
Exclusive island stays, usually added to a Seychelles or Mozambique beach week.
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