Top African Safari Destinations

The desert safari like nowhere else. Namibia pairs the towering red dunes of Sossusvlei and a wild Atlantic coast with genuine big game in Etosha, and it’s one of Africa’s safest, easiest countries to explore, by guide or self-drive.

Africa’s flagship wilderness. Botswana protects huge, low-impact reserves, the water world of the Okavango Delta, elephant-thronged Chobe and the Kalahari, with a deliberately exclusive, small-camp model.

Thundering Victoria Falls, superb guiding and some of the continent’s best walking safaris. Hwange’s huge elephant herds and the wild Zambezi floodplains of Mana Pools reward those who venture in.

The home of the walking safari. Zambia is raw and uncrowded, with leopard-rich South Luangwa, canoeing on the Lower Zambezi, and the Zambian side of Victoria Falls at Livingstone.

A true frontier. Still little-visited, Angola rewards the adventurous with dramatic desert meeting the sea at Iona, the wildlife of Kissama, and the spectacular Kalandula Falls.

The all-rounder. South Africa combines Big Five reserves like Kruger and the malaria-free Eastern Cape with Cape Town, the Garden Route and the winelands; ideal for first-timers and families.

The classic safari. Kenya and Tanzania deliver the Great Migration across the Serengeti and Masai Mara, the Ngorongoro Crater, and just beyond; the mountain gorillas of Uganda and Rwanda.