A luxury safari Zambia is easily achievable! There are so many truly gorgeous camps in amazing locations. My two favourite regions are the Lower Zambezi – where we have three really stunning camps – from very simple to pretty luxurious! Here one has the most fabulous views as one looks out over the mighty Zambezi River. It is one of the most beautiful regions in Africa. The game viewing is excellent and one can explore the region by canoe, on foot and by open vehicle with superb guides. There is even tremendous fishing for tiger fish here!

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Then we move onto Busanga Plains just outside Kafue – which is an unique area which is incredibly rich in wildlife and birdlife – boasting both southern and East African species. It is known as the mini Serengeti because of its outlook as well as the concentration of wildlife!

The south Luangwa is renowned for its walking safaris and we have some glorious bush camps which are incredibly comfortable – again with the most superb guiding! One learns so much more on foot and one feels far more in tune with the earth in general.

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Livingstone, the Zambian side of Victoria Falls is beautiful and we have the most beautiful places to stay including a small lodge on a private island with just  a handful of cottages, which are open fronted, so one is greeted with the dawn each day! Just bliss!

Luxury Safari Zambia with AfricanExplorations.com

North Luangwa is also wonderful and is mainly known for its walking safaris. Kafue is lovely and here one can take over a small owner managed camp that has just three cottages – if there is a family. Zambia offers a down to earth, genuine African experience, with some of the best guiding in Africa and of course, the finest walking!

There are lots of wonderful ways to experience Kenya, but none quite so wonderful as a Kenya Luxury Safari. For me, the best way of exploring an area is to have the most amazing guide to bring the region to life for you – the guide is in fact the most crucial aspect of any safari! Then – one of my favourites is a  private camp in the Mara which is set in a truly game rich area – and one of the best for the migration. Here you have wrought iron candelabra in the bathroom to add a sense of occasion and the sitting area which overlooks the bush and is open on all sides with a huge candelabra to give a warm light in the evenings. Having no electricity creates a wonderful atmosphere. The days are spent viewing some of the finest and most concentrated wildlife in Africa, whilst the evenings are spent laughing and chatting about what you have seen during the day. Perhaps even go out on a sundowner flight across the Mara, arriving as the sun begins to set. This truly is spectacular!

Kenya Luxury Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

Then perhaps travel to Meru or Samburu National Parks, north of the equator and stay in a beautiful lodge or tented camp – whichever takes your fancy! Perhaps go and visit an elephant research station or take a walk with a Samburu warrior, learning all about their culture as well as seeing superb elephant and other wildlife in the park. In the evening, at sundowners, watch the Samburu guides dance and become mesmerised with their simulanteous chanting and the finery of their clothing. This truly is Africa – and the continent delivers a pulsation that no other can equal!

Kenya Luxury Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

Luxury Safaris in Africa are our forte. Whether you would like the very best in luxury in terms of having private aeroplanes and the finest guides that the countries can produce at your fingertips, camps set up for you in the best wildlife locations or whether you want a film maker to improve your photography, perhaps you might like to spend time with an ornithologist or simply an all round naturalist guide, or even would like to see a particular species – such as a wild dog or a shoebill stork, we can achieve this for you! We have set up camps where the wild dogs are denning and where the shoebill stork is nesting – something that only sheer expertise and a lifetime spent on the African continent can allow us to do.

Luxury Safaris Africa with AfricanExplorations.com

For those starting out on their first safaris, we guide you closely and help you to make the right decision for you or your family.  Whether it is a private villa in the bush or on the coast for a family or group of friends, or a simple tented camp erected just for you where no other camp exists – where you watch the birds come to rest in the boughs of the trees – knowing it is just yourselves, your guide and crew and the birdlife – surely this must be the most blissful thing?  Or hot air ballooning across the world’s highest sand dunes, watching each of them change hue. Perhaps spend time with lion or elephant or wild dog researchers – nothing is beyond our remit.  You might even have dreamt of riding an elephant through the jewel of the Okavango Delta, observing the whole herd playing and interacting – a priceless experience! You have purely our passion and our expertise – and we look forward to arranging your safari of a lifetime!

Luxury Safaris Africa with AfricanExplorations.com

Gosh – now this is one wide topic of conversation! Choosing a safari is one of the most important decisions one will ever make in their lives! The reason for this is that a safari is not an inexpensive holiday – and one wants to ensure that the correct choices are made – whether for a couple or a family.

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Secondly, if it is your first safari – then we want to make the right impression. Getting it wrong will put you off for life – but getting it right will make you the staunchest advocate of safaris and wildlife for the rest of your life!

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Many of our clients take a safari every single year – it simply gets into one’s blood! Partially, I think it is because it takes people out of their comfort zone but secondly, its that primeval feeling – seeing the continent as it has been for millenia and will always be – whereas we will simply disappear…. Its the immediacy of your surroundings – the thrill of sleeping under canvas and hearing the roaring of the lions or the whoop of a hyaena close by – their sound carrying – and wondering what activity each night will be delivering.

Being on foot or on horseback one is far more vulnerable and the heartbeat quickens – this is a wonderful feeling and one feels so much more in touch with the earth and Africa itself.

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For some that immediacy is a terrifying prospect – in which case we have secure lodges that cocoon one entirely. For those with young children, security is at the forefront of one’s thoughts – and here we have fenced reserves or even non malarial safaris.

We spend time with you, learning all about you as an individual, or as a family, understanding your hobbies and interests, in order to make the perfect recommendations for you.

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We have a list to help you answer all the questions you never even thought of – and of course, with staff all from Africa – our expertise is unrivalled and we relish the prospect of tailoring your first or next safari to ensure it is an experience of a lifetime!

Anyone with a family will truly appreciate an adventure holiday in Africa.

So- what constitutes an adventure? This word has so many different meanings for so many different people. It can simply mean getting off the beaten track – and not doing what everyone else appears to do. It can mean doing something different to what you would normally do in your every day life – or even what you would normally do on holiday. For others it means lots of ‘daring do’ – and this we can provide in buckets full! I say family safaris simply because one can do the following:

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• go on a private mobile camp safari just for your family, with a camp erected in the best wildlife areas – with the very best guides.
• Go hot air ballooning across the desert
• Go white water rafting or bunjee jumping or canoeing amongst wild animals.
• Go zip lining through the canopies of trees 150 feet above the ground.
• Take a catamaran and go sailing around the islands in Seychelles, Madagascar and Tanzania.
• Take an Arab Dhow and sail around the Kenyan islands, fishing en route.
• Go quad biking across the desert.
• Go on a horse riding safari.
• Go camel trekking in Kenya with the local tribesmen, learning about their culture and wildlife along the way.
• Go on a private guided canoeing safari, stopping off on islands along the way and having a camp set up for you.
• Go and see gorillas or chimpanzees in Uganda or Rwanda.
• Go on an elephant back safari in Botswana or South Africa.
• Circumnavigate the mountains of Africa – Mount Kenya, Meru and Kilimanjaro with a private guide and crew set up just for you.
• Go canoeing or catamaran or laser sailing on Lake Malawi.
• Take a walking safari in Kenya, Tanzania or Zambia.
• Go on a week’s dhow and sea kayaking trip in Mozambique.
• Go snorkelling and diving in Mozambique.
• Go and see volcanoes erupting in Reunion.
• Go on a marine big 5 safari in South Africa, seeing dolphins, whales, sharks, penguins and seals.
• Spend time with lion or elephant researchers.
• Paraglide in South Africa or Microlight in Zambia.
• Mountain Bike amongst wildlife in Botswana and South Africa
• Go on a gastonomic cycling tour of the Cape in South Africa
• Be involved in game capture and relocation in Malawi and South Africa

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  Family Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

I understand many people’s concerns regarding taking a young family on holiday in Botswana and I suppose it depends upon what age one is considering, but certainly I feel that 6 and upward is the appropriate age to take a child on safari. One forgets that their mind is like a sponge, absorbing all the information and the sights and sounds of the African bush. These days there is a half dose of anti malarial tablets that one can give to ones children too.

Family Safaris in Botswana with AfricanExplorations.com

There are three or four specific places where I feel that famillies with young children most benefit. The first is in the Delta where we can arrange a boating and private camping safari which is seriously good fun. Here one can learn how to fish as well! Secondly is to stay at a camp which is entirely closed to your family with the most amazing guide who is completely tuned into children. He teaches them about identifying the footprints of the animals in the sand, of learning about the medicinal properties of trees and plants (such as the leaves used for a toothbrush), to reading the night sky of the southern hemisphere and the planets and stars and the folklore attached to them. Then one learns how to fish and generally what skills to adopt for survival in the bush.

Family Safari in Botswana with AfricanExplorations.com

Contrast that with the Kalahari Desert where one can get close to meerkats and quad bike (and have a sleep out on the salt pans) and one has a simply perfect family safari. Perhaps end off at Victoria Falls or Livingstone – and visit a local school – as well as seeing the Falls themselves – it simply doesn’t get much better than this!

Family Holidays to Botswana with AfricanExplorations.com

Taking a private mobile camp perhaps guided by a teacher who interacts with the children and gives them projects to do in between – which are both fun and educational! All I know, is that a safari to Africa with one’s family surpasses any other type of family holiday I have ever been on!

Family Safaris in South Africa are certainly some of the most popular – not least because of the diversity of the country. I am biased, because I come from South Africa and take my own children there each year to see my family in South Africa.

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South Africa particularly scores with families with younger children – because they have malaria free game reserves and coastlines. Here one can have the best of both worlds. It is equally good for famillies with adolescent children – as we can arrange anything from seriously good camping in the Drakensberg Mountains, to horse riding, to going on safari, to doing some great white water rafting and kayaking, to really good sailing, canoeing around penguins, climbing Table Mountain, zip wiring 150 feet above the ground through canopies of trees and diving with sharks. With a great climate, most South African children are completely outdoorsy and seriously sporty. Add the two together and one has a simply fantastic mixture of adrenaline filled adventure and sun filled days of non stop sport – whether tennis, swimming, golf, fishing, riding, sailing, kiteboarding, kite surfing – the list is simply endless. Even if one is seeking purely luxurious accommodation – with a children’s club – at a Relais et Chateaux so that the parents can have some time to themselves and feel a bit pampered – we can simply arrange the lot! Call the experts now!

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There is nothing quite like having luxury weddings in Africa. There are so many places that really lend themselves to having the most amazing wedding!

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We have arranged a number of weddings for our clients and they have all been simply stunning! One of them was in Botswana at this truly beautiful camp in the Okavango Delta, where the ceremony was performed on a private island and the bride and groom arrived and departed on the back of an elephant.

Luxury Weddings in Africa with AfricanExplorations.com

We have also arranged several in truly gorgeous bush locations – where we have set up location in the most beautiful spot overlooking a wide river. The bride had the most gorgeous wild flower bouquets and she was married in a simple long dress. They had the most lovely African choir singing to them. Another example was in Zambia in Livingstone – getting married on Livingstone Island where there is a permanent rainbow and the Victoria Falls right next to you. Again we had a beautiful African choir singing for them.

If you want something more traditional, we have some really lovely small, pretty churches in the winelands in the Cape in South Africa where one can make one’s vows and your names are etched into the ancient wooden doors. Another lovely church is in the Mpumalanga region on an avocado pear plantation – whilst a further suggestion is on one of our favourite estates in Plettenberg Bay.

One of my favourite experiences of a lifetime was gorilla tracking in Uganda. Walking through the primary forest, witnessing rare bird species such as the Green Broadbill- is the most exemplary, superb, life-changing experience.

Everyone should see the gorillas once. These huge primates, who are such close cousins of ours, inspire awe and hope in the visitor although the fact that there are only about 700 Mountain Gorillas left in the world at a time when human populations continue to skyrocket is a challenging statistic before one even leaves home.

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One may have to trek to track gorillas! Whilst gorillas are occasionally found closeby to some of the lodges where one would be based, the norm is for between two and six hours walking over sometimes steep and often very wet ground before one makes contact with any of the habituated groups. But this makes the experience far more rewarding for most.  Seeing these gentle, intelligent, deeply inspiring, family-oriented  creatures is a privilege that one feels ought to be earned and the extra effort required is worth every calorie.

Then the actual experience: weary after a long and arduous walk the visitor is suddenly…there. One moment green foliage and the next, perhaps right in front of you, VERY CLOSE INDEED, a huge silverback male and his family. The gorillas will throw you a glance, the silverback may even look threatening before recognising your guides and settling back into a routine of eating, grooming and social behaviour.  One is lucky enough to spend an hour with these magnificent beasts – watching them interact with other family members – listening to the sound of them communicating with each other – there is simply nothing like it! This truly is an experience of a lifetime!

It is still possible to go on holiday  and experience a non malaria africa – whether it is for a safari or simply a holiday that has no safari activity at all.

South Africa is always a good country to start with – as it offers fantastic areas which are non malarial – perfect for famillies with young children or for couples who are expecting a baby and don’t want to take any innoculations or indeed those on medication who simply cannot take anti malarial tablets.

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In terms of safari – Marakele, Madikwe and the Waterberg regions in South Africa offer the best game viewing in a non malarial area. These include staying at private villas or homesteads which one closes to a family or a party of friends, or even staying at a traditional tented camp. The game viewing is just as good as many of the parts of Kruger. For those who are not that interested in wildlife, then Cape Town has a huge amount to offer, from Cape Town itself to the winelands, where one can stay at magical little boutique hotels with views over the grape vines and the mountains. Then there is the garden route, where one can walk or canoe or simply explore and finally, end in Plettenberg Bay where we have anything from private houses to stay in, to modest guest houses and then our favourite, a Relais et Chateaux called Kurland. North of Cape Town is an area called Clanwilliam where there is rock art and the most amazing array of wild flowers – or even heading east to montagu or staying on a historical wheat farm where one can ride and be entertained by a third generation South African and experience a home stay.

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In Cape Town, one is spoilt for choice from beautiful, artistic boutique hotels to villas and further along the coast- perhaps stay at a gorgeous Relais et Chateaux lodge where one can go out and see the largest concentration of southern right whales by boat or on land.

Perhaps go white water rafting on the Orange River or go  or learn how to sail, cook, fly fish etc and there are wonderful places to stay which are artistic and cultural in the Limpopo Province and Magoebaskloof which are beautiful and spectacular and combine well with the malaria free waterberg mountains.

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Kenya also has non malarial regions although these are not as game rich as the Masai Mara for example, but they offer a good alternative and the flight from Europe is shorter to Kenya than to South Africa. Some of the most amazing family properties are based in the Laikipia region in Kenya – staying in tree houses, camping, staying at a farmhouse, horse riding, camel trekking etc.