A Botswana Family Safari is one of the best holidays and safaris that a family can ever hope to have!

Botswana Family Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

Botswana lends itself in so many ways – firstly there is an amazing camp which is closed off for famillies – ie: whether there is four or six (or more!) in your party, the camp is closed to you. Secondly, you have the most amazing guide in Paul Molesang. The children are taught how to read the night sky in the southern hemisphere and  learn about the stars and planets. They then learn about the medicinal properties of trees and plants, the folklore attached and what leaves the various tribes use for toothbrushes etc. Then they teach them how to make a fire, how to fish, how to pole a mokoro (wooden, dug out canoe) used by the river men. They learn how to identify the spoor marks of animals and learn all about their behaviour. At the end, they are given a certificate and all I can say, is that its the best fun ever! We arranged this safari for Lucia van der Post from the Financial Times newspaper for herself and her two 10 year old grandsons, and it was a safari of a lifetime!

Luxury family safari botswana with AfricanExplorations.com

Then they can end up in the Kalahari Desert – quad biking across the salt pans, camping out at night beneath the stars and getting up close and personal with meerkats. In addition, there is some amazing riding for those famillies who enjoy horse riding and one can end the safari in Victoria Falls or for a coastal option, possibly Mozambique!

Walking in Africa is one of my preferrred methods of transport! A walking safari brings one really close to wildlife, being a part of it, rather than a bystander.  Follow the tracks of mammals, insects and reptiles, learning all about their behaviour as your guide reveals a story that unfolds before you, what animals were heading in which direction, whether they are adult or juvenile, how many there were, perhaps what prey they had caught.

Then learn all about the trees and plants and their medicinal properties, as well as the folklore attached to them. Hone your senses on the night sky, learning to identify the stars and planets.  More than anything else, it is this feeling of being at one with nature, that slight fragility and vulnerability – especially as one sees perhaps a lion at a distance.

We arrange walking safaris for private individuals and parties or you can join a set departure with a group of a maximum of six people,  in Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

With over twenty three years of experience and a team who have spent their lives in Africa, let us arrange your next safari of a lifetime

Africa certainly has its place when it comes to a destination or continent that offers the most sublime, luxury region for weddings!

Luxury African Weddings with AfricanExplorations.com

We have a number of clients who perhaps this is their second marriage or politics prove too much on either side of the family, or they simply want a more private affair – or they just want something out of the ordinary – and this is when people think of Africa – with its warm, generous sunshine and the most beautiful lodges and boutique hotels  offering the highest quality and standard with excellent food and wine. Finally, in most of the sub Saharan countries, the wedding is recognised in Europe, which is an important part of the equation!

We have some beautiful chapels throughout Africa for your ceremony, or for others we have located the most stunning location in the middle of the bush – where a high table is set up, with bush chandeliers, all beautifully decorated, a bouquet of wild flowers is given to the bride and an African choir sings in the background. Perhaps have your ceremony on a private island in Victoria Falls, again with an African choir, and the permanent spray of a rainbow behind you. Then we have weddings on the beach, when the couple and their friends board an Arab dhow and depart to a private island, complete with lobster and champagne.

Then, we have a number of large private houses and villas in Africa – specifically in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa – where we can arrange for a group of friends to have exclusivity!

Whatever your wish, we have some wonderful ideas for you – and our couples have returned ecstatic, always claiming this to be the best choice that anyone can hope to have! Luxury Africa Weddings is the way to go!

African Safari Luxury. These are three words that are very easy to achieve these days! Most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa from Kenya and Tanzania and Uganda and Rwanda right down through to South Africa offer luxurious retreats to stay in, whilst on safari.

African Safari Luxury with AfricanExplorations.com

Luxury can mean different things to different people – from having an entire area to oneself and not seeing another vehicle or tourist – to having an endless supply of hot water and cold gin and tonics or wine on a private, tented mobile safari just for your party, to a more ersatz luxury lodge which offers spa facilities and huge villas with copper baths from where one can look out and see wildlife.

African Safari Luxury with AfricanExplorations.com

The next thing to think about is where you want to be on safari in Africa? For pristine Africa with no other vehicles, think of private concessions in Botswana and regions of Zambia and Zimbabwe and southern Tanzania. For the greatest amount of wildlife, then Kenya and Tanzania offer you the best experiences, especially if you want to combine your game viewing with culture. If you would like to add in walking, trekking, climbing, horse riding, walking with  camels or mules, photography, private guides, flying safaris, geology, fishing, deserts -as well as beaches or boats – we can add this all in for you!

Luxury African Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

Whatever it is -we can certainly arrange it! With over twenty-two years experience of arranging safaris by consultants having spent their lives in Africa, there is nobody in a better position to advise you on your safari of a lifetime!

People often think of the words Safari and Kenya in one phrase, simply because Kenya epitomises the perfect safari. Think of infinite savannah plains, filled with animals – and you have the Masai Mara. Then perhaps north of the equator and one has amazing herds of elephant. In the Laikipia plateau one has views second to none, with the very best walking – whether it is with your private guide for a couple of hours or even on a camel assisted walking safari with the local Samburu tribe, learning about their culture! Perhaps you might even like to sleep out in a treehouse or go horse riding amongst wildlife along the plains?

Safari Kenya with AfricanExplorations.com

The point is that Kenya still offers some of the most phenomenal game viewing in Africa, especially with the wildebeest migration – and coupled with wonderful lakes and the Rift valley – this country literally offers it all! Whether you want to have a traditional safari, ending off at the coast where we have some lovely villas or Robinson Crusoe type establishments – or perhaps you want to go walking in the Loita Hills with a private guide for around three or four nights, or you want to trek around Mount Kenya – one of the most beautiful and challenging mountains, or you want to go out with lion or elephant researchers, getting a more indepth feel for the species you are looking at – we can easily arrange this for you!

Luxury Safari Kenya with AfricanExplorations.com

With staff who come from Kenya and having 22 years experience of arranging the very best safaris to kenya, if you are looking for something different, why dont you give us a call?

Nothing quite beats a Madagascar vacation. Madagascar is quite unlike anywhere I know, yet so familiar in very many other senses. It is almost Africa, but not quite and almost France, but not quite – in a word, it is unique. Apart from being the world’s fourth largest island it offers the most amazing experience for holidaymakers. From seeing over 70 different species of lemur, spending time in parks and seeing chameleons, frogs and a vast array of plants and trees – in fact, outside Papua New Guinea, Madagascar boasts the most amount of new species discovered on an annual basis!

Vacations Madagascar with AfricanExplorations.com

Visit the Masoala Pensinsula – a real must, taking a boat trip to a wonderful tented camp and walking, learning about botany, seeing more lemurs and sea kayaking amongst whales!

Nosy Be is gorgeous – and perhaps contemplate taking a catamaran for your family or group of friends for a few days, perhaps visiting islands en route.

Madagascar Vacations with AfricanExplorations.com

Then you have the red and grey tsingys which are limestone formations and a sight to behold and spend time in these areas too.

Humpback whales come into the bay off St Marie in August and for someone wanting to walk, the south offers much with its avenue of baobabs.

Kate has spent many months in Madagascar and has just returned from discovering some real gems, so call us now to design the perfect Madagascar vacation just for you!

Custom Luxury Safaris are basically the same thing as a tailor made or bespoke safari – its a safari that is created just for you – the way that all safaris should be made!

The joy of this is the flexibility it offers you – meaning that you can do your own thing – when you want – how you want – whether it is spending more time with a certain species, bird watching or simply enjoying your friends or family’s company and not having to share it with others!

Custom Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

It also means spending time with a sighting without having to take others into consideration – or having to rush back to the lodge or camp for breakfast/lunch or dinner!

There are many ways of being on safari – from going with your own friends or family, perhaps with a private guide, which allows you continuity and the feeling that you are always in safe hands!  Flying by private charter also means that you dont have to stop off unnecessarily – and that you can travel directly and quickly – maximising the time you spend in the private concessions and National Parks – rather than spending precious time travelling!

Custom Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

We all come from Africa and test first hand all the places we select for you, so you know you are in expert hands! With over twenty-two years of experience of sending the most demanding safari goers all over Africa – we create the perfect journeys for you! From staying in a private, mobile tented camp to a luxurious lodge, from game viewing on the back of an elephant in the Okavango Delta, to flying across the Skeleton Coast in Namibia – to witnessing the mighty wildebeest migrations throughout Kenya and Tanzania – we will take you there!

Call us now to book your safari of a lifetime!

Custom Luxury Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

If you were thinking of travelling to East Africa, then the only way to really consider it would be a bespoke safari to Kenya – which is all that we arrange!

The reasons are countless – but primarily it allows you to be able to do everything you wished to do on a safari – whether it be improving your photography and getting some practice in for your new camera – to walking to your heart’s content with wildlife abounding around you, to sleeping out beneath the stars – to horse riding amongst game – or simply having an amazing guide who will teach you all about the birdlife and plantlife – identifying birds and trees with you. The wildlife is a given – and we will always place you in the very best areas to see game – whether you want to see a particular species, or whether you just want to see whatever is out there!

Bespoke Safaris Kenya with AfricanExplorations.com

The important thing is to choose a company who knows what they are talking about – who have visited not only the country but all the  places in it too – which takes some doing! At African Explorations, we all come from Africa, having spent our lives on the continent and with staff from Kenya we really can suggest the best places for you – whether it is trying to capture the wildebeest migration, going on a family safari – perhaps a walking safari or a camel assisted safari, or flying low over the Masai Mara or fishing on Lake Victoria – all these things are possible! One of my favourite places is in Laikipia, overlooking the escarpment for as far as the eye can see! The lodge is beautiful and family owned – so you have a completely different perspective and you are treated like family, too !

One of the most amazing experiences one can hope to have is an elephant safari in Africa!

Starting off with the most sublime – is an elephant back safari – which – if you want the real thing – only occurs in Botswana. It is expensive, but to be frank, it is an experience of a lifetime and one really cannot put a price to the privilege of spending around three or four days, immersed in an elephant herd, spending time with adults and calves alike, riding them, understanding their behaviour and being accepted into their family.

Have a look at this latest video which shows a three day old baby called Warona at Abu’s Camp in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, where this is filmed.

One can either take a three/four day elephant safari in the Okavango Delta, or perhaps take a four hour walk with three elephants and Doug Groves, a zoologist – who explains every facet of his habituated elephants, as you walk with them and they place their trunks either on your shoulder or in your hand – little can be so moving! We also arrange wonderful safaris to the most elephant rich regions in Africa – being Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya!

Elephant Safari in Africa with AfricanExplorations.com

There are of course different standards of luxury under the topic of Luxury African Lodges and, of course, the very word “luxury” means different things to different people. For some, just having hot water on safari is a luxury. But we are talking serious bush luxury here: luxury camping safaris (yes it is very possible) where the tented rooms are enormous and the bathrooms fully ensuite (hot and cold water and flush loos) and then, as one works up the scale from the already lovely to the uber-chic, extraordinary lodges complete with double sized bedrooms, air conditioning, hairdryers, shoe shining kits,  trendy toiletries, private lounges, verandahs with enormous vistas, salas, private plunge pools, unrivalled scenery, private butlers and staff and private game drives. All this in the middle of nowhere! Some of our favourite luxury African lodges include the following:

In Rwanda there is the exceptional Sabyinyo Lodge.  Situated amidst plantations the lodge sits in the foothills of the mighty Virunga Mountains with seven volcanoes stretching out into the distance. On each volcano one can trek to see mountain gorillas which is a privilege in itself.

View From Sabyinyo - Luxury African Lodges With AfricanExplorations.com

Just over the border into Uganda is Clouds Lodge, in the Nkuringo area of Bwindi. Again this is a very comfortable haven (only eight rooms) from which to explore the area, and do gorilla trekking. At night one can also see the glow of the active Nyiragongo volcano in the Congo (DRC).

Luxury African Lodges do not come better than in Botswana and Abu’s Camp is an obvious example. Located in a very beautiful sector of the Okavango Delta and surrounded by islands and crystal clear waterways, the camp sits in a private concession covering 180,000 hectares. The camp was named after a bull elephant called Abu and is situated in a grove of magnificent hardwood trees on the edge of a large lagoon with a resident school of hippo. The property features rooms shrouded by canvas, held in place by pale coloured poles in an Afro-Bedouin style. There are elegant furnishings and fittings and the whole is surrounded by sycamore and jackalberry trees. The six tents, which are raised on wooden plinths, have their own private verandahs and high airy ceilings and are simply lovely. What makes Abu’s Camp stand out – apart from its luxury – is the specialist interaction with the elephants and their mahoots.

Abus Camp - Luxury African Lodges With AfricanExplorations.com

Also in Botswana there is Jack’s Camp in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. A visit to the pans is always a joy and the Colonial-styled tents are furnished with Persian rugs, copper basins and high canopied beds.  One of the highlights is afternoon tea, in the separate tea tent, where one indulges in homemade pastries and cookies whilst lounging on giant cushions and Persian carpets under swaths of creamy canvas and curtains blowing in the wind – something completely special and quite glorious.

But we can only skim the surface in a quick blog – have a look at our “Accommodation Guide” pages for a wider look at Luxury African Lodges.