Safari Holidays are particularly rewarding, especially when it comes to family holidays! The reason I say this is because you are amused pretty much 24 hours of the day – with so much on offer! The mornings start around 5.30am (depending upon the season) and one goes off in search of the last nocturnal predators, returning back to the camp or lodge in time for breakfast. Alternately, you might walk for the last half hour or hour (if you are in a private concession and not a national Park), and stumble upon a magnificent English breakfast, perfectly cooked up for you in the bush – a wonderfully welcome sight – having got up early and then expended your energy walking!

After breakfast, depending upon where you are, one can either spend time relaxing and chatting to fellow guests, or reading, until lunch time when you congregate together again. Sometimes another walk is on offer.After lunch, there is time for a snooze or a swim (depending upon where you are), a quick catch up and then its time for tea….. with lovely freshly baked cakes and nibbles and then you are off on your afternoon game drive. Many people add on the coast after a safari – for very good reason! For those who like to be more active, the activities can take the form of riding on horseback, walking, boating or canoeing – but ultimately – its a holiday where one ends up doing things!

Safari Holidays with AfricanExplorations.com

Accommodation can take the form of a luxury mobile tented camp, complete with private guide, gourmet cuisine and persian rugs, to flycamping for a night with a bedroll and mosquito net, to staying at a simple tented camp, to being in a state of the art designer lodge – the option is yours! However, whichever way you undertake your safari holidays, the most important thing is the quality of guiding – and if possible, having a private vehicle as well which allows you complete flexibility! With over 20 years of advising our discerning clients on the very best safaris, by our specialists who all come from Africa – you can be assured of a safari holiday of a lifetime!

This is a big subject but, on balance, if one had to choose one’s best African safari it would probably be to the south of Tanzania which is, in effect, one vast eco system.

This broad swathe of Africa encompasses the huge Selous Game Reserve which, at some 55,000 sq. kms., is the size of Ireland and one the largest reserves in Africa. The Selous’ eastern border lies on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coastline but the whole ecosystem then runs westards to include Katavi NP and then the tiny Mahale which lies on Tanzania’s western boundary on lake Tanganyika. This whole area remains virtually unvisited due to distance (and therefore cost) but is, essentially, a superb area for a safari as it is the absolute essence of the bush condensed into a luxury Tanzanian safari.

I would start in the Selous which is, simply,  primaeval.  Mainly a riverine environment surrounding the Rufiji River and its environs and not “game rich” like, say, the Serengeti the Selous offers a glimpse into an area that is  unspoiled wilderness whilst having adequate and exciting game viewing opportunities> Ther are also a range of activities such as game drives, river safaris, walking and flycamping and some really great camps.

Sand Rivers Selous - Best African Safari With African Explorations.com

After at least four days in the Selous our finest African safari would fly westward to Katavi NP.  Katavi is heaven! Here is wilderness that excited the first explorers and, situated in the mid south west of Tanzania, it is (and feels) utterly remote. Another sub-ecosystem that is based on a river – the Ruaha – which runs through the Park, the walking is superb as is the mix of eastern and southern African species. Katavi’s pristine wilderness is home to spectacular pods of hippo and huge herds of buffalo. Add to this mix a genuine, remote, yet excellent bushcamp with the best guiding possible makes Katavi a “must”!

Chada Katavi tent exterior - Best African Safari With African Explorations.com

Finally, only a short light aircraft flight from Katavi, we’d end our “best safari” with an eclectic, lovely, camp set right on the shores of Lake Tanganyika – the second deepest lake in the world. With the verdant Mahale Mountains as backdrop, Mahale is a wonderful, remote (again! Perfect!), “bush and beach” location to end a safari. Mahale is a tiny park by African standards and yet this is one of the few places for genuine viewing of habituated chimpanzees, one of man’s closest relatives.

Mahale - Greystoke Camp - Best African Safari With AfricanExplorations.com

Mahale - Chimps and Beach - Best African Safari With AfricanExplorations.com

It’s a long 4 hour flight from here back to “civilisation” but, surely, this must be a serious contender for the title “best African safari”!