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

Debs Tittle is one of the most wonderful guides in the south Luangwa in Zambia. She is simply amazing! Debs will take you out on fantastic walking safari on a completely private basis – whether it is just two of you or perhaps a group of friends. A fly camp is erected and these safaris are generally for just a couple of nights (although we can make them as long as you like as it is entirely flexible!). Some people will add this on to a more traditional lodge based game viewing safari which is experienced both by vehicle as well as on foot – with other people in the camp. However – this is for someone who is trying to get away from sharing this experience with others – who is looking for a more personal or exclusive style of walking safari.

Debs Tittle with AfricanExplorations.com

This is a fantastic experience and she opens up the entire world of the bush for you and brings everything to life – explaining the finer points of the ecological system – the termites, the dung beetles and their relationship with the soil and the environment. Then you also see wildlife in close proximity – follow their tracks and watch their behaviour. No rushing back in a vehicle or having to consider others – this is a privileged experience – just for you – with one of Zambia’s top guides! This truly is an opportunity of a lifetime and not to be missed!

Walking Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

I still think that one of the very best ways of being on safari is on foot. I was asked why I thought it was so special and I think that one automatically feels so much closer to the earth (quite obviously!), but also ones senses are far more acute and come alive – partly due to preservation and because it is impossible not to drink in the entire atmosphere, the stillness and the beauty of exploring this vast, untamed continent without the sound or pollution from an engine.

Walking Safari Zambia with AfricanExplorations.com

Zambia offers some of the best walking safaris, both in the north Luangwa which is my favourite – far less commercial and more pristine and then of course, there is south Luangwa which is pretty much home to the finest game rich walking safaris in Africa. Whether it is for a dedicated five day walking safari where one walks with one of Africa’s most professional guides from camp to camp, to a less structured affair with perhaps two or three days walking and returning back to the same camp or perhaps walking on to a bush camp after a couple of nights, the options are endless!

Walking Safari Zambia with AfricanExplorations.com

Zambia is home to some of the best wildlife which makes this country and these regions particulary rewarding. For those who want something a little different, this must surely be it!

Walking Safari Zambia with AfricanExplorations.com

Walking Safari- Can there be any equal? This is one of the finest safaris that one can possibly experience on this earth! Every sensory factor comes into being and is heightened as one’s degree of vulnerability surfaces.

walking safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

No car pollution, no engine noise, exercise, being at one with the earth, learning about nature, about soil types, vegetation, homeopathic properties attributed to plants and trees, folklore attached to them and feeling at one with Africa. Just magical! Smell the sage plants and the potato bushes with the early morning dew. Watch the sunrise across the African plain. Learn to identify the spoormarks of animals – whether by faeces or by footprints left as stories of their presence unfolds.  What is important is here and now, and utter survival!Having said that, you are  in the presence of the most professional guides in Africa, and your safety is paramount and this is where their experience is demonstrated.

Feel your heart quicken as you see a matriarchal herd of elephant trumpet as they pick up your smell as the wind changes direction, or discovering a pride of lion in a clearing. Watch them from a level playing field, observing their every movement. Enjoy and embrace every single moment. For this is what Africa is really about. Not being apart, but feeling the rhythm of the continent as one – and this – is exactly what a walking safari brings to you.

walking safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

And we haven’t even talked about arriving at your camp, sitting around the fire, watching the dying embers  beneath a diamond studded sky and discussing the pleasures of life whilst the cacophony of Africa continues around you, lions emitting their territorial calls across the land, whilst hippos grunt in the river beside you and the sweet sounds of nightjars and owls serenade the night. Oh, but to be in Africa!

A walking safari is the most exhilarating way of experiencing a safari in Africa as one gets so much closer to wildlife without the noise of an engine. Of course there is a degree of vulnerability which heightens the senses but this is a good thing! How often is one called upon to use those senses today? Everything is so much more immediate – from analysing the urgent bark of a baboon, to the strong scent left by a predator or an elephant or simply enjoying the early morning smells of the sage plant, fresh from the  first dew.

walking safari south luangwa with AfricanExplorations.com

Walking safaris come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but broadly speaking, one country lends itself to the most amazing walking safaris, and that country is Zambia. It is an incredibly game rich country with the most amazing standard of guiding!

In the south Luangwa national park, there is only one outfit which operates a true mobile safari – that is, over a five night period, walking from to three different camps with one to two nights spent in each.  Here one walks with nothing more than a pair of binoculars and this is no route march! About 7-10 kms is covered each day at an incredibly leisurely pace whilst learning about the homeopathic properties of plants and trees.  There are also static bushcamps in both north and south luangwa. The Kafue region also offers exceptional walking safaris with fewer tourists.

Chada Katavi Flycamp with AfricanExplorations.com

The Selous in southern Tanzania offers superb walking and flycamping on an individual basis and whilst not as game rich as northern Tanzania where there are walking safaris in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro highlands, it is more beautiful and pristine. The Mana Pools region in Zimbabwe offers sensational walking and the wild dog population is excellent. As does Gonarezhou.

In Kenya, in the Kakamega Forest and the Rift valley in general, there is some of the best guiding and birding with one of Kenya’s top guides. However you decide to undergo your walking safari in Africa, if you choose one of these places, you will never be disappointed!

Sand Rivers Selous Fly Camping with AfricanExplorations.com

Zambia is a country synonomous with walking safaris. A Zambia Walking Safari is the finest way of exploring the bush, learning more about wildlife, plantlife, birdlife, insects (entymology) and butterflies.

Alongside Tanzania, it really has come into its own, with camps professionally set up with some of the most qualified guides in Africa. This becomes even more important on a walk, as one cannot blithely comment on the concentrations of mammals, as one has to concentrate on what we refer to as ‘the smaller’ creatures. Although one does still see large mammals on a walking safari, the idea is for the guide to keep you at a safe distance to observe the wildlife surrounding you, whilst keeping the walks informative and interesting. One learns so much more on a walk and it is a fascinating way of discovering the bush and its environs. Quite aside from anything else, it is refreshing to be able to walk in complete silence, with no sound or fumes from an engine. The walks are generally conducted either in south Luangwa, where the concentrations of wildlife, especially leopard, are legion, or, for those looking for primeval, pristine Africa, with large concentrations of sporadic wildlife, but no other people and the most amazing scenery and vistas, then northern Luangwa will appeal to you more.

The places we use are owner managed, the walking camps or bush camps are small and intimate and the level of guiding is second to none. Whether an ardent birder searching for a Shoebill Stork or simply a novice, wanting to get the best out of a safari in a natural environment, then this safari is for you! We can’t rate it highly enough and it is one of our favourite ways of being on safari! To smell the sage plants in the morning, the potato bush and the early morning dew, to wonder at the pastel colours, changing on the horizon, to feel your heart quicken at seeing an elephant, or to sit down in a camp chair, watching the sun set over the river, with just a handful of companions, with a ice cold gin and tonic, reflecting on the days adventures – this is what a walking safari should be all about!