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

Funnily enough, Botswana is no longer a country that one associates with walking safaris. There used to be an amazing walking safari offered over 3 days  about twenty years ago, but for whatever the reason, the market decided it preferred to get around in vehicles!

Botswana Walking Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

However – I am happy to say that a friend of mine offers a combination of walking and/or riding safaris in a truly lovely area of Botswana – and it has what I would term as ‘gentle’  wildlife – mainly plains game etc, but when one is on the back of a horse or indeed on foot, sometimes its quite a nice thought that nothing is going to eat you!For those hardier types, there is now the possibility to have a walking safari again in the Okavango Delta on the border of Moremi – which is all about sensational game viewing. You are accompanied by some of Botswana’s finest guides, though  and the experience is nothing short of thrilling!

Botswana Walking safari with African Explorations.com

I far prefer to view game on foot – one’s senses are more accute and one learns so much more too! Everything is taken in at a gentler, slower pace and there is no noise or pollution.

For a Botswana Walking Safari, do contact us as we are walking specialists for Africa!

An African Trekking Safari would otherwise be known as a walking safari. These in my opinion are some of the finest ways of being on safari! On foot – one’s senses are heightened and one learns so much more – such as the medicinal properties of trees and plants, how to read the prints (or spoormarks) in the sand, which animals they are, which direction they are heading (pretty important!), as well as learning to walk downwind whilst keeping pace with an elephant herd!

African Trekking Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

One also learns all about the insects and butterflies and the ecological role of the dung beetle – so many things and all so fascinating and vital to the continuation of this extraordinary continent!

Walking Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

We offer walking safaris on the outskirts of the Masai Mara and in the Laikipia region of Kenya, in southern, western and Northern Tanzania, in Namibia and South Africa.  There is also walking on Mount Kenya. We have the most comprehensive range of walking safaris in Africa – contact us for specialist knowledge!

One of the best ways in my opinion of going on safari, is by foot. Not only does one learn so much, such as the medicinal purposes of plants and trees, but one can also spend time viewing birdlife, learning about the ecology of the environment, how intricate and fragile it all is, and how inter-dependant all species are – especially insects! Entymology is fascinating – and if one travels at the right time of year when the insects and butterflies are hatching, then it is so rewarding! However – one still does see big game on foot and there is nothing quite like walking downwind of a herd of elephant – it is such a privileged experience!

Kenya Walking Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

One can walk at most camps and lodges as part of a safari experience – but a true Kenya Walking Safari really can take place in the Loita Hills on the borders of the Masai Mara and also on Mount Kenya where one can walk for seven days around the circumference of the mountain.

Kenya Walking Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

Either way, it is a completely quiet and exhilarating way of being on safari, in complete privacy with just yourself and/or your party and your guide and crew – and a wonderful way to see wildlife, learn about the flora and to glean knowledge!

We also offer camel assisted walking safaris in the Laikipia plateau and the Matthews range from three days to two weeks!

Contact us now for the very best walking safaris in Kenya!

There is nothing quite like a walking safari in Africa and one country which really delivers this well is Tanzania.

What I love so much about a walking safari in Tanzania is the diversity and contrast that it allows.

Walking safari in Tanzania with AfricanExplorations.com

In Northern Tanzania, one can go walking in the Serengeti plains and the Ngorongoro Crater region, with a fly camp which is fully serviced, erected for you on an individual basis. There is no better way of discovering the bush, seeing wildlife, but also learning about the homeopathic properties of plants and trees as well as learning to identify spoormarks in the soil and get to know the birdlife and insect life (or entymology). You have a superb Tanzanian guide to share his knowledge with you!

Walking Safaris with AfricanExplorations.com

Then what about going to Lake Natron and spending time with one of the last hunter-gatherers, the Hadzabe tribe? This is a highlight for so many clients!

Finally, fly camp in the southern part of Tanzania – my favourite being Katavi, followed by the Selous and finally Ruaha. These are three very different and beautiful regions with not another soul. If you want to get away from it all, in areas which are so incredibly beautiful but also unbelievably diverse, allowing a great mix of wildlife – then this must be for you! Sleep beneath the stars, dine on the most wonderful food, beautifully prepared for you by your cooks and presented to you by your complement of staff, before finally falling asleep with the twinkling of the stars being your last memory! There is something wonderful knowing that you are the only people in the reserve, whilst the sun sets and the birds take up their night positions on the boughs of the trees.

Walking Safari in Africa with AfricanExplorations.com

Awake to a glorious sunrise, and to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the dewy scent of the sage plants before having a hot shower, breakfast and beginning your next day’s walk. What will you discover today? No two days are ever the same in Africa but one thing is certain – a walking safari is one of the best types of safari one can ever undertake! Call us to begin your safari of a lifetime here!

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

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!

Here’s my take on walking safaris ….

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

A south luangwa safari  will delight even the most jaded safari goer! The joy about this region, situated in Zambia, is that it has two very definite seasons which offers two completey different experiences!

The first is a safari in the dry season – July/August/September/October whereby one sees the most amazing concentration of wildlife as well as some indigenous species, such as the Thornicroft giraffe.  These safaris can come in a myriad of experiences.  We have some wonderful owner managed camps and lodges, which all offer entirely different experiences and we match each camp or lodge to the personality of each client. These camps come in a variety of styles,  from rustic bush camps where one walks from camp to camp, exploring new areas and learning so much on foot, such as the spoormarks of the various creatures, the homeopathic properties of plants and trees and the folklore attached to them, to a walking safari, with just a maximum of six guests and one walks from camp to camp over a period of five days, carrying nothing but a pair of binoculars with you! You can also stay in permanent lodges with magnificent views over the Luangwa river and oxbow lagoons.

Mwamba Bushcamp with AfricanExplorations.com

In the green season, which is January  through to March,  Nsefu Camp, Robin’s lovely camp in the south Luangwa, remains open . Boating
safaris are the feature at this time of year; my absolute favourite! One still sees some fantastic wildlife, but from a boat instead of a vehicle. The vegetation is beautifully lush and green, the migrant bird species are superb, game viewing is still wonderful and antelope and elephant are giving birth to their young. This is the season of promise, and at ridiculously low prices! Photography is at its best, virtually no airborne dust and very few visitors. My suggestion is to book for early 2011; this is Africa as it is rarely seen yet at its most beautiful, seasoned travellers are starting to realise that this is the way forward! Rushing around is less prevalent, it’s fun to just spend
time between a couple of camps, game viewing by road, on foot and by boat. The whole is the perfect antidote to a stressful lifestyle!

Robin Pope walking with AfricanExplorations.com