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!

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

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!

Luxury Safaris Zambia with AfricanExplorations.com

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.

Luxury Safari Zambia with AfricanExplorations.com

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!

Chiawa Camp and Ol Mondoro are two of  our favourite camps in the lower Zambezi Region in Zambia. Why? So simple, really. We know the owners well, the Cummings family, who really understand what it is that people want out of a great safari. We always think that Chiawa Camp should be included in a Zambia wildlife safari.

Take the location. Few camps can possibly rival this – with those extraordinary views over the Zambezi River. Then we have the camp itself – it is simply gorgeous! Huge tents with lots of space and great views – big kingsize beds and bathrooms with old fashioned Victorian claw baths.

Then we have the cuisine – arguably the best in the lower Zambezi! Attention to detail is everything and the food is fresh, light and flavoursome!

Lastly, but probably the most important – is the atmosphere and the quality of guiding. Being a family managed establishment, the atmosphere is one of warmth, welcome and homeliness (but equally utterly professional!). This is one of the oldest camps in the region. Secondly, under Grant Cummings’ direction – is the guiding which is second to none. Whether one is out on a 4 x 4 vehicle or walking and tracking lion or elephant, the quality of information and care given is truly in a class of its own. There is tremendous fishing here too and one can even hire a boat to try and catch tiger fish on a fly or perhaps go canoeing down the river.

On top of this, the Cummings family have been heavily involved in supporting the local community which one can see and this makes the experience as a whole one of the most rewarding that one can undertake on a Zambian holiday.

Here’s a video on Chiawa Camp

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!

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

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!