Safari planning | African destinations | Seasons in Africa

Types of safaris | safari costs | special interest trips | formalities | booking your safari

To a large extent the early exploits of Selous, Roosevelt, Hemingway, the early missionaries, explorers, colonial pioneers and great white hunters were conducted on foot and often only fully appreciated through the sights of their rifles. 

• Nowadays the best way to do a safari is still on foot but emphasis is on game-viewing and photographic pursuits....
• The modes of transport and accommodations have also changed!
• When planning trips we concentrate on guiding standards and the use of small and remote camps (most of which are owner run and managed).  
• Wherever possible, we steer well clear of resorts, hotels and mini-bus circuits.  
• Locations vary but in most cases are either within or on the boundaries of National Parks and wilderness areas.

Walking safaris

• This is a very loose term used to define an emphasis on walking in game rich areas with an armed, qualified and experienced Professional Guide.  
• These safaris usually make use of temporary bush camps or permanent lodges as a base from which vehicles and sometimes boats will get you into areas of game activity or specific interest, thereafter you're led by a Professional Safari Guide to sample all aspects of the environment.
• Walking safaris are unquestionably the best way to experience the African wilderness areas.  They range from simple trails not far from camp to full blown backpack-toting expeditions.  You can do it in luxury or at the other end of the scale really get back to basics.  The key however is the quality of the guides and location...
• The very best walking safaris are in the Luangwa and Zambezi Valleys plus two specific areas in Botswana.
• In East Africa, the best options are found in southern Tanzania.  We've provided a far more comprehensive guide to African walking safaris elsewhere on our site.

Mobile safaris

• Mobile safaris make use of 4x4 vehicles usually to cover larger areas or a variety of different habitats in a single trip.  The diversity and relatively large distances between the prime spots in Botswana and Namibia make mobile safaris the preferred means for covering these destinations.    
• More often than not, the driver is a fully qualified Professional Guide which means that some of the better stop-over points will include some time exploring on foot.  
• Mobile safaris offer a high degree of flexibility taking in the full range of accommodation options ranging from temporary fly-camps to luxury lodges but more importantly enable far greater access to areas affected by constantly changing seasonal patterns (as in the Okavango) or game movements (as in the Kalahari and East Africa). 
• These trips shouldn't be confused with overland expeditions or mini-bus tours ... we recommend Guerba, Kumuka, Dragoman and the host of overland companies you'll find by doing a simple search...

Fly-in or "wing" safaris

• Fly-in safaris are regularly done in Botswana and Namibia in order to cover a large amount of territory with some very specific spots on the agenda in as short a space of time as possible.  
• Often the pilot serves as the guide for the duration of the safari.  The camps and lodges used for stop-overs are often the most exclusive available.  Six or seven night fly-in safaris are fairly popular with guests who're short on time. 
• When faced with a shortage of time and a desire to see the best spots then you should expect to spend more dosh....

Canoe safaris

• One of the more popular means of experiencing Africa's wilderness, big game and warm weather.  Several of the large African rivers are run by canoe but it's the lower Zambezi that really holds centre stage....  
• Mana Pools National Park, a World Heritage Site is on the southern bank - the remote Lower Zambezi National Park is on the northern shoreline in Zambia. 
• Our canoe safaris range from deluxe backed up trails using tented camps or permanent lodges for overnight stops to full participation canoe trails running over 10 days from Kariba down to Kanyemba. 
• The latter trips make use of islands and river banks for temporary overnight camps.
• These canoe safaris are easily combined with walking safaris and have deserved a more comprehensive treatment in our guide to lower Zambezi canoe safaris - costs accommodate the tightest budgets...

Self-drive safaris

• The most flexible type of trip that you'll find.  In a nutshell you hire a vehicle, plan your own route, pre-book accommodations of your choice and explore the region under your own steam.  
• Generally speaking you need some extra time to do these trips and have to do a bit more research than most.  Namibia is the easiest to on a self-drive basis even if you're a first timer - a little bit more preparation and you shouldn't have much difficulty tackling anywhere else. 
• Bear in mind that some areas most definitely need very current local knowledge - if you receive a specific local warning then heed that advice.  With a bit of digging around you'll have no difficulty establishing the right contacts.

Privately guided safaris

• If you're looking for exclusivity, special attention or have a very particular subject that you want to cover in more depth than most then you'll find a number of specialist guides who're more than up to the task - and in many cases equally motivated to indulge themselves in a favoured pursuit.  
• Every year we have about 4 months worth of privately guided trips on the go.  In most  cases these safaris boil down to one guide and two clients. 
• Some excursions are into the remoter parts, others are on well trodden trails simply exploring on a more casual and relaxed basis.