Great Safaris
Where the wild things still roam. 30 places, mapped and ready to build a trip around.
Plan a trip on Trailwind →Okavango Delta
BotswanaBestVariesClimate48–99°FThe Okavango Delta or Okavango Grassland is a vast inland delta in Botswana formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an elevation of 930–1,000 m (3,050–3,280 ft) in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari Desert.
Kruger National Park
South AfricaBestMay–SepClimate54–90°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluKruger National Park is a national park in South Africa covering an area of 19,623 km2 (7,576 sq mi) in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends 360 km (220 mi) from north to south and 65 km (40 mi) from east to west. The administrative headquarters are in Skukuza. Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926.
Chobe National Park
BotswanaBestFeb–AugClimate52–97°FChobe National Park is Botswana's first national park, and also its most biologically diverse. The park contains the wetlands of the Chobe River, which flows into Victoria Falls and the Zambezi to the East. Located in the north of the country, the park is part of the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, and partially borders Namibia's Caprivi Strip. It is Botswana's third largest park.
Maasai Mara National Reserve
KenyaBestJun, Aug, SepClimate57–88°FCurrencyKESLanguageSwahiliMaasai Mara, sometimes also spelt Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok County, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honour of the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. Their description of the area when looked at from afar: "Mara" means "spotted" in the Maa language because of the short bushy trees which dot the landscape.
Ngorongoro Crater
TanzaniaBestSepCurrencyTZSLanguageSwahiliNgorongoro Conservation Area is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, 180 km (110 mi) west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northeastern Tanzania. The area is named after Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera within the area.
Etosha National Park
NamibiaBestFeb–AugClimate52–95°FCurrencyNADLanguageEnglishEtosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as Wildschutzgebiet in 1958, and was awarded the status of national park in 1967, by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
Serengeti National Park
TanzaniaEst. 1940BestVariesClimate59–90°FCurrencyTZSLanguageSwahiliThe Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over 14,763 km2 (5,700 sq mi). It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) of savanna. The park was established in 1940.
South Luangwa National Park
ZambiaEst. 1938BestApr–AugClimate61–99°FSouth Luangwa National Park is a national park in eastern Zambia that was founded as a game reserve in 1938 and became a national park in 1972. It covers 9,050 km2 (3,490 sq mi) in the valley of the Luangwa River, which forms its eastern boundary in the Eastern Province of Zambia. It is bordered to the west by a steep escarpment, the Muchinga Escarpment in Muchinga and Central Provinces. The Luangwa Valley lies at the end of the East African Rift valley.
Addo Elephant National Park
South AfricaBestOct–AprClimate46–88°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluMalaria-free, easy to reach from Port Elizabeth, and over 600 elephants. The best first safari with kids.
Amboseli National Park
KenyaBestVariesClimate59–90°FCurrencyKESLanguageSwahiliBig-tusked elephants with Kilimanjaro behind them. The single most photographed sightline in Africa.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
UgandaBestVariesRoughly half the world's remaining mountain gorillas. Trekking permits are limited and booked far ahead.
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
BotswanaBestDec–AprClimate46–93°FVast, empty and best after the rains when the pans green up and the black-maned lions follow the herds.
Hwange National Park
ZimbabweBestJul–OctClimate48–93°FZimbabwe's largest park, famous for enormous dry-season elephant herds at pumped waterholes.
Kaziranga National Park
IndiaBestNov–AprClimate55–90°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiTwo thirds of the world's one-horned rhinos, in Assam grassland. Closed during the monsoon.
Lake Nakuru National Park
KenyaBestJun–OctClimate55–84°FCurrencyKESLanguageSwahiliA soda lake rimmed with flamingos, and one of the better places to find both black and white rhino.
Madikwe Game Reserve
South AfricaBestMay–OctClimate43–88°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluMalaria-free Big Five reserve on the Botswana border, strong for wild dog.
Mana Pools National Park
ZimbabweBestJun–OctClimate57–97°FOne of the few places you can legally walk unguided. Zambezi floodplain under enormous trees.
Moremi Game Reserve
BotswanaBestJun–OctClimate48–99°FThe Okavango's eastern edge, mixing permanent water channels with dry land, so you can do both mokoro and vehicle.
Nyerere National Park
TanzaniaBestJun–OctClimate59–88°FCurrencyTZSLanguageSwahiliFormerly the Selous, and one of Africa's largest protected areas. Boat safaris on the Rufiji set it apart.
Ranthambore National Park
IndiaBestVariesClimate48–104°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiTigers among the ruins of a 10th-century fort. The best odds are in the hot months before the monsoon.
Ruaha National Park
TanzaniaBestJun–OctClimate57–90°FCurrencyTZSLanguageSwahiliTanzania's largest park and barely visited. Exceptional for lion and wild dog.
Sabi Sand Game Reserve
South AfricaBestMay–OctClimate54–90°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluShares an unfenced border with Kruger, and the leopards are habituated enough for the best sightings in Africa.
Samburu National Reserve
KenyaBestJun–OctClimate66–91°FCurrencyKESLanguageSwahiliArid north with its own special five: Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, oryx and Somali ostrich.
Tarangire National Park
TanzaniaBestJun–OctClimate57–88°FCurrencyTZSLanguageSwahiliBaobabs and the largest elephant concentrations in northern Tanzania once the dry season pulls them to the river.
Tsavo East National Park
KenyaBestVariesClimate68–95°FCurrencyKESLanguageSwahiliOne of the world's largest parks, where the red dust turns the elephants the colour of the earth.
Volcanoes National Park
RwandaBestVariesWhere Dian Fossey worked. Gorilla permits are the most expensive in Africa and still sell out.
Yala National Park
Sri LankaBestFeb–JulClimate73–91°FThe highest leopard density in the world, on a coast where the jungle meets the Indian Ocean.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
UgandaBestVariesClimate68–84°FUganda's most visited park straddles the equator between Lakes Edward and George, with tree-climbing lions in Ishasha, hippo-choked channels, and chimp trekking in Kyambura Gorge.
Kafue National Park
ZambiaBestMay–OctClimate52–93°FZambia's largest park and one of Africa's biggest, Kafue is thin on crowds and thick on cats: leopard, lion, and a healthy population of roan and sable antelope across floodplain and miombo woodland.
Bandhavgarh National Park
IndiaBestVariesClimate52–100°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiCentral India's tiger park, and the odds-on best place on the subcontinent to actually see one, packed into a compact core zone of sal forest and grassland below Bandhavgarh fort.