An African safari is considered to be one of the most coveted wildlife experiences of its kind, but there are certain rules and regulations to be kept in mind in order to make the most of your once-in-a-lifetime vacation.
So before you pack your bags, insect repellent and loads of sunscreen, a bit of planning needs to be done. Ask yourself these ten important questions, while making the travel arrangements for something you might have been dreaming of since childhood. Continue Reading
Africa is a continent that has some of the best places to visit if you love nature and culture. A huge number of tourists come to the African countries every year. However, like any other continent, Africa is not free from crime. In fact, some of the countries here are known for having some of the highest crime rates on the globe today. However, that is only a part of the entire continent. So there’s nothing to be intimidated about. If you are feeling a little nervous about visiting Africa, read on. It’s because, in this article, we will talk about the safest countries in Africa for tourists. Continue Reading
Imagine a lion and a buffalo fighting with all their strength in the bank of a waterhole, herds of elephants strolling through an endless grass plain, or a giant male gorilla staring into your eyes as if he is indeed acknowledging your existence.
A safari in Africa is not just a trip but an experience of a lifetime.
While national parks in Tanzania are often famous, here we list some of the best national parks in Africa, all guaranteeing an excellent safari experience.
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Maasai Mara National Reserve – Kenya
Kenya’s finest national park, Maasai Mara National Reserve is home to an amazing concentration of wildlife, with popular predators like lions, leopards, and cheetahs found in abundance.
The major attraction of this place though is the annual great migration of over 3 million animals, including over 2 million wildebeest, 350,000 zebra, and thousands of various types of gazelle.
Highlights:
-The Great Migration
-Abundance of African lions, African leopards and Cheetahs
-Interaction with the Maasai tribe
Best season to go:
-July to October
Lake Nakuru National Park – Kenya
Lake Nakuru National Park hosts Lake Nakuru, a part of the Great Rift Valley Lake System. The lake is full of alkaline water and it attracts thousands of birds, especially flamingos, in search of a special kind of algae that grows in the lake.
Along with flamingos, Lake Nakuru National Park is home to 450 bird species, many of which are easily spotted, which is why this place is called a birdwatcher’s paradise.
Highlights:
-Thousands of pelicans and pink flamingos
-Very easy to spot wildlife around the lakes
Best season to go:
-January to February
Ngorongoro Conservation Area – Tanzania
Ngorongoro Conservation Area is famous for being home to the stunning Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest volcanic caldera formed about two million years ago. The Ngorongoro Crater has the most natural wildlife setting in the world because it has not been disturbed by human settlement, largely because it is surrounded by the 610 metres (2,000 feet) high crater walls.
Voted as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, the Ngorongoro Crater is arguably the best place for game viewing in Africa.
Highlights:
-Densest concentration of wildlife in the world
-High chance of spotting the Big Five (African Lion, African Elephant, African Leopard, Rhinoceros, African Buffalo)
Best Season to go:
-June to October
Serengeti National Park – Tanzania
Serengeti National Park is one of the most famous safari destinations in Africa. Along with its vast area and a huge concentration of wildlife, this national park is also one of the hosts to the Great Migration, an annual event where more than 3 million animals migrate from North to South in search of grassland and water.
Highlights:
-The Great Migration
-Home to some of the largest Nile crocodiles
-Watching hundreds of different species of animals and birds
Best Season to go:
-June to October
Kruger National Park – South Africa
Kruger National Park is Africa’s oldest established national park. With good paved roads, a range of accommodation options available, and wheelchair accessibility in most of the lodges, this is also the best maintained park in all of Africa.
Despite the accessibility to the national park, the wilderness of the place is not lost and you can still enjoy great game drives.
Highlights:
-Frequent spotting of animals like lions, giraffe, buffalo, leopard, elephant and kudu
-Private game reserves available
-Over 255 archaeological sites within the park
Best Season to go
-April to September
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Uganda
Home to half of the world’s population of the endangered mountain gorillas, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park gives you a unique experience to watch the mountain gorillas up close.
Highlights:
-Tracking gorillas to watch them in their natural setting
-Over 120 mammal species
-Over 1000 flowering plant species
Best Season to go:
-June to August
-December to February
The Duba Plains – Botswana
The Duba Plains is one of the Okavango Delta’s most remote camps. It is known for the clashes between buffaloes and lions during the day which is unusual because lions generally hunt during the night.
If you are interested to see lions in action, this is the best place to visit in Africa.
Highlights:
-One of the best lion viewing game drives in Africa
-Lions hunting buffaloes and other animals during the day
-Highly exclusive because of its remote location
Best season to visit:
-May to November
Zambezi Valley – Zambia
The Zambezi valley is host to Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba. With Zambezi river flowing through the park, this is one of the best places for canoe safari. The lower Zambezi also includes a World Heritage Site at Mana Pools.
Highlights:
-Canoe safari
-Fishing options available
Best season to visit:
-May to early November
Etosha National Park – Namibia
A salt pan covers a large area of Etosha National Park, and it appears to be barren most of the time, but is home to more than 110 mammal species and 340 bird species.
Spotting wildlife is very easy in this place since most of the animals gather up at the waterholes. You may get a chance to see not just one or two but hundreds of animals at once.
Highlights:
-Common sightings of elephants, giraffes, leopards and lions
-More than 340 species of bird
Best season to go:
-May to October
Hwange National Park – Zimbabwe
Hwange National Park is the largest game reserve in Zimbabwe, and hosts over 100 mammal and 400 bird species. With accommodations available in three large camps over the area, a trip to Hwange National Park guarantees an excellent safari experience.
Highlights:
-One of the largest population of African elephant
-Other commonly found animals include wild dog, lion, leopard, and cheetah
Best season to visit:
-July to October
If you’re into wildlife, nature, and the sheer rawness of Africa, a safari in Africa is highly recommended, particularly if you’re visiting one of the above mentioned national parks. A trip to the local zoo will never get close to the real thrill and ecstatic feeling it is to see a wild lion or leopard in its natural habitat, Africa.
Every one of us likes to visit a place which gives us peace, fun, enjoyment, satisfaction, relaxation and so on. The year has 365 days, most of the people spent 3/4th of their life in their work. Sometimes, it gives us stress, boredom, frustration but still no one can escape that unlikable situation. Just for a change people preferred to visit the scenic places to get relieved from their personal mind stress, get attached with their family, to gain their losing happiness and so many things.
We are arranging some best options for the people like who are all wants to relieve from the above area.
Africa
Africa is the continent where you can have the real exploration. Here you could experience both the prehistoric and present world. Africa is a treasure of numerous natural beauties and holy beliefs. This mighty continent is surrounded by prehistoric sacred places, fun of South African wildlife Safari, Uganda’s wildlife experience, outstanding landscapes, Tomb & wonders of Egypt, Kenya’s impressive migration activity, beautiful valleys, delta areas, and so on.
Africa is one of the biggest continents in the world and it gets the 2nd place.
Australia
Australia is the biggest Island and one of the smallest continents in the world. It is placed in between Indian and Pacific Ocean. You can have a different kind of experience while visiting Australia. This continent is full of enjoyable exploring sights to visit like, Great Ocean road with set of limestone heaps in Victoria, historic modern city of Sydney with attractive catwalk harbor bridge & Opera House, Great Barrier reefs is the perfect spot for incredible undersea explorers, surfers and scuba divers, Horse racing weekends in Birdsville, huge sand stone rock structure and sunrise in Northern territory, Tasmania’s Museum with olden and new arts, tasting the sweet wine at Barossa vale, Cultural capital of Melbourne with full of shopping areas, restaurants and arts, hiking on Blue mountain eucalyptus forest, surprising grotto in Margaret River and many other places.
China
The most crowded country of china is also famous for world’s one of the wonder of China Wall. China gets the 3rd place for most tripped tourist destination in the world. It’s full of attractive picturesque spots like, the Great wall of China, the biggest and wealthy city of Shanghai, valuable relics and classical sites in Xi’an, the dazzling & hot Hong Kong city with their own classic lane and holy temples, Yellow Mountains with the four specialties of special pines, queerly shaped rock, seas of smokes, and warm spring, Treasure house of Forbidden City in Beijing, Giant pandas in Chengdu, stylish water towns in Suzhou, and much more interesting places.
Dubai
Hot holiday destination of United Arab Emirates of Dubai is famous for its hi-tech buildings restaurants, beaches, amazing constructions and much more. The city has many cultural show ups and fascinating additions. The hot city is filled with landmark building of Burj khalifa, a museum is wrapping up with stunning things of palm leaf house, marvel architecture, Dubai’s traditional artifact in Al Fahidi Fort, Attractive and fascinate hotel of Atlantis palm Jumeriah, Dubai Aquarium is the best spot for underwater exploration like scuba diving, go swimming with sharks, and underneath boat ride, Popular gateway amusement park of Ferrari world in Abu Dhabi, flora and fauna special of Dubai Desert Conversation center, and many other stunning vacation parts.
Image by diana_robinson Thomas Depenbusch *Crazy Diamond*
“Don’t you dare set foot in Cape Town. South Africa is dangerous you know”. Cheers for the sound advice mum, but unfortunately this falls on deaf ears. Sure South Africa can be “dangerous” but I’m more likely to walk in front of a bus in London than I am getting mugged in Cape Town. Besides, my mother’s stern words were proven utterly worthless because my experience of this stunning city was anything but dangerous and risky. Like all places, if you keep your wits about you and don’t display your flashy, new iphone to the world, Cape Town is a safe and positively beautiful tourist destination.
A view of Camp’s Bay and the Twelve Apostles
The best time to visit Cape Town is in October and November in the height of the summer season and for top notch accommodation, Camp’s Bay is the place to stay. The Bay Hotel overlooks the glorious Camp’s
Bay beach and is only three miles from the famous, Table Mountain Cable Car. What’s more there are luxury rooms and suites to suit every taste. There is also an abundance of villas to rent in the area if the swish, hotel experience is not to your liking. Unfortunately, my wee budget did not stretch this far and I decided to loge in the centre of the city. I stayed in the cheaper yet comfortable Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge. Minutes away from the seafront and the impressive world cup football stadium, this is a great place to be based. Staying in the city centre is also extremely beneficial if you want to catch the boat to the famous Robin Island. This historical site is a must on any trip to South Africa (just beware of the evil monkeys that live there)! For shopping as well as culture, the Victoria and Alfred waterfront complex is simply brilliant. From designer clothes to authentic, African jewellery, this place is a haven for avid shoppers.
Entrance to the Bay Hotel in Camp’s Bay
So the monkeys, mountains and historical sites were all very well and good but what about the food? The truth is you are spoilt for choice and Cape Town’s places to eat out are just as diverse as the city itself. For truly top notch cuisine I had to return to Camp’s Bay. For a memorable and simply delicious surf and turf, the Sand Bar on Victoria Street is the place to go. Also, the Blues Restaurant and Bar can be found on the same street and serves contemporary seafood dishes (not to mention a stunning view of the ocean).
So, I came out of Africa unscathed. With its grand mountains and cosmopolitan streets, Cape Town is a friendly and beautiful city with a relaxed atmosphere. The only thing to worry about is those monkeys!
