How to choose the best African safari destination for you

Africa is awash with amazing game parks, so choosing the best African safari destination for you depends on your personal priorities

If you know you want to do an African safari but aren’t sure which country or parks to visit, I can help.

A really good starting point is figuring out what matters most to you. For instance, are you most concerned with seeing a certain type of animal? Or do you want to pair your safari with another type of African experience, like lounging on a tropical beach? If you make your way through the handful of guiding questions below, you’ll be equipped to determine the best safari destinations for you!

1. What wildlife do I most want to see?

Here are some suggestions of the best countries and parks to visit based on the sort of animals you most want to see …

I want to see the Big Five

Relatively few African game parks host all of the Big Five (bush elephants, black rhinos, leopards, lions, and Cape buffaloes). If you want the best chance of spotting all of the Big Five in a single day, then you should visit Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania. You could also then visit nearby Serengeti National Park, which also has the Big Five. Other popular parks that have the Big Five include Kruger National Park in South Africa, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

I want to see wildlife phenomena

Africa’s most well-known and popular wildlife phenomenon is the Great Migration, which can be viewed in the Serengeti or Masai Mara, depending on the time of year. The Kasanke Fruit Bat Migration is the world’s largest mammal migration, and sees roughly 10 million bats descend on Kasanke National Park in northern Zambia. Meanwhile, Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is the largest breeding colony of lesser flamingoes in Africa and hosts around three million birds in season!

Related reading

• Great African animal migrations

I want to find rare animals

You can find rare, endemic, endangered, or hard-to-spot wildlife species all across Africa. So if there’s a specific animal that captivates you, head to their home!

I want to mention that some of Africa’s hardest-to-spot, nocturnal animals have been dubbed the Secretive Seven. They include the civet, serval, pangolin, porcupine, and aardvark. These animals are top priorities for seasoned safarigoers. Try Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in South Africa to find them all in one place. Also know that the ‘Samburu Five’ of Samburu National Reserve in central Kenya are very different species from what most people ever see on safari. They include the gerenuk, Beisa oryx, and Somali ostrich.

I want to see as many species as possible

If you’re someone who likes to tick their way through a list, so to speak, then you need to head to one of Africa’s wildlife biodiversity hotspots. There are many. But Tanzania is considered the foremost African country for mammal biodiversity. This is thanks to its varying ecosystems, which include savannahs, wetlands, mountains, and forests. The Serengeti is its flagship park in this regard.

When it comes to individual parks, the Kruger is widely recognised as having one of the highest mammal species counts (147 or 148). Another park with exceptionally high mammal diversity is Kafue National Park in Zambia. It reportedly has Africa’s highest diversity of antelope species.

Related reading

• The only 4 reasons you need to book a Tanzania safari today
• There’s far more to Zambia than just Victoria Falls

I want a birding safari

Southern and East Africa boast some of the best birding destinations in the world, thanks in large part to falling within the African-Eurasian Flyway, a massive migratory system connecting Europe and Asia with Africa. Some individual parks boast over 500 bird species during migratory season (roughly November to April). These include the Kruger and iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa, Tarangire National Park and Serengeti in Tanzania, and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.

If you had to pick just one country for a birding safari, however, it should be Uganda. This relatively small country reportedly has the highest bird species density in all of Africa. In fact, it has over 1,000 species, which is more than half of the continent’s total bird species count! It’s also the country offering the most reliable chance of spotting the popular, prehistoric-looking shoebill stork.

Related reading

• The best birding in South Africa

I want to see primates

Rwanda and Uganda are the go-to countries for primate enthusiasts, as they’re where you find mountain gorillas (the DRC has them too, but it isn’t really a touristy country). Mountain gorillas are Africa’s most famous primate, being such large, soulful, and all-round magnificent creatures. They live tucked away in misty high-altitude mountains, and you must trek to see them, as discussed above.

There are dozens of other primates to be found in Africa, too. These include chimpanzees and various baboons and galagos. There are also many rare monkeys, like golden, L’Hoest’s, red-tailed, and patas monkeys. The single best country for primate-seeking safaris is Uganda. It has over 20 species! And you can find 13 of them (including chimpanzees) in Kibale Forest, making that a tippy-top primate destination.

Related reading

• All you need to know about gorilla trekking in Africa

2. How important is scenery to me?

If you enjoy dramatic scenery, then East Africa is probably the best African safari destination for you. An arm of the Great Rift Valley runs through it and has shaped the landscape in spectacular ways. Here, you find snow-capped volcanoes, towering escarpment walls, enormous crater lakes, and so much more.

Ngorongoro Crater is an astonishing sight when the acidic waters turn red.

Of course, Southern Africa also boasts countless beautiful and unique scenes. A lesser-known but stunning destination – and one that’s ideal for those who like to venture off the beaten track – is Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Steep inselbergs soar out of the forested plains to create a sort of lost-world look. Then there’s the beautiful Caprivi Strip and adjacent Okavango Delta, where you can explore the lush, waterlogged environments via a variety of water-based safaris.

Finally, I must mention the 300-metre (1,000-foot) high red sand dunes of Namib-Naukluft National Park in western Namibia. It’s captivating to spot wildlife among the dunes, and sometimes even on the remote beaches.

Related reading

• Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s most unique safari
• Explore Mozambique’s top game parks
• A beginner’s guide to exploring the Okavango Delta
• All about Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia

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3. How active do I want my safari to be?

Most safaris involve a great deal of sitting. Whether that’s sitting in a safari vehicle, sitting in a boat, or even sitting in a hot air balloon, it’s still a lot of sitting. This might not suit you if you enjoy being active. So what you really want then is to go somewhere where you can include some walking safaris or hikes. These not only let you stretch your legs, but also bring you closer to the landscape and wildlife, making for a more immersive experience.

There are many parks and reserves across the continent where you can go on guided walking safaris. But it’s not the norm, so do your research beforehand.

South Luangwa National Park in Zambia is often credited as being the birthplace of the walking safari, and it’s certainly a great destination for walking safaris. In Namib-Naukluft, you can climb up the sand dunes in certain places, so that’s a thrilling experience that’ll get your heart pumping.

Finally, primate tracking is one of the best active safari options on the table. Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania, in particular, have well-developed primate tracking setups. Gorilla trekking is the most strenuous such trek, especially when done in the Virunga Mountains. You can also enjoy gentler chimpanzee and golden monkey hikes.

Related reading

• 3 reasons to include a walking safari in your visit to Africa

4. How much do I care about busyness and crowds?

If you’re someone who craves the feeling of isolation or being deep in the wilderness, then you need to do one or more of these three things …

Visit one of Africa’s lesser-known safari countries. Malawi, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Zambia have gorgeous game parks thick with wildlife, but they receive very few visitors as their tourism industries aren’t so well developed. Majete Wildlife Reserve and Liwonde National Park are Malawi’s top wildlife destinations. South Luangwa National Park and North Luangwa National Park in Zambia are two incredible wildlife destinations, with the northern park being particularly untouched. I’ve mentioned Gorongosa already, which is one of Mozambique’s best game parks. And finally, there’s Madagascar, which is a fascinating world to itself, but receives so few visitors. The sublimely beautiful forests of Andasibe-Mantadia National Park are your best bet for spotting various types of lemurs.

Explore one of the extremely large parks where visitors ‘dissipate’, so to speak. The truly adventurous traveller should head to Namib-Naukluft, Nyerere National Park in Tanzania, or Niassa Special Reserve in the far north of Mozambique, as they’re among Africa’s largest and most remote wildernesses. If you enjoy exploring and wild camping, you can disappear into these parks and feel like a pioneer!

Head to one of the hard-to-reach game parks. Many of Africa’s best game parks take some commitment to reach, as you can’t fly in anywhere nearby. Most of the game parks of the Kalahari and Namib Deserts of South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana fall in this category, as they’re far from large settlements. Niassa Special Reserve is also extremely remote. But their remoteness is a huge part of their appeal, as they’re far from all pollution and noise. Some other hard-to-reach but excellent game parks are Akagera National Park in northeastern Uganda, and Katavi and Mahale National Parks in western Tanzania on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.

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• More Than a Lake: The Ultimate Guide to Malawi’s Hidden Gems
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5. What else do I want to experience whilst in Africa?

Most international tourists coming to Africa for a safari also want to include other types of adventures. Here are three popular sorts of packages:

Safari plus tropical beach. Zanzibar is Africa’s best-marketed tropical island destination. It’s frequently tacked onto the end of an East African safari, as folks look forward to relaxing on its sandy beach and snorkelling or diving among its world-famous coral reefs. You also get to explore Stone Town, which is rich in Swahili history. If you’d like a quieter beach destination that’s equally pretty and rich in marine wildlife, consider Mafia Island further south, or the Bazaruto Archipelago or Quirimbas Archipelago off the coast of Mozambique.

Safari plus trekking. There are many wonderful mountain treks on offer in Africa. The Drakensberg mountain range in South Africa is within easy driving distance of some Big Five game parks and birding hotspots. The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are relatively close to Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro. Mt Kenya isn’t far from Hell’s Gate National Park and Samburu National Reserve. And finally, the glacier-topped Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda offer some of Africa’s most alluringly untrodden trails whilst being close to the wildlife-rich Queen Elizabeth National Park and Murchison Falls National Park.

Safari plus trekking and tropical beach. Head to Kenya, Tanzania, or eastern South Africa if you’d like to enjoy world-class safaris as well as incredible trekking and sandy beaches that lead into warm waters bursting with exciting marine life and splendid coral reefs.

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• This is why everyone wants to visit Zanzibar Island, Tanzania
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• Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – advice on choosing a route

Other considerations

Finally, I acknowledge that the above list of considerations isn’t exhaustive. There are some other very valid priorities that might help some of you to decide on the best African safari destination for you. I simply don’t have space to discuss them all in one blog post. So let me simply pose the questions to you, and you can pull on the threads that interest you.

• Malaria: Not all African safari destinations have malaria, so you might like to read The best malaria-free safari destinations in Africa.
• Travelling with children: Some safari destinations are better suited to kids, especially small ones, for various reasons. Learn more in Best places in Africa to take your kids on safari.
• Cost: If you’re travelling on a tight budget, some countries and regions aren’t really your friend, but others are. The Kruger is a good example of a top-notch destination that you can visit on a budget if you make some smart choices. Read How to travel to Kruger National Park on a budget for cost-saving advice that can be carried over to most African safari destinations.
• Impact: Some safari destinations are better set up to protect the environment and wildlife or support local entrepreneurs and the economy through tourism. At other times, it’s more about the tour operator or accommodations you choose. I talk about these topics in Advice on choosing an African overland tour.
• Safety: Some African countries are safer than others. I discuss this in detail in Will I be safe on safari in Africa?
• Female travel: If you’re travelling alone as a woman, or even a group of women, in Africa, then you might like to read Is Africa a safe destination for female travellers?

Note: This blog post was created in March 2024 by Sarah Duff. It was completely rewritten in May 2026 by Megan Abigail White.