Planning fun trips and safaris can be quite tricky. As the New Year approaches, we’d like to give you a glimpse of the ten best places and activities for safaris in order to facilitate your search. This list is based on the 2015 Safari Awards, which can be compared to the Oscars for the safari industry.
1. Norman Carr Walking Safari (Zambia)
The winner of the “best safari experience in Africa” and “best walking safari” categories for Zambia in the 2015 Safari Awards offers a different perspective for small groups trekking from camp to camp along the Luwi River.
Norman Carr Walking Safari, Luangwa Valley, Zambia; +26 021 624 6025; seven-night packages from $2,285 per person, plus flights and park fees,10-night package taking in five camps from $4,500 per person.
2. Goliath Safaris Luxury Tented Camp (Zimbabwe)
Goliath Safaris Luxury Tented Camp is rated one of the best in Zimbabwe for more than just its comfort and luxury.
En suite tents with teak finishes and open-air showers, right beside the Mana Pools conservation area, ensure guests are close to the action and emerge fresh to face wildlife that includes hippo, elephant, lion, leopard and wild dogs.
Goliath has just been voted “best walking safari” in the country by customers with accolades for its guides and cuisine.
Goliath Safaris Luxury Tented Camp, +263 4 882373; from $640 (per person, per night) inclusive of activities, but excluding park fees.
3. African Horseback Safaris (Botswana)
Exploring the 450,000 acres of the untouched, wild nature of the Okavango Delta on horseback is a great way to spare both feet and the environment.
After two decades of existence, African Horseback Safaris has won awards for its exhilarating rides beside big game stars such as elephant, zebra and giraffe.
African Horseback Safaris, Macatoo Camp, Botswana; +267 686 1523; from $695 per person, per night.
4. Tongole Wilderness Lodge (Malawi)
Tongole Wilderness Lodge manages to help the local community without skimping on the comfort at its eco-lodge within the Miombo woodlands of the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, Malawi’s oldest protected area.
From here, treks explore the bush and canoe trips take in the Bua River to see monkeys, waterbuck, wart hogs and elephants alongside 280 bird species.
The lodge – voted Malawi’s “best value safari property,” “best ecologically responsible” and “best community focused” in the latest Safari Awards – can also take visitors into the village community to meet local people, including a school supported by the Tongole Foundation.
Tongole Wilderness Lodge, Nkhotakota, Malawi; +44 208 123 0301; from $335 (per person, per night), including activities, food and most drinks.
5. Nyungwe Forest Lodge (Rwanda)
Orchids and 13 primate species, including chimpanzees, live among the 200 tree species in the largest remaining tract of uninterrupted forest in Central and East Africa – all viewable on guided walking trails and animal treks.
Other safari activities include searching for black and white colobus monkeys, gray-cheeked Mangabey and bird-watching at the Kamiranzovu Waterfall.
Nyungwe Forest Lodge,Rwanda; +27 21 427 5900; voted “best new safari property” in Rwanda in the 2015 Safari Awards, from $295 (per person, per night sharing). Trekking prices given on reservation.
6. Leopard Hills (South Africa)
A six-hour drive from Johannesburg to the edge of the renowned Kruger National Park will take you to Leopard Hills, which offers safaris through 10,000 hectares of immense countryside.
The main lodge is sited on a rocky outcrop in the western sector of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve overlooking an active waterhole and magnificent plains where the Big Five reside.
Rates include two drives per day and optional walking safaris with the chance of close-quarter glimpses of rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo and elephant.
Rangers are established photographers and can advise on taking quality safari snaps.
Leopard Hills, Hazy View, Mpumalanga, South Africa; +27 11 326 0739; from $910 (per person, per night). Private guided safari vehicle can be booked for $475 (per day).
7. Pumba Private Game Reserve & Spa (South Africa)
Hippo, hyena, wildebeest, kudu, eland and antelope are among the attractions at the family-friendly Pumba Private Game Reserve & Spa.
The main attraction, however, is the majestic and endangered white lion.
Pumba, a malaria-free haven dedicated to conservation and boosting the local community, operates a white lion-breeding program and is one of just two homes to the beast in the whole of southern Africa.
Pumba Private Game Reserve & Spa, Highlands, Lothians Road, Makana Municipality, Port Elizabeth, South Africa; +27 46 603 2000; from $469 (per person, per night) plus $201 (per child) in a Msenge family chalet.
8. Fundu Lagoon (Tanzania)
Fundu Lagoon has been applauded for its accessibility to the stars of the waves.
As well as canoe, boat and walking tours, the twice “best marine safari experience in Africa” winner offers a fully equipped dive center, enabling underwater exploration of coral reefs and wreck-dwelling fish as well as the dolphins, whales and sea turtles.
While the lodge offers “barefoot luxury,” its location on a coastal rainforest makes it easy see flying foxes, colobus monkeys, tropical birds and bush babies, so it’s possible to make like Crusoe, Cousteau or both.
Fundu Lagoon, Pemba, Tanzania; +255 7774 38668; average room prices start at $440 (per person, per night) and include unguided mangrove canoe safaris, a dhow cruise, snorkeling and village treks.
9. Karisia Walking Safaris (Kenya)
Karisia Walking Safaris is an all-inclusive mobile operator with a team of camels guided by Masai and Samburu trackers in the wilds of Laikipia.
Tours roam from broad rivers to mountain forests, with camping in stunning scenery under the stars.
There’s a diverse range of large animals as the habitat changes, with endangered Grevy’s Zebra, reticulated giraffe and highland hartebeest filling viewfinders.
Karisia Walking Safaris, Nanyuki, Kenya; +254 721 371694; from $400 (per person, per night), with 50% off for children under 16.
10. Samode Safari Lodge (India)
Although this safari is not located in Africa, Bandhavgarh National Park is the place to visit for those who seek to tick tigers off their must-see list.
There’s a high density of big cats, alongside barking deer, chinkaras, wolf, guar, bear and cheetal deer in this forested location in central India. Right next to the forest, Samode Safari Lodge is a sophisticated gateway to a stream and marsh-blessed landscape best explored by jeep.
Samode Safari Lodge,Village Mardhari, Post Dhamokar, District Umaria, Madhya Pradesh; +91 141 2632370; the “jungle plan” costs from $444 (per person, per night based on twin sharing) and includes forest guide fees, two scheduled safaris and photographic fees
