Yahoo Lifestyle The best safari trips to book in 2024
Whether you follow the Big Five – lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and rhinos – by four-wheel drive in South Africa, sleep under the stars during a walking safari in Zambia, cross paths with tigers and sloth bears in India, or spot some of the world’s rarest creatures in Madagascar, a safari is a must for any intrepid traveller.
Embark on the ultimate bucket-list adventure with our selection of this year’s most exhilarating itineraries and camps, where you can see beautiful creatures roaming freely in their natural habitats.
India
Explore spectacular, diverse areas of central India, starting with three nights sleeping in a treehouse high in the Bandhavgarh jungle, trailing Bengal tigers and glimpsing sloth bears on game drives. Then, take a meandering drive north to Pench Tiger Reserve – the park that inspired Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book – where you’ll find the eco-conscious, 10-tent Jamtara Wilderness Camp. Set under the sprawling branches of a banyan-tree, the camp is a superlative base to spy flitting butterflies, scurrying jackals and monkeys jumping from branch to branch. Make your final stop the secluded Reni Pani Jungle Lodge in Satpura National Park, untrodden by tourists and resplendent with ravines, forests and mountains.
A two-week safari with Scott Dunn, from £8,000 a person.
Madagascar
Madagascar is home to plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, including several species of lemur, which you can see in the Andasibe National Park, and rare tortoises, geckos and chameleons. Take a guided stroll through the Ifotaka rainforest after dark to glimpse nocturnal aye-ayes and see the cat-like fossas prowl; by day, head out on a canoe through the mangroves, and meet members of the Malagasy Antandroy tribe in their holy forests.
A 13-night ‘Classic Madagascar’ safari with Abercrombie & Kent, from £6,375 a person.
South Africa
The not-for-profit group behind Lepogo Lodges in northern South Africa offsets the environmental impact of each of its guests, starting from the moment they leave their homes, and all proceeds are invested back into the community or put towards conservation projects. Noka Camp in the 120,000-acre reserve in Limpopo Province can be easily reached from Johannesburg, and provides ample opportunity for spotting the Big Five. The off-grid camp – comprising a quintet of cliffside villas above the Palala River and surrounding bushland – generates all of its energy with a custom 250-metre solar walkway. Along with the usual game drives, you can visit Iron Age settlements and view prehistoric paintings by bushmen, assist with conservation efforts and, for the brave of heart, experience an unforgettable night sleeping out in the bush.
Lepogo Lodges’ Noka Camp, from about £770 a person a night, all-inclusive.
Sri Lanka
Begin your adventure on a coconut estate an hour’s drive from the airport, and conclude it in Weligama, on the sandy shores of the island’s south coast. In between, visit the ruins of Polonnaruwa, discover the impressive architecture of Galle, stay overnight at one of the finest estates in tea country, and explore ancient fortresses and national parks, such as Minneriya (where you’ll find the endangered Asian elephant) and Yala, the roaming ground of the retiring Sri Lankan leopard. At the latter, Resplendent Ceylon’s striking Wild Coast Lodge, designed to mimic both the boulders on the beach and a leopard’s paw, will be your base. Along the way, you might also catch sight of dolphins, whales, macaques and langurs.
A 10-night Sri Lanka safari with AndBeyond, from about £5,195 a person.
Tanzania
With the largest concentration of animals in Africa, Tanzania’s parks and game reserves are home to 120,000 elephants, 160,000 buffaloes and 2,000 rhinos. Travelbag’s itinerary will take you from the rocky mountains to the Serengeti grasslands, by 4WD or hot-air balloon – tailor your trip as you wish, either travelling independently or with an expert guide. Round off your voyage with a retreat to the nearby island of Zanzibar, whose warm beaches are the ideal setting for some R&R.
A 13-night Tanzania and Zanzibar safari with Travelbag, from £6,899 a person, including flights.
Zambia
After an hour’s flight from Zambia’s capital Lusaka, drive through the vibrant town of Mfuwe, past the bustling fruit and vegetable markets, to the unspoilt South Luangwa National Park. Renowned for its walking safaris, it is a spectacular wilderness to explore up-close, replete with tamarind-, ebony- and baobab-trees, upon which leopards perch and baboons frolic. At Mchenja, Time + Tide’s five-room camp on the edge of the Luangwa River, the grunting of hippos reverberates from the surrounding lagoons, on whose banks crocodiles sunbathe, and herds of elephants feast on seed pods as they pass through. The staff are unfailingly friendly, welcoming you by name with a refreshing cold towel and always at hand to share their knowledge of the local area – five per cent from each stay contributes to conservation efforts and the support of local communities through the camp’s foundation.
Set off on foot in the cool morning with an expert guide, to the dawn chorus of more than 450 native bird species, and see impalas, zebras, wildebeest and giraffes grazing, as you walk towards neighbouring forests where lions and cheetahs rest during the heat of day. At night, sleep under the moonlight in Time + Tide’s luxurious net tents, set up in a wide sand valley around a campfire, where clear skies enable you to see the Milky Way while you hear fruit bats swooping, hyenas calling and big cats prowling in the distance. In the morning, wake to the smell of breakfast sizzling on pans, ready to fuel you for another adventure-filled day.
A five-night safari with Time + Tide, through the Ultimate Travel Company, from about £6,160 a person.
Zimbabwe
Just an hour’s drive from Victoria Falls, in the west of the Zambezi National Park, the newly opened Batoka Zambezi Sands houses 10 spacious and stylish tents – created by the South African designer Yvonne O’Brien – each with its own plunge pool. Lions, hippos and elephants walk the surrounding plains, making it the ideal base for wildlife-spotting on game drives and river-boat cruises. Batoka is Africa’s first Black-female-owned safari lodge, and a percentage of its profits are donated to its charity, the Tesse Fund, which supports local communities.
Batoka Zambezi Sands, from about £540 a person a night.
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