African Safari blog

Top African Destinations Part 1 – The Great Game Parks

Destinations

Wildlife, safari and the exploration of the great game parks and reserves definitely has to be the first things one thinks of when considering a holiday to Africa.

The Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park in South Africa is one such game park reserve. Spanning over 2 million hectares, it’s one of the largest in Africa. Although committed to conservation, it is sad to report that even in a reserve that size, the Kruger is losing almost more rhino from poaching than are being born – thus this relatively peaceful prehistoric creature is becoming increasingly endangered.

Being a well known wildlife destination, the Kruger National Park is undoubtedly a top African destination and so attracts a huge number of visitors. This is also one of its disadvantages as it becomes pretty crowded. Another disadvantage of the Kruger is that, being a National Park, driving off-road is not permitted – so it is often difficult if not impossible to get close to the animals that one has come to see! Further, any notable animal sighting is generally shared by a number of uninvited companions.

Sabi Sands, Timbavati and Manyeleti Game Reserves

So rather than the Kruger itself, much more enjoyable African wildlife trips can be witnessed by exploring the private reserves adjacent to the fence-free Kruger. The ability to drive off-road, rules which limit the numbers of vehicles permitted on sightings, and restricted access to lodge guests only, renders reserves like the Sabi Sands, Timbavati and Manyeleti Game Reserves some of the very top African destinations. Certainly the Sabi Sands has to be the top African destination for leopard viewing in the world!

The Masai Mara and the Serengeti

Probably better known because of free publicity by Foxtel and the BBC are the Masai Mara and the Serengeti – which are in fact the one and the same wildlife area (being separated only by a notional man-made border ie that between Kenya/Tanzania). The Masai Mara, with only 1 510 square kilometers of area is considerably smaller than the adjacent Serengeti, with 14 760 square kilometers. Nevertheless they each have their unique advantages and disadvantages and both are clearly top African destinations.

While the Masai Mara was the location for programs such as the BBC’s Big Cat Diary, the primary reason the Masai Mara as well as the Serengeti are on the list of top African destinations is because that is the location of the annual wildebeest/zebra migration as they follow the rain. It is no wonder that many are keen to witness the spectacle with Wikipedia describing it in the following terms:

“A million wildebeest… each one driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life: a frenzied three-week bout of territorial conquests and mating; survival of the fittest as 40km (25 mile) long columns plunge through crocodile-infested waters on the annual exodus north; replenishing the species in a brief population explosion that produces more than 8,000 calves daily before the 1,000 km (600 mile) pilgrimage begins again.”

The Sabi Sands for a True Wildlife Extravaganza

Though it is possible to find a variety of wildlife in both the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, there is much greater variety per square area to be observed in the Greater Kruger area (which includes the private reserves such as the Sabi Sands). Indeed having spent 19 days in the Masai Mara, we teased our (wonderful) guide that there were no leopards in the reserve because if there were we surely would have seen them in 19 days! While we were pulling his leg, the humour serves as an interesting contrast with the Sabi Sands where it is not unusual to see leopards every day. Thus the Sabi Sands gets my vote as the very top African destination in terms of diverse wildlife viewing.

Being National Parks both the Masai Mara and the Serengeti are also subject to the same type of rules (for example, no off road driving). However in contrast to the reserves in Southern Africa, which are retained exclusively for wildlife and cordoned off from the residential areas, communities of locals co-exist with their cattle & goats in the conservancies adjacent to the Masai Mara and Serengeti.

To witness wildlife side by side with domestic animals is quite a different, if incongruent, experience. Despite our preference for the Greater Kruger area for wildlife viewing, we fully acknowledge the rightful place of the Masai Mara and the Serengeti in the list of top African destinations.

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Find out why we’re not a travel agency — we’re Australian African safari travel specialists. It would be a privilege for us to create the African trip of a lifetime for you.

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Top African Destinations Part 2 - The Iconic Victoria Falls