How to choose a park
Each park is at its best in a particular season, and the right combination depends on what you most want to see. For the Great Migration, the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara follow the herds through the year. For big cats in quiet company, the Sabi Sand beside Kruger and Kenya’s private conservancies stand out. For water and privacy, there is the Okavango Delta; for walking, South Luangwa and Mana Pools; for landscape, Sossusvlei and Etosha.
Most first safaris combine two or three of these, with three nights in each. Our safari map shows how they connect, When to Go matches them to your travel month, and the best African safaris sets out the ten we would choose first.
Sixteen places,
each in its season
Sixteen parks and reserves across nine countries — chosen through first-hand experience, trusted local relationships and current inspection feedback. Where we have not personally stayed, we say so plainly.
African safari parks and reserves each have their season, and the order you visit them in matters.
Every great safari is built from a handful of extraordinary places. Run your eye down the list — one of them is already calling you.
The Great Migration & big cats
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