My Safari Bucket List – Top 5
As people that love to travel and explore we all have a bucket list of things that we would like to do and see, these are not always written down but just in our minds as places that one day we would like to experience for ourselves. Unfortunately, the more people I speak to and the more I read and watch the more places there are to add to an ever growing list.
Even for safari I have had to limited this to 5 of the ultimate places that I would like to visit as my own list. Despite working in Africa tourism for 10 years, is still growing ever longer.
The areas that I have chosen for this list are characterised by being difficult to reach, have few accommodation options and are not teeming with wildlife, however, they are remote and untouched parts of Africa that I would one day love to get to. They are not for everyone but they are amazing…
If you would like to plan your own bucket list Africa safari then get in touch with us and we will put together the most memorable of holiday experiences.
Katavi – Tanzania
This is top of my bucket list for an Africa safari and has been for as long as I can remember, it is a place that early in my career captured my imagination and to this day I still long to experience this vast open landscape that has some of the fewest visitor numbers in East Africa. Katavi is a long and expensive light aircraft flight but for those that make the journey it is well worth the effort and expense, you will be rewarded with an incredible and unspoilt part of Africa. Most frequently combined with the Mahale Mountains, home to habituated Chimpanzee’s, these two areas make a superb and very different itinerary.
Liuwa Plains – Zambia
An incredible safari location in the far west of Zambia, an area that came onto my radar while working for Norman Carr Safaris who have constructed the park’s first and only ultra luxury permanent camp. This incredible safari destination has two annual floods which prevent travel and increase the complexities of its inclusion in an itinerary, however, there is not only superb wildlife but also a cultural interest unlike most in Zambia. The Lozi people have been the guardians and protectors of this land for generations and they continue to hold their traditions very dear. This is definitely one for the safari connoisseur looking to get off the beaten track, with only a high end camp and a couple of mobile safaris per year the numbers of people able to stay in this wilderness are limited.
Gonarezhou – Zimbabwe
In a very out of the way corner of what has been a very out of the way country is the superb Gonerazhou, possibly Zimbabwe’s last completely untouched wilderness area. With only two operators in this rugged landscape you are guaranteed to feel like you are the only people on the planet when walking or driving in this part of Africa. Stay in a remote lodge or get adventurous and fly camp under the African Stars for an experience that you will never forget. For me, and for other safari enthusiasts, this is a dream place to explore a pristine environment with expert guides and prehistoric scenery.
Tswalu – Kalahari – South Africa
An arid and scenic landscape this is an entirely private reserve in South Africa and is on the list not for the stunning accommodation with superb service and cuisine but for the desert adapted and unusual species that are to be found here and the truly wild space that is seldom found in South Africa. Top of my wish list for species that I would like to even have the chance of seeing are Pangolin and Aardvark, both of which call Tswalu home and are more regularly seen here than almost anywhere else in Africa. Add to this Meerkats, Aarwolf, Wild Dog and Black Maned Lions and this makes for a really special wildlife area. Conservation and protection are key and as well as a number of great safari activities you have the opportunity to spend time with researchers seeing real Kalahari Conservation in action.
Mashatu Game Reserve – Tuli Block – Botswana
For my own photography and the opportunity to get close to amazing big game without anyone else around Mashatu Game Reserve in the East of Botswana has to be one of the top places on my bucket list. This reserve has incredibly productive waterholes for elephants and big cats, so with a bit of patience and a desire to capture some incredible images this is a must. It also ticks the required boxes of having few visitors and being a bit of journey to reach! There are only three properties on the reserve, all operated by Mashatu and all offering something different, from the main lodge to a tented camp to the new luxury but eco sensitive villas.