World's Best Safaris
Planning a safari in 2017? Well, take a look at the world’s best game reserves on the following pages.
From the Maasai Mara in East Africa, where July is the best time to visit, when thousands of wildebeest migrate across the crocodile infested Mara River to the Kruger National Park in South Africa, which hosts an amazing diversity of wildlife across a number of environments. Go off the beaten track and consider Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe or Okavango Delta in Botswana. Thinking outside of Africa? Try spotting one of India’s elusive tigers in either the Jim Corbett or Bandhavgarh National Parks.
1 Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya
Maasai Mara National Reserve is located in the south west of Kenya and west of the capital Nairobi. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is each year visited by thousands of tourists, who come to watch the many different wildlife and birdlife species in the reserve. The reserve is especially famous for the high amount of predators, such as lions and cheetah, and the 1.5 million wildebeest that migrate through the Mara and cross the crocodile infested Mara River.
2 Kafue National Park, Zambia
Kafue National Park is in the Kafue River Basin of Zambia. It is approx. 22,400 square km and is one of the largest parks in the world. Kafue is extremely rich in animal life. Hippo abound in the rivers with good sightings of huge crocodiles. Many species of birds, large and small are abundant. Elephant are on the comeback after extensive poaching and are frequently seen along the riverbanks and even venture into the camps and lodges. www.zambiatourism.com
3 Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
Moremi Game Reserve is in Botswana. It rests on the eastern side of the Okavango Delta. The Moremi Game Reserve, although not one of the largest parks, presents insights and views even for the most experienced of travellers. It is home to nearly 500 species of bird (from water birds to forest dwellers), and a vast array of other species of wildlife, including buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, jackal, impala and red lechwe. www.moremigamereserve.com
4 Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Serengeti National Park is a large conservation area located in the north of Tanzania. The park flows over into neighbouring Kenya where it’s known as the Maasai Mara. The park is but one of several conservation areas within the Serengeti region of East Africa, though a vitally important one. As well as conserving wildlife, flora and iconic landscapes, Serengeti National Park has emerged as a major tourist destination. www.serengeti.org
5 Chobe National Park, Botswana
The Chobe National Park is located in the northwest corner of Botswana, near the borders to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia and is famous for its vast variety of wildlife. It attracts thousands of visitors every year due to its fame as one of the largest game concentrations in the country. This wildlife sanctuary also boasts the largest elephant population in Africa. www.chobenationalpark.co.za
6 Jim Corbett National Park, India
Jim Corbett National Park is in the State of Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan North region of India. The park is open to visitors from mid-September to mid-June. Once inside the park, one gets to enjoy a spectacular panorama of the jungle, reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. Apart from this, one can see, observe and photograph several species of birds, mammals, reptiles and flora. The Jim Corbett National Park has been the hot favourite getaway for tourists, wildlife fans and adventure seekers for many years. www.corbettnationalpark.in
7 Madidi National Park, Bolivia
Madidi National Park is in the northwest of the La Paz region of Bolivia. Madidi is one of the most biologically diverse protected areas on the planet. The park is home to over 1,000 bird species, representing a whopping 11% of the world’s 9,000 bird species. Madidi contains large populations of Latin America’s most charismatic wildlife species…
jaguar, spectacled bear, maned wolf, Vicuña, giant otter, Andean condor and military macaw, among others. A newly discovered monkey species lives in Madidi and nowhere else. www.bolivianlife.com/madidinational-park
8 Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a park in northwestern Tanzania. It contains an old volcano that has collapsed and formed a crater (caldera). The steep sides of the crater have become a natural enclosure for a wide variety of wildlife. Lions are in the highest density in the world inside the crater, so there is a good chance of seeing them. There are herds of wildebeest, zebra a lot of buffalo and Grants’ gazelles too. www.ngorongorocrater.org
9 Kruger National Park, South Africa
The Kruger National Park lies in the northeast region of South Africa and runs along the border of Mozambique in the east, Zimbabwe in the north, with the southern border being the Crocodile River. The park covers 20,000 square kilometres and is divided in to 14 different eco-zones, each supporting different wildlife. It is one of the main attractions in South Africa and it is considered the flagship of South African National Parks. www.krugerpark.co.za
10 Okavango Delta, Botswana
The Okavango Delta is both a permanent and seasonal home to a wide variety of wildlife and is now a popular tourist attraction. Species include African Bush Elephant, African Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Lechwe, Tsessebe, Sitatunga, Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe, Nile crocodile, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Brown Hyena, Spotted Hyena, Springbok, Greater Kudu, Sable Antelope, Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Plains Zebra, Warthog and Chacma Baboon. www.okavangodelta.com
11 Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
Hwange National Park is the largest game reserve in Zimbabwe. The park lies in the west, on the main road between Bulawayo and The Victoria Falls. The park hosts 105 mammal species, including 19 large herbivores and eight large carnivores. All of Zimbabwe’s specially protected animals are to be found in Hwange and it is the only protected area where gemsbok and brown hyena occur in reasonable numbers. The population of African wild dogs to be found in Hwange is thought to be of one of the largest surviving groups in Africa today. www.zimparks.org
12 South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
South Luangwa National Park is in eastern Zambia. Called by some as one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world, South Luangwa is one of Zambia’s main tourist drawcards. The park is centred round the Luangwa River and is home to one of Africa’s largest concentrations of wildlife. Thanks to its inaccessible location, South Luangwa manages to combine immense density of wildlife with limited visitor numbers, and it’s also one of the few national parks that allow night safaris. www.zambiatourism.com
13 Bandhavgarh National Park, India
Bandhavgarh National Park is located in the Madhya Pradesh state of India. This park is among the best national parks in India, where Asian tigers can easily be viewed. Although Bandhavgarh is a relatively small park, in the last few years this former game reserve has become one of India’s most prominent National Parks. The main reason for all the interest is Bandhavgarh’s high density of tigers (The Bagh), which roam the mixed forests in search of an easy kill. www.bandhavgarh-national-park.com
14 Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
Yala National Park is the most visited and second largest national park in Sri Lanka. Actually it consists of five blocks, two of which are now open to the public and adjoining parks. It is situated in the southeast region of the country, and lies in the Southern and Uva Provinces. The park is best known for its variety of wild animals. It is important for the conservation of Sri Lankan Elephants and aquatic birds. www.yalasrilanka.lk
15 Amber Mountain National Park, Madagascar
Amber Mountain National Park is a National Park in the Diana Region of northern Madagascar. The park is known for its waterfalls and crater lakes and is located 1,000 km north of the capital, Antananarivo. It is also one of the most biologically diverse places in all of Madagascar…75 species of birds, 25 species of mammals and 59 species of reptiles are known to inhabit the park. www.travelmadagascar.org/parks
16 Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Amboseli National Park is in Kajiado District, Rift Valley Province in Kenya. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have also settled there, attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area one of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with 400 species of birds including water birds, pelicans, kingfishers, crakes and hamerkops. www.amboseli.com
17 Etosha National Park, Namibia
Etosha National Park is the 2nd largest of Namibia’s game reserves. It spans 20,000km2 in Northern Namibia. The park surrounds the Etosha salt-pan, which attracts animals, particularly in the drier winter months, because it is a source of water in a very dry land. Wildlife that can be seen here include rhinos, lions, zebra, giraffes, Gemsbok, Springbok, wildebeest, elephants and jackals. www.etoshanationalpark.org
18 Kanha National Park, India
Situated in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Kanha National Park is one of the most beautiful and well managed of all the national parks in India. It is well known not only by tourists, nature photographers and wildlife lovers but also to the public at large. Tourists throng here to see the magnificent tiger and one of the rarest deer in the world… the Hard Ground Barasingha (Swamp Deer) - also known as the jewel of Kanha national park. Many endangered species have indeed been saved here. www.kanhanationalpark.com
19 Tarangire National Park, Tanzania
Tarangire National Park is a national park in Tanzania. It lies a short distance to the south east of Lake Manyara and covers an area of approximately 2,850 square kilometres. The park is famous for its huge number of elephants, baobab trees and tree climbing lions. Visitors to the park can expect to see any number of resident zebra and wildebeest in addition to the less common animals. Other common animals include waterbuck, giraffe and Olive baboons. www.tanzaniaparks.com/tarangire
20 Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka
Udawalawe National Park lies on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces in Sri Lanka. The park is 165 kilometres from Colombo. Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and Sri Lankan Elephants. It is a popular tourist destination and the third most visited park in the country. Udawalawe is an important habitat for Sri Lankan Elephants, which are relatively easy to see in its open habitats. Many elephants are attracted to the park because of the Udawalawe reservoir, with a herd of about 250 believed to be permanently resident. www.udawalawenationalpark.com