How To Choose A Luxury African Safari

By Author: Steve Houston
Total Articles: 2
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Luxury African Safari--The Beginning

I went on my first African safari more than 30 years ago, spending five unforgettable days under canvas in Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve. Like most first-time visitors to Africa, I sat beside the fire in the darkness listening to the lions roar and felt myself succumb to the atavistic allure of the wild. And at dawn, I would head out with my guide to discover a world magically made new, teeming with life, the terrors of the night dispelled. By the time I boarded the international flight in Nairobi, I was hooked.

Back then, most safari travelers found their way to East Africa. Southern Africa was still in the grip of apartheid and the regional conflicts it provoked. And inspiration for Americans was still provided by Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909 Kenyan expedition and Ernest Hemingway’s "Green Hills of Africa," published in 1935. Indeed, until the 1980s, the ethos of luxury African safari derived from such prewar hunting trips in pursuit of the so-called "Big Five" (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo). Most lodges were middle-market, and luxury meant a private ...
... tented camp erected on your behalf by one of the famous outfitters such as Ker & Downey. The point of such "luxury" African safaris was total immersion in the sights and sounds of the wild, with simple bathroom arrangements and the occasional frisson of fear being accepted parts of the experience.

Luxury African Safari--The Changing Landscape

Of course, it is still possible to camp on the East African plains, or amid the epic landscape of Kenya’s Northern Frontier District. And nowadays, the tents erected by companies such as Abercrombie & Kent are a great deal more comfortable and sophisticated. Personally, I think that a private tented camp in the southern Serengeti is still the best way to see Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacle: the migration of the wildebeest and the birth of their young in January and February each year. But times have changed: Many luxury African safari lodges now provide levels of comfort equivalent to those at a top five-star resort.

The event that revolutionized the nature of safari travel was the election in April 1994 of Nelson Mandela as president of a post-apartheid South Africa. Peace abruptly broke out in places such as Namibia and Mozambique, and the South Africans themselves were suddenly liberated from the shackles of economic sanctions. Private game areas adjacent to vast Kruger National Park (and just 75 minutes by air from Johannesburg) could be developed with a minimum of bureaucratic delay. As a result, pioneering lodges such as Londolozi and MalaMala were soon joined by places like Singita and Royal Malewane, and the modern luxury African safari was born. Such places now offer air-conditioned suites with private plunge pools, baths equipped with walk-in power showers, gourmet cuisine, climate-controlled wine cellars and even spas and gymnasiums.

Luxury African Safari--The Present

Today, arguably the most important question that any prospective safari traveler can ask is, "Just how comfortable do I want to be?" Specifically, "Do I want air-conditioning, or do I prefer to lie in bed listening to the lions, the hyenas and the grunt of hippo in a nearby lagoon?" Although opulent lodges can now be found throughout East and Southern Africa, the most lavish are still in South Africa. Generally, these are surrounded by intensively managed reserves, which are either wholly or partly fenced. In contrast, the game areas of Botswana, Namibia and Zambia tend to be vast areas of wilderness that have changed relatively little since Europeans first saw them 150 years ago.

In my view, for a first safari it is sensible to opt for a "resort" lodge such as Singita. You will certainly not be unhappy, and even if you discover that being bounced about in a Land Rover or mock-charged by an elephant is not your idea of fun, you will still be able to swim, lie in the sun and eat delicious food. However, if after three or four days you find that you have been bitten by the African bug, on a return trip you can opt for somewhere a little more adventurous.

The ideal location for a second safari is Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Here, the upscale camps such as Mombo, Abu Camp and Sanctuary Chief’s Camp are extremely comfortable, with spacious and attractive accommodations, but they feel much closer to nature. Permanent structures are not permitted in the Okavango, so wood and canvas are the customary building materials. Okavango camps are not air-conditioned, and communication with the outside world is usually difficult or impossible. The compensation is the excitement of being somewhere truly wild, where vast herds still roam over great distances unimpeded by fences and oblivious to the modern world. Here, you will be surrounded by a primeval Africa that has scarcely changed in the past 20,000 years.

Where to See Animals on your Luxury African Safari

Lion

Although Africa’s lion population has declined from 100,000 to 20,000 in the past two decades, the continent’s top predators are still present in most major game areas. Lion are frequently encountered in large prides and spend most of the day asleep in the shade of trees, making no effort to conceal themselves or to run away. Nowadays, most upscale lodges and camps make use of radios, so once a pride has been located, the guide will notify his colleagues. This means that in places such as South Africa’s Sabi Sand reserve, finding a lion is virtually guaranteed. Seeing lions hunt or kill is extremely unusual, however, and some people, accustomed to TV wildlife specials that took years to film, go home bitterly disappointed. The most spectacular of Africa’s lions are the black-maned males in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti also has huge prides, up to 25 strong, whereas in more arid areas, lions tend to form much smaller groups or to live solitary existences. (To find out more about the plight of
Africa’s lions, click here.)
Leopard

Arguably the most beautiful and alluring of all the cats  —  and my own

personal favorite  —  leopard are often very elusive. Largely nocturnal, they are shy and hide in thick vegetation during the day. In a few places, however, leopard have become habituated to humans and are routinely seen in daylight. This is especially the case in Sabi Sand, where both Londolozi and Singita are famous for their frequent sightings. In Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, night drives are permitted, and it is possible
to find leopard with a spotlight. (Sanctuary Puku Ridge Camp is the Harper-recommended property nearby.) However, my own best leopard sightings have been at Mombo in the Okavango Delta, where one morning I saw five individuals, including a female, killing an impala in broad daylight on the camp’s airstrip!

Cheetah

Perhaps 15,000 cheetah remain in the wild, with the largest single population (2,500) being in Namibia. There, visitors to Etosha National Park have a good chance of a sighting, though cheetah tend to be elusive if there are lion in the vicinity. (The Harper-recommended property close to Etosha is Little Ongava camp.) However, nothing quite compares with finding cheetah on the immense grass plains of East Africa, in Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve or Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Elephant

Despite a recent increase in ivory poaching, elephant are still present in most major African game areas. The greatest concentrations are found in Botswana’s Chobe National Park, where around 50,000 elephant congregate on the banks of the Chobe River during the May-October dry season. During the rainy months, the elephant spread out, with some large herds migrating for hundreds of miles. An unusually dense elephant population is also to be found in Addo National Park in the Western Cape province of South Africa. (There, Gorah Elephant Camp is a Harper-recommended property.)

Birds
Botswana’s Okavango Delta is home to nearly 450 recorded bird species. Another birder’s paradise is the Lower Zambezi Valley  —  the river forms the boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe  —  where the profusion of large and colorful species must be seen to be believed. There are few more spectacular sights in nature than a flock of crimson carmine bee-eaters, several thousand strong, congregating above their nest site on the sandy banks of the Zambezi. (Sanctuary Zambezi Kulefu Camp is the Harper-recommended property nearby.)

This article was written by Andrew Harper for the February 2012 Hideaway Report. Free of advertising since its inception in June 1979, Hideaway Report is a private monthly publication for sophisticated travelers. The selection of hotels, resorts and restaurants for inclusion in this publication is made on a completely independent basis, with Andrew Harper LLC paying full rate for all meals, lodging and related travel expenses. Andrew Harper and his editors travel incognito to write candid and unbiased travel reviews for a private membership service, which provides personalized travel-planning assistance, bespoke tours and valuable travel privileges to its members. For more information about luxury African safaris and other travel experiences, visit AndrewHarper.com.