Africa Travel Information

A safari to Africa, especially a first time visit, is never complete without viewing African wild animals in their natural habitat – the national parks and game reserves.  There are hundreds of wildlife reserves in Africa, each of which offers a unique safari experience.  Any pick of the top five is therefore a subjective judgement. In my opinion however, there are some reserves that stand out from the crowd, and provide an excellent game watching experience. These are South Africa’s Kruger national park, Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya, Zambia’s South Luangwa national park, Selous game reserve in Tanzania, and Etosha national park in Namibia.

1. Kruger National Park – South Africa
Perhaps this game reserve needs no introduction. Some of the most amazing African wildlife videos and pictures come from Kruger, for example the pictures of a leopard killing a crocodile and the battle at kruger video (below).
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Africa is home to some of the world’s most popular wildlife, including the famous “big five”. Since wildlife safaris are among the top Africa holidayactivities, you may find it helpful to know some fun facts about these big five animals.

The big five consist of buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhinoceros. They were given this name, not because of their massive sizes, but because of how difficult and dangerous it was to hunt them down. In the earlier days when there were less restrictions on hunting, big game hunters considered it a great achievement to capture or kill one of these animals.

African Cape Buffalo

The huge upcurving horns give the African buffalo a real dangerous look

The African cape buffalo is a big and very intimidating cow-like animal with a dark-skin almost black in color. These ill-tempered animals are reputed to have killed so many trophy hunters, more than other animals did, hence their inclusion in the big five. During your safari in Africa, you will see large herds of buffaloes (as many as 2000 members) in the top game reserves in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Occasionally however, you may spot a solitary buffalo bull, an extremely dangerous and ill-tempered animal, especially if it is wounded.

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Namibia's fish river canyon: great trekking destination

Among all popular travel destinations in the world, Africa is most renowned for the “safari” concept. The idea of an African safari is almost inseparable from game (wildlife) viewing and birdwatching. This is undoubtedly the reason why Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania are favored by most people wishing to travel to Africa. Outside these wildlife safari destinations, the other top places in Africa travel are Egypt – because of its many historical sites, and the Seychelles and Mauritius Islands – being ideally suited for luxury vacations in their exotic beaches.

What many people do not know is that there are many other African countries that offer travelers a safari experience as good as (and in some cases even better than) that in the countries mentioned above. Read the rest of this entry »