Africa: For Those Who Never Stop Discovering

For many travellers, their first safari inspires them to return to Africa again and again – and every visit to the continent can be completely different from the last.

Trekking to mountain gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda, horseback safaris, hot-air balloon flights and a night in the world’s oldest desert, river cruises and beach holidays, rafting and climbing snow-capped peaks, train journeys across the continent, whale watching, coffee and wine tours, flights over waterfalls and remote lakes, golf and wellness, ancient rock art and contemporary African art, stunning city architecture and more than a hundred UNESCO sites. You could explore Africa for years and still not know it fully.

Alongside famous national parks such as the Serengeti and Kruger, you can visit less-trodden ones, such as Liwonde National Park in Malawi. Elephants, zebras and antelopes gather along the Shire River, while hippos escape the heat in the water, and the birdlife is remarkable. The park offers classic and walking safaris and helicopter tours, but the most popular way to explore it is by boat.

And while Tanzania and Kenya are associated with the Great Migration, South Africa is famous for the Sardine Run (the next one takes place from 7 June to 31 July 2027), when millions of fish, sharks, whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds become part of one of nature’s greatest spectacles.

If boat safaris appeal, plan a trip through the Okavango Delta, along the Chobe and Zambezi rivers, on Kenya’s Lake Naivasha or on Lake Malawi with its sandy beaches and forests full of monkeys and colourful birds. And once you have seen Victoria Falls, visit other waterfalls too: Kalambo on the Zambia-Tanzania border, Epupa between Angola and Namibia, Sipi among Uganda’s coffee plantations or Tugela in KwaZulu-Natal, the second-highest waterfall in the world.

Elephants

If elephants are what you most want to see on safari, consider Botswana, home to the world’s largest population. Most of them – around 120,000 – live in Chobe National Park, also known for its many lion prides and incredible birdlife. Encounters with these giants and other members of the Big Five are also frequent in the Okavango Delta.

In Kenya, the best place to see elephants is Amboseli National Park, where you can photograph them against the distant backdrop of Kilimanjaro. Here you can also take a balloon flight, go horse riding or join a walking safari with Maasai guides. The park is home to a huge variety of mammals: from the classic Big Five, giraffes, zebras and antelopes to mongooses, galagos, pangolins, porcupines, warthogs and other less conspicuous but equally fascinating species.

In South Africa, besides Kruger National Park, take a look at Addo Elephant National Park, which offers the Big Five as well as southern right whales and great white sharks. Just 1.5 hours’ drive from Cape Town, it allows for comfortable, unhurried yet rich itineraries that include Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Penguin Beach, cage diving with great whites, museums and art galleries. In Zambia, the birthplace of the walking safari, visit Lower Zambezi and South Luangwa national parks.

AmaWaterways offers fascinating 16-day “Wonders of Africa and the Skeleton Coast” journeys in 2027 and 2028. From Johannesburg you will travel to Botswana to begin a cruise on the Chobe River aboard the Zambezi Queen. On the fourth day of the river safari you will visit Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side. Then you will fly to Windhoek and on to the NamibRand Nature Reserve to see the landscapes of Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, the icons of Namibia. From Swakopmund you will take a catamaran out to sea to see seals, dolphins and, in season, whales. The journey ends with a safari in Etosha National Park, home to elephants, lions, leopards and rhinos, and a visit to the Himba people.

Golf

South Africa is a traditional golf destination: the British opened the first golf club here as early as 1885. It is in Cape Town and is known today as the Royal Cape Golf Club. In 1903 the country held one of the world’s first national golf championships. Today there are around 500 courses, many designed by South African multiple champion Gary Player. Four of them are at the Fancourt resort on the Garden Route at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains. Atlantic Beach Golf Course offers views of Table Mountain, and Durban Country Club, which has hosted the African Open 17 times, impresses with Indian Ocean panoramas. Several courses lie close to Kruger National Park.

There are golf courses in almost every African country. Elephant Hills Resort in Zimbabwe lets you combine a safari, a visit to Victoria Falls and a round on an 18-hole Gary Player course. In Kenya, the PGA-accredited 18-hole Baobab Golf Course is part of the Vipingo Ridge estate, where zebras, giraffes and antelopes roam freely and keep you company during your game, close to the Indian Ocean. Kigali Golf Resort & Villas suits golfers who want to see mountain gorillas, as Virunga National Park is within easy reach.

Beaches

For those who want to combine a safari with a beach holiday, Tanzania and Zanzibar make a perfect pair. In 2027 the ultra-luxurious ananea Baron Zanzibar is due to open on the east coast of the main island, within easy reach of Stone Town, Mnemba Atoll and the spice farms, with its own beach, a vast botanical spice garden and forest, a spacious spa and separate family and adults-only areas. In South Africa, Club Med in KwaZulu-Natal offers a combination of beach and safari.

Mozambique is much less explored by tourists. It has seven national parks and landscapes ranging from savannah to the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean. In Gorongosa National Park you can see lions, leopards and elephants on game drives and hippos on boat trips, and visit a pangolin rehabilitation centre. Tofo Beach is one of Africa’s best places to swim with whale sharks and manta rays (all year round), and from June to November you can watch humpback whales.

A trip to Mozambique combines easily with South Africa: see the Futi migration corridor, along which elephants move safely between Maputo and Tembe national parks, sail a dhow in the waters of the Bazaruto Archipelago and spend a few days at Anantara Bazaruto Island, watching humpback whales and dugongs, climbing dunes, flying by helicopter and riding horses.

Six hours from Mozambique lies Madagascar, the kingdom of lemurs, chameleons, baobabs and “stone forests”, as well as stunning beaches. At the boutique hotel Voaara Madagascar you can enjoy a secluded beach holiday, surfing and, in season, whale watching.

Gourmet tours

When we talk about African wine, we usually mean South Africa. But winemaking also thrives in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, in Kenya, where the main wine region is Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley, and in Zimbabwe, where grapes are grown in the Eastern Highlands on the border with Mozambique. Wine tours can add another chapter to a journey through these countries.

Kenya and Uganda are among the world’s leading coffee producers. As early as the 1930s, the British opened a laboratory near Nairobi to breed coffee varieties ideally suited to Kenya’s soils and climate. Most plantations lie on the slopes of Mount Kenya, and the coffee is known for its bright winey acidity and fruity notes.

Uganda is Africa’s second-largest coffee producer, and here too coffee was introduced by the British. Plantations spread across the Rwenzori Mountains, around Mount Elgon and near Lake Victoria. The highlands bring big differences between day and night temperatures, giving the coffee a richer flavour, and two rainy seasons ensure good harvests. Coffee tours are also available in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia, with plantation walks, tastings and an introduction to coffee grading. And journeys devoted to cocoa and chocolate are possible in Côte d’Ivoire and Madagascar.

Dreaming of a new journey to Africa? Our travel consultants will design a safari around your interests – from river safaris and golf to beach holidays and gourmet tours.