You can see the Big 5 animals on an African safari in all these countries and more, like Tanzania and Kenya. But some destinations are better than others for viewing certain African safari animals.
If you want to see rhinoceros, your chances are best at one of the game reserves in South Africa, as the country is home to 80% of the world’s remaining rhinos.
Want to see huge herds of elephants?
Then Chobe National Park in Botswana is a sure bet. The park is home to the largest populations of elephants in the African continent.
On our Chobe safari, we saw elephants giving themselves dust baths, bathing in the river, yanking grass out of the water with their trunks to eat, spraying each with water – and we heard them trumpeting too.
Like Sabi Sands, South Luangwa National Park in Zambia is also a good place for spotting leopards. Try a walking safari too (they were pioneered there).
The Masai Mara, one of Africa’s most famous national reserves, is renowned for seeing lions on the hunt for wildebeest during the wildebeest migration from August to November.