20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fun and educational everything I would want from a safari
Whilst it’s hard to find a bad resort in the Sabi Sands, Loin sands is one of the best middle of the road resorts I have stayed at. (When I say middle of the road keep in mind you can speed £2000 + a night at some of the resorts)
The resort it’s self is to a very high standard and it’s the little things that make the difference, for example staff address you my name within the first few hours and remember you name throughout your stay. Makes you feel special. After the evening game drive you return to your room to find a warm bath has been run and a glass of sherry waits you before dinner.
The game at loin sands can be a bit hit and miss depending on the session and its location, but you will still see plenty more than if you were anywhere else. On the game drives the rangers are very knowledgeable and the resorts are very good at taking it in turns to see the animals, so you are never sat there with a hundred other game vehicles. The drives are done in such a way that you always feel that you have just found the animal whilst knowing full well the ranger has been driving around for 5 minutes waiting their turn.
The resort itself will leave you wanting for nothing, the food and drink is excellent and plentiful. We drank them out of Savannah so the next day they sent some poor sole on a good 4 hour drive to ensure that we had for the next evenings sun downers.
As a wildlife photographer this is an ideal place to get some really nice shots, the rangers are always happy to reposition the vehicle so you can get the shot you want and will get as close to the animals as you and the animals are comfortable with.
For anyone that has not been on a safari before Lion Sand will deliver some excellent game spotting, but I would recommend as you have gone all that way to spend some time in the Kruger national park that borders the Sabi Sands and is about 2 hours from Lion sands, to truly appreciate the wildlife. You will be spoilt at Lion Sands no driving around for 4 hours seeing nothing but bush. (though nothing is guaranteed the animals are wild after all.)
I have been fortunate to stay in a few places in the Sabi sands and Lion Sands is defiantly one of my favourites.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about South Africa by alex_griffiths
South Africa is one of the worlds greatest places to see wildlife that is turly wild. To me it is the true bush.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Moremi Game Reserve by Chris
The Moremi experience is really out there in the wild. With roads only navigable with a real 4x4 vehicle, you fully immerse yourself into the hands of nature.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An unhindered drive into old school bush alive with vibrant tranquility and long sunset horizons.
I drove in unguided with a 4x4 with the complete feeling of discovery and calmness as a privileged part of nature in Nxai Pan. Once inside, there is really nothing beyond the ablution block in the camp to signify man's comforts and trespass upon the wild. Respect for the environment means a novel observational experience like you might have seen 50 years ago, in that there are no tarred roads or fences around hutted camps.
As a photographer, you have unique accessibility to clear fields of view, especially by the water holes, where a sensible proximity to elephants is possible. This increases the feeling of being part of nature and builds a great sense of regard. The open areas allowed me to track a Lion walking for more than a mile and get an awesome sequence of shots.
The camp ground is literally a space for tents and vehicles, with the provision of a water supply and toilet/shower facilities. Walking amongst the trees there reveals many other often overlooked species, particularly birds and insects, heightened with the exciting reality that you are in wild country without a perimeter to keep animals out.
This part of Botswana really does offer some fantastic sunset scenes with long shadows and deep colours as the dust dances in the air.
A thoroughly recommendable trip with a difference, impossible to match in South Africa.
Review about Namib-Naukluft National Park by ninoximages
Wildlife: Not a great diversity of game, or big numbers, but seeing Gemsbok, Ostrich and Sprinbok in stunning desert scenery was a major highlight.
Scenic beauty: Absolutely unique – wonderful mix of dunefields, rocky outcrops and dry riverbeds with massive acacias. The freedom to move between selected campsites on a self-drive safari was great.
Bush vibe: This park had more of a wilderness vibe that a bush vibe.
Birding: Birding around some of the waterholes (e.g. Ganab) was excellent in the mornings – Sand Grouse and very large groups of Ostrich in these areas.
Fantastic Okavango-style wilderness with fewer tourists
I visited Mudumu NP several times between August-September in 2002 as part of a larger self-drive safari through Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. We found Mudumu to be relatively small but with many rewards in terms of scenery, large numbers of Elephant, good viewings of small groups of other game (Kudu, Buffalo, Baboons etc) and excellent bird watching. A huge plus for our group was that there were relatively few tourists – meaning the park could be explored in a leisurely fashion. The landscape is certainly very Okavango-like with numerous small waterways and the beautiful Kwando River, as well as many vegetated anthills. At the time we visited the road network into the northern section of the park was poorly-developed. This wasn’t a major problem as most of the action was along the river. The weather was perfect for safaris in July-August. One discomfort was the presence of tsetse fly in parts of the park. Overall, a very rewarding place to visit if you are prepared to go a little off the track.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Botswana by Chris
Botswana remains quite untouched like other more accessible parts of Africa. The Okovango really is special and unique and the true old school safari takes you into another sense of time. Large elephant herds are common and the concentration of game generally surpasses those seen in other parts of Southern Africa.
East Africa is special in its own way, but is spoilt by higher costs and mandatory chaperoning.
Review about Namibia by ninoximages
Wildlife: Seeing huge herds of Elephant (over 300 strong) on the move through open grassland was a real highlight. At the time we visited there were only small groups of other game, but these were very rewarding viewings.
Scenic beauty: Beautiful grassland, ant mounds, the clear Kwando River and sunsets are all to be highly recommended.
Bush vibe: Highly recommended on this basis. The camping along the river really puts you amongst the game. A lot of the best viewing is right from the camping areas. The relative lack of tourists also creates a real bush vibe.
Birding: Great bird watching in general – numerous species (possibly due to such a diversity of habitats in a small area). Highlights from our trip include different species of bee-eaters, Malachite Kingfishers, Fish Eagles, Bateleur Eagles and many types of waterbirds.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Bob Gunderson
Great diversity of animal and bird life.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Serengeti National Park by Bob Gunderson
The Serengeti should rate high in everyone's safari agenda. Its vastness and and animal population make it one of my favorite safari destinations.