Journeys
Planning a safari
A safari is shaped by a few decisions made early: which country and which season, how many camps, how you move between them, and what the people travelling want from their days.
For a family, the camp matters as much as the place. A camp that offers both walking and game drives lets the energetic and the less energetic split up, so nobody's day is planned around somebody else's.
The journeys below are places to start. None of them is a package. Each is the outline of a conversation.
When to go
Each camp keeps its own season, and its page gives it. Two moments set many safaris: the Great Migration’s calving season in the southern Serengeti usually runs from late January to March, and the Mara River crossings from July to October.
Where to go, month by month sets the seasons side by side, with the dates in 2027 worth planning around.
Camps and lodges I know in Africa
Al Moudira Hotel, Anantara Stanley & Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel, Birkenhead House, Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, Cheetah Plains, Chobe Safari Lodge, Delaire Graff Estate, Duba Plains Camp, Eagle Island Lodge, A Belmond Safari, Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza, Giraffe Manor, Heure Bleue Palais, Hôtel Le Doge, Jack's Camp, Kisawa Sanctuary, La Maison Bleue, La Mamounia, La Residence, La Villa des Orangers, Laragai House, Linkwasha Camp, Lion Camp, Londolozi, Matetsi Victoria Falls, Melote House, Morukuru Family Madikwe, Muzimu Lodge, Mweya Safari Lodge, Namiri Plains, No.5 Boutique Hotel, Nyungwe Tea Forest Resort by Rare Finds, One&Only Cape Town, Paraa Safari Lodge, Riad Fès, Royal Chundu, Royal Malewane, Royal Zambezi Lodge, Savute Elephant Lodge, A Belmond Safari, Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa, Sayari Camp, Selinda Camp, Silverback Lodge, Singita Boulders Lodge, Singita Kwitonda Lodge, The Silo Hotel, Victoria Falls River Lodge, Xanadu Villas & Retreat, Xigera Safari Lodge, Zannier Omaanda, Zannier Sonop, Zarafa Camp, andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas, andBeyond Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp, andBeyond Sandibe & Nxabega Under Canvas, andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, andBeyond Xaranna Okavango Delta Lodge.
With children
Some camps set a minimum age, and some have family suites or a programme for children. The ones that say so are under For Families.
The camps and lodges, with the best time each page gives
Duba Plains Camp, Duba Concession, Okavango Delta, Botswana (best time on its page: Year-round for wildlife; water activities depend on the flood levels): Duba Plains Camp belongs to Great Plains Conservation and stands in the private Duba Concession, a reserve of 33,000 hectares in the heart of the Okavango Delta.
Eagle Island Lodge, A Belmond Safari, Okavango Delta, Botswana (best time on its page: Jun to Oct): Eagle Island Lodge sits on Xaxaba, a small island in the Okavango Delta, the UNESCO-listed inland water system of northern Botswana.
Jack's Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana (best time on its page: Nov to Mar): Jack Bousfield founded Jack's Camp in the 1960s on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans, one of the largest salt-pan systems on earth, and his son Ralph later gave it the 1940s safari style for which it became known.
Savute Elephant Lodge, A Belmond Safari, Savute, Chobe National Park, Botswana (best time on its page: Jun to Oct): Savute Elephant Lodge looks out over the Savute Channel in the Chobe National Park, a stretch of northern Botswana known for its elephants.
Selinda Camp, Selinda Reserve, Linyanti, Botswana (best time on its page: Year-round; water activities depend on the levels in the Spillway): Selinda Camp belongs to Great Plains Conservation and stands inside the private Selinda Reserve in northern Botswana, on the bank where the Selinda Spillway runs into the Linyanti River, an area the company calls one of the most untouched wildernesses left.
Xigera Safari Lodge, Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta, Botswana (best time on its page: Jun to Oct): Xigera, said 'Kee-jera', stands under a canopy of indigenous trees in the Moremi Game Reserve, deep in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
Zarafa Camp, Zibadianja Lagoon, Selinda Reserve, Botswana: Zarafa Camp, run by Great Plains Conservation, overlooks the Zibadianja Lagoon in the Selinda Reserve, which links the Okavango Delta with the Linyanti waterways; the lagoon is the source of the Savuti Channel.
andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas, Chobe National Park, Botswana (best time on its page: May to Oct): andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas is a semi-permanent camp in the north of Chobe National Park, Botswana's first national park, near the Chobe River and home to some of the largest elephant herds in Africa.
andBeyond Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana (best time on its page: May to Oct; mokoro May to Sep): andBeyond Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp lies in a private concession of 25,000 hectares (61,775 acres) on the edge of the Moremi Game Reserve, and it shows guests the Delta by water as well as by land.
andBeyond Sandibe & Nxabega Under Canvas, Okavango Delta, Botswana (best time on its page: May to Oct): Opened in March 2026, andBeyond Sandibe Under Canvas and andBeyond Nxabega Under Canvas bring the closeness of a small canvas camp to two of the company's private Okavango concessions: Sandibe, at 22,500 hectares, and Nxabega, at 25,000 hectares, both bordering the Moremi Game Reserve.
andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, Okavango Delta, Botswana (best time on its page: May to Oct): andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge stands in a private concession of 22,500 hectares (55,600 acres) on the edge of the Moremi Game Reserve, with sole traversing rights across it.
andBeyond Xaranna Okavango Delta Lodge, Okavango Delta, Botswana: andBeyond Xaranna Okavango Delta Lodge, formerly a tented camp, is closed for a major refurbishment, and as of September 2026 andBeyond had not published a reopening date.
Muzimu Lodge, Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique (best time on its page: Check with the park; seasons not stated on the lodge page): Muzimu Lodge stands on the banks of the Mussicadzi River inside Gorongosa National Park, a wilderness of some 4,000 square kilometres at the southern end of Africa's Great Rift Valley in central Mozambique.
Zannier Omaanda, Near Windhoek, Namibia (best time on its page: May to Oct): Zannier Omaanda lies about 30 minutes' drive from Windhoek, inside a private reserve of 22,000 acres of bushveld, open plains and acacia.
Zannier Sonop, Hardap, Namib Desert, Namibia (best time on its page: Apr to Sep): Zannier Sonop stands on granite boulders in the remote Hardap region of southern Namibia, on the edge of the NamibRand Nature Reserve, one of the largest private conservation areas in southern Africa, within 13,800 acres of its own desert.
Singita Kwitonda Lodge, Kinigi, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda (best time on its page: Jun to Sep; Dec to Feb): Singita Kwitonda Lodge stands on the edge of Volcanoes National Park in northern Rwanda, sharing a 1.2-kilometre boundary with the park and less than 10 minutes from the headquarters where gorilla treks begin.
Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa (best time on its page: Nov to Mar): Cape Grace stands on its own quay at the V&A Waterfront, between the working harbour and the yacht marina, with Table Mountain rising behind.
Cheetah Plains, Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa (best time on its page: May to Oct): Cheetah Plains sits inside the Sabi Sand, the private reserve that shares an unfenced border with Kruger National Park to the east and is known above all for leopard and Big Five sightings.
Delaire Graff Estate, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa (best time on its page: Oct to Apr): Delaire Graff sits at the top of the Helshoogte Pass above Stellenbosch, looking down the Banhoek Valley towards the Simonsberg and, on a clear day, Table Mountain.
Londolozi, Sabi Sand, Greater Kruger, South Africa (best time on its page: May to Oct): Londolozi began in 1926, when Charles Boyd-Varty bought worn-out cattle land west of the Kruger, and in 2026 the Varty family marks a century on this bend of the Sand River in the Sabi Sand.
Melote House, Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, Waterberg, Limpopo, South Africa: Melote House is the private house of Lepogo Lodges in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, a stretch of the Waterberg reclaimed from farmland and rewilded.
Morukuru Family Madikwe, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa (best time on its page: December to April for birdwatchers and photographers): Morukuru Family has three houses in the Madikwe Game Reserve, a malaria-free Big Five reserve of 75,000 hectares in South Africa, and each house is taken by one party at a time.
One&Only Cape Town, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa (best time on its page: Nov to Mar): One&Only Cape Town stands at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, with Table Mountain filling the view from much of the resort.
Royal Malewane, Thornybush, Greater Kruger, South Africa (best time on its page: May to Aug for game viewing): Royal Malewane is The Royal Portfolio's safari property in the Thornybush Private Nature Reserve, part of the unfenced wilderness of the Greater Kruger.
Safari journeys on the site
Botswana, Four Camps by Air: The Makgadikgadi Pans, Savute and the Okavango Delta, with a helicopter over the Delta. 12 nights, Botswana.
Botswana Safari and Stellenbosch Wine: Seven nights in the wild reserves of northern Botswana, then four among the vineyards of Stellenbosch. 11 nights, Botswana, South Africa.
Botswana, Three Private Reserves: The Selinda, Duba Plains and Moremi: three nights in each. Nine nights, Botswana.
Delta to the Indian Ocean: Six nights in Botswana's wild north, then five on a Mozambique island. 12 nights, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique.
Cape Town, the Sabi Sand, the Falls and the Delta: A city on the water, a private reserve beside the Kruger, the Zambezi and the Okavango. 11 nights, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana.
Cape Town, the Winelands, Walker Bay and the Kruger: Art above the harbour, a valley of vineyards, the whale coast and the bushveld. 10 nights, South Africa.
India's Tiger Parks: Two of India's great tiger reserves, linked by private jet from Delhi. Nine nights, India.
The Kalahari Pans and the Delta: Three nights on the salt pans with the meerkats, three in the waterways of Moremi. Six nights, Botswana.
Madikwe, Johannesburg and Madagascar: Four nights on safari in Madikwe, one in Johannesburg, then a week by the Indian Ocean in Madagascar. 12 nights, South Africa, Madagascar.
Namibia, Savannah and Desert: Two nights near Windhoek, then three on granite boulders in the Namib. Five nights, Namibia.
The Sabi Sand, Gorongosa and Benguerra: Leopards on the Sand River, a park brought back to life, and five nights on an island. 12 nights, South Africa, Mozambique.
South Luangwa and the Lower Zambezi: The home of the walking safari, then the river. Eight nights, Zambia.
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When you’re ready