Safaris in Africa are different basing on the diversity of the continent in terms of wildlife, culture, history and adventure.  Majority of African Safari goers are obsessed by wildlife viewing whether it is gorilla tracking in Uganda, experiencing big 5 mammals and watching the wildebeest in Kenya and Tanzania. There’s a variety of wildlife apart from big 5 and primates for those who are keen on seeing giraffes, antelopes, hippos, crocodiles, birds, small cats. The following are the top destinations for safaris in Africa.

Masai Mara National Reserve- Kenya

Masai Mara wildlife reserve is located in southwestern Kenya. It adjoins with Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania and therefore home to abundance of wildlife including big 5 mammals, as well as zebra, giraffe, cheetah, and several species of antelopes. It is particularly well known as the best place to see big 5 and the wildebeest migration. On top of that however another good reason why Maasai Mara is a top safari destination is the unique culture of the Maasai warriors who are known for their cattle, colorful beads and jewelry.

Serengeti National Park – Tanzania

Tanzania’s Serengeti national park has the greatest concentrations of mammals than anywhere else on earth.  It is a top destination for safari in Africa particularly for two reasons, abundance of big five mammals and watching wildebeest migration- the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth.

Serengeti also has a diversity of ecosystems that range from extensive savanna grasslands plains, rivers, rift valley escarpments, which provide home to millions of mammals. The flat terrain especially in the central circuit allows for easy game viewing; from the big 5 to the small antelopes, giraffes, zebras, wild dogs, small cats, to hippos and reptiles to birds of prey. The park which is divided into three safari circuits, the northern circuit is the most popular where big 5 and giraffes are common, the central Serengeti and the western circuit where the wildebeest cross the crocodile infested Grumeti River.

Though the wildebeest migration requires well-arranged itinerary and timing, Serengeti offers superb wildlife all year round with a variety of activities such as game drives, hot air balloon safaris, walking safaris, rhino trekking safaris, birding, river viewing.

Kruger National Park – South Africa

Kruger national park in South Africa is a network of several public and private game reserves covering about 2 million hectares. This huge wilderness area is home to big 5 mammals and a variety of wildlife. The park particularly has large populations of lions, herds of elephants and buffaloes along with small antelopes such as impala. Wildlife viewing here is made easy by the world class facilities including luxury lodges. However, kruger safaris can cater to any visitor needs and budget.

Bwindi impenetrable National Park Uganda

Home to estimated 430 gorillas, roughly half of the world’s mountain gorilla population, Bwindi is the best place in the world to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Bwindi has about 17 gorilla families that have been habituated for tourism thus it’s undeniably a top destination for gorilla tracking safaris.

Gorilla tracking is one of the life changing wildlife experiences. Guides will lead you on foot hiking through the forest searching for gorillas. Once they are found, visitors are allowed to view gorillas for 1 hour. Gorillas may be seen relaxing or feeding and moving which means that guides have to follow them which cane quite challenging but is very a rewarding authentic natural forest trekking experience. Adding a gorilla safari into your wild safari in Africa will make your trip a once in a lifetime experience!

Bwindi is an ancient tropical mountainous rain forest located at the edge of the Albertine rift valley in southwestern Uganda. It is located close to queen Elizabeth national park thus a gorilla tracking itinerary for at least 3 days also includes game drives, boat cruise safaris, chimp walks which reward with sightings of tree climbing lions, hippos, crocodiles and antelopes and up close encounter with chimpanzees.

Many of the river deltas in the world flow into the ocean or sea, but one of the delta in Okavango River in Botswana forms one on the most unique delta in the world. The feature is formed where the Okavango River reaches the central part of Kalahari desert and spread out filling the basin where it most water evaporates. Recently, the delta secured a position as one of the seven natural wonders of the Africa.

Until the 20th century, it was unclear how the water level were raising and falling. Yearly it has been approximated that 11,000,000,000,000 litres of water flow into the delta. Most of the water evaporates and transpired by the surrounding plants. The seasonal flooding of Okavango river by the rainwater from Angola highlands flows into the delta making the waters stretch between 150-250kms.However the floods peaks come between June and August making the waters stretch two to three time. This flooding attracts Africa finest wildlife that travel from afar just to enjoy the plenty vegetation and prey.

Averagely, the Okavango delta is 15,000kms with a variation of only 2 metres in height. It’s an amazing home to a variety of wildlife. Seasonally, some of the wildlife follows the rains while others occupy the area year round. The area has less interference from humans and for tourist it is a wildlife haven. Some of the wildlife that may be encountered include: the big 5.variety of antelopes, Wild dogs, hyenas, giraffes, hippos and even monkeys.

The Delta is also a sanctuary for over 400 species of birds making this a great destination for bird watchers as well. Some of the birds that may be encountered include the ostrich, African Fish Eagle, Crested Crane, Lilac-Breasted Roller, among many other astounding birds.

Some of the activities include Game drives, Safari walks, Bird watching, Boat cruises, Elephant Back Safari, Horse riding and photography. A journey to the Okavango Delta Africa’s natural wonder – deep into Africa’s untouched interior – is like no other.

Uganda has ten national parks in the different regions. All the parks have the unique features  that you cannot find in the other. Though the most notable visited national parks are Bwindi, Queen Elizabeth national park and Murchison Falls National Park, there are some beautiful but hidden national parks that you should not miss in Uganda. These include Kibale Forest National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Bwindi Forest National Park to mention but a few. Here is a list of national parks hidden in the far end but with thrilling beauty you would not want to miss out, and these include;

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga is one of the smallest national parks in Uganda sitting at an altitude of between 2,227m and 4,127m in the virunga conservation area, mgahinga is in the foothills of virunga ranges sharing with the neighboring Rwanda and Congo. The Virunga ranges include Mt Gahinga  at 3,473 meters above sea level  covered up by Crater Lake on top, un fortunately it was covered by swamps. Gahinga literally means” a pile of rocks”.

Mount Muhavura as the highest peak at 4,127 meters Seen from far beyond Kisoro town, hiking mount Muhavura takes about 6 hours but with rewarding views of Lake Edward and George in Kasese, Queen Elizabeth national park, Ruwenzori mountain ranges and Bwindi forest.

Mount sabyinyo,” old teeth” it is one of the oldest volcanoes in the Virunga conservation area, the thrilling part of is once you hike it, at the mountain you are physically present in three countries, Uganda Rwanda and Congo. This hike though is a bit a tough and takes about 8 hours.

Semuliki national park

Semuliki National Park cuts across the Semliki Valley on the remote, western side of Ruwenzori. The park is dominated by the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin, one of Africa’s most ancient and bio-diverse forests that survived the ice age 18,000 years ago. The forest includes 305 species of trees recorded, of which 125 species are restricted to this park alone, savannah grassland, swamps and hot springs.

The forest is home to numerous Central African wildlife species, and the local population includes a Batwa pygmy community that originated from the Ituri, Batuku cattle keepers, Bwamba farmers and Bakojo cultivators As a result, this park provides a taste of Central Africa without having to leave Uganda.

The beauty of Semuliki national park include 53 species of mammal which have been recorded including the rare and nocturnal and diurnal species like , chimpazees, olive baboons, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Vervet, Red-tailed and Mona, Blue Monkeys, and Guereza Colobus, De Brazza’s Monkeys. While nocturnal primates include Galagos and Pottos. Other mammal species include, Bush pig, Water Chevrotain, Buffalo, Sitatunga, White-bellied Duiker or Dwarf Antelope, Beecroft’s Anomalure and elephants

Semuliki national park is also home to various bird species, among these include, Red-chested Owlet, Bates’ Nightjar, Chocolate-backed, White-bellied and African Dwarf Kingfishers, White-crested, Black Dwarf, Red-billed Dwarf, Piping and Black-wattled Hornbills, Red-rumped Tinker bird, Spotted, Spot-breasted Ibis, Hartlaubs’s Duck, Chestnut-flanked Goshawk, Red-thighed Sparrow hawk, Long-tailed Hawk, Forest Francolin, Nkulengu Rail, Western Bronze-napped Pigeon, Black-collared Lovebird, Yellow-throated Cuckoo Lyre-tailed and Zenker’s Honey guides, African Piculet, Gabon Woodpecker, Red-sided Broadbill, White-throated Blue Swallow, Green-tailed Bristle bill, Forest and Grey Ground Thrushes, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Brown-crowned Eremomela, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Ituri Batis, Red-billed Helmet -Shrike, Red-eyed Puff-back, Black-winged Starling, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Blue-billed, Crested and Red-bellied Malimbes, Pale-fronted and Chestnut-breasted Negro finches, Grant’s Bluebill.

Pian Upe reserve

This is the second largest conservation area in the greater regions of karamoja. Pian upe covers an area of about 2,788km2 to the north of mountain Elgon and is managed by Mountain Elgon Conservation department under Uganda wild life authority.

Wild life species in pian upe include wild cats like cheetahs, serval, leopard, civets, and jackals the Primates include patas monkeys, olive baboons, vervet monkeys, and mammal species like Cape buffalo, topis, giraffes, elands, waterbuck, Ugandan kobs, zebras and so many others.

The Pian Upe reserve is also a birding destination with array of 242 amazing bird species like Jackson’s Hornbill, ostrich white-headed buffalo-weaver and others

Reptiles are also in pretty in the reserve which includes geckos, skinks, rock python, water snakes, lizard, savannah monitors among others.

Kidepo National Park

In the semi-arid region of Karamajong lies Kidepo national park, the furthest park but yet with exciting features in the wilderness. The park has rare species like cheetah, hunting dog, ostriches that you will never find in any national park. Kidepo National Park was gazetted in 1962 and it host over 77 mammal species which include elephants, leopard, bush duiker, jackal, bushbuck, bush pig, giraffes, bush baby, buffalo and much more as well as around 475 bird species including the endemic species like the pygmy Falcon, Varreaux’s Eagle plus , Egyptian Vulture.

The slopes of mountain murongole are occupied by the IK people, who are the tiniest ethnic group found in Uganda, and have their own special culture.