Experience a magic walking safari – the most authentic form of safari – with the opportunity to get close to the animals and experience the magnificent landscape on foot. In addition to spot the lager animals on foot, it gives a unique chance, together with a specially trained guide, to learn more about plants, nature and the smaller animals such as “the small 5” which consists of: the elephant screw, the buffalo weaves, the leopard turtle, the myrjon, the rhinoceros beetle. An adventure on foot is perfect for the active and adventurous travellers who want to experience something out of the ordinary during their safari.

All safari destinations mentioned below in South Africa offer walking safari or bush walks. Adding; Lower Zambezi, South Luangwa (Zambia), Moremi (Botswana), Mana Pools (Zimbabwe) and Etosha (Namibia) – fantastic national parks around southern Africa – often offer high standard walking safari. Some lodges offer pure walking safari where you walk between the lodges.

Greater Kruger National Park

Safari in Greater Kruger National Park are absolutely world class. Most of the lodges offer a variety of walking safari or bush walks. Kruger Park is the largest national park and one of the world’s richest in animals. Adjacent to the national park are many private game reserves and together this area forms the “Greater Kruger National Park”. Upplev Sydafrika recommend a private lodge that offers walking safari or bush walks and accommodation in one of the private reserves in the Greater Kruger, where usually the price is all inclusive, which includes all food (3 meals a day) and safari, usually a combination of classic game drive and bush walk. Access to walking safari varies depending on the lodge. In private game reserves, skilled guides and trackers are allowed to drive off road to get close to the animals. Many of these reserves are adjacent to the Kruger Park, which allows free movement of all game, allowing sightings of a huge variety of animals. There is a great chance to spot the Big 5 game drives.

Madikwe Game Reserve

The lodges in Madikwe Game Reserve offer walking safari or bush walks in various forms. On game drives, there is a great chance to spot the Big 5 and it is quite common to experience “the Magnificent 7” (but is of course dependent on the season and skilled guides and trackers). In Madikwe Game Reserve there are many lodges to choose from and most are 5-star. We recommend a private lodge that offers walking safari and accommodation where usually the price is all inclusive, which includes all food (3 meals a day) and safari, usually a combination of game drives and walking safari. Access to walking safari varies depending on the lodge. In Madikwe, skilled guides and trackers are allowed to drive off road and the unique reserve is considered one of the best in Africa and offers fantastic safari experiences.

KwaZulu-Natal

The KwaZulu-Natal destination offers fantastic safari experiences and many lodges offer walking safari or bush walks. Along the coast is St Lucia with the World Heritage Site of Simangaliso Wetland Park, a wetland area that specializes in boat trips among hippos and crocodiles. The Hluhluwe & iMfolozi Game Reserve specializes in white-rhino walking safari. We recommend a lodge that offers walking safari and accommodation where usually the price is all inclusive, which includes all food (3 meals a day) and safari, usually a combination of game drives and walking safari. Access to walking safari varies depending on the lodge. At the safari destinations, excluded the Hluhluwe & iMfolozi Game Reserve, skilled guides and trackers are allowed to drive off road to get close to the animals. The chances to spot the the Big 5 are great (but is of course dependent on the season as well as skilled guides and trackers).

Eastern Cape

The area around Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape Province is malaria-free and it consist of many good private game reserves that offer safari experiences at a very high standard. Many lodges offer bush walks. Upplev Sydafrika recommends a lodge that offers bush walks and accommodation where usually the price is all inclusive, which includes all food (3 meals a day) and safari, usually a combination of game drives and bush walks. Access to bush walks varies depending on the lodge. In private reserves, skilled guides and trackers are often allowed to drive off road to get close to the animals.

Western Cape

Nearby Cape Town and along the Garden Route you find the large private game reserve, Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, as well as some private reserves / lodges that offer safari experiences with bush walks. Some of the private reserves can be visited during the day on a day safari, or you can spend one or two nights, depending on how interested you are in wildlife. This area is malaria free. Upplev Sydafrika recommends a lodge that offers bush walks and accommodation where usually the price is all inclusive, which includes all food (3 meals a day) and safari, usually a combination of game drives and bush walks. Access to bush walks varies depending on the lodge. In private game reserves, skilled guides and trackers are often allowed to drive off road to get close to the animals.

Southern Africa

South Luangwa National Park

South Luangwa in Zambia has been named by many experts as one of the best wilderness reserves in the world. The concentration of animals along the Luangwa River is among the largest in Africa and the area is the most leopard-dense in the world. The park covers 9059 km² and the different seasons change the landscape from dry and barren in winter to green and lush in summer. Specific and unique to South Luangwa is precisely the walking safari that originated in this park. There are 60 different species of animals and over 400 different species of birds in South Luangwa National Park. The only exception is the rhino, which has unfortunately become extinct.

Lower Zambezi National Park

Lower Zambezi National Park is located on the north bank of the Zambezi River in south-eastern Zambia, opposite Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park. Until 1983, when the area was declared a national park, the area was the private reserve of the President of Zambia. This has resulted in the park being protected from mass tourism and is one of the few untouched wilderness areas in Africa. Lower Zambezi is 4092 km² and visitors can enjoy fantastic day and night game drives in the unspoilt area. Walking safari is very popular and the Zambezi River is an eldorado for fishermen who have longed to catch tiger fish. A guided tour with Mokoro (canoe) on the river is a must in the unique environment.

Mana Pools National Park

Mana Pools National Park is located in a large wetland area in northwestern Zimbabwe. The 2500 km² river basin, islands, sandbanks and ponds, flanked by mahogany forests, wild fig trees, ebony trees and baobabs (monkey bread trees), is one of the last developed national parks in southern Africa. The national park has the country’s largest concentration of hippos and crocodiles as well as large populations of elephants and buffaloes during the dry season. In 1984, the national park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Mana means “four” on Shona, as a reference to the four large permanent water ponds formed by meanders in central Zambezi. Fantastic walking safari offered.

Moremi Game Reserve

The Moremi Reserve is located in the northeastern part of the Okavango Delta in Botswana and covers 40 % of the delta. Moremi Game Reseve was founded in 1963 and is about 5000 km² (390,000 hectares), which includes thousands of large islands as well as lagoons and swamps. The Moremi Game Reserve, considered one of the most beautiful, is the only officially declared game reserve in the Okavango Delta. Moremi is home to about 500 bird species and a large number of other species of wildlife including buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, African wild dog etc. The chance to experience the Big 5 is great and walking safari are offered.

Etosha National Park

Etosha National Park is located in northern Namibia and consists for the most part of a dried-up lake, a salt bed. The park was established in 1907 and is Namibia’s most popular area for seeing a wide variety of animals. In Etosha National Park there are four of the Big 5. The park was created for the purpose of offering people to go on self-drive safari and it is excellent to explore the park on your own. Of course it is possible to book a game drive with a guide at, for example, several nearby accommodation / safari lodges and a walking safari is possible.