Best Itineraries for Big Cats Sightings and Safari Experience

Inspired by the wildlife documentary Big Cats 24/7—which showcases the lives of three big cat families, Lions, Leopards, and Cheetahs in the Okavango Delta—our team has crafted four bespoke safari itineraries designed to reignite your passion for adventure and wanderlust. Our expert insights provide the best chance of Big Cat sightings and focus on great value camps, transporting viewers from their sofas to safari. From White Lions to Black Leopards, some itineraries offer rare species sightings. In contrast, others are based at the very location of filming for viewers who want to replicate the scenes they see on screen.

Big Cats 24/7 captures these majestic creatures across Botswana, specifically the Okavango Delta. Stay at Mokolwane Camp, where the series was filmed, giving you the best chance to see the characters we meet and follow in the series. Mokolwane is the only camp in its 180,000 hectare concession, so any stay here is the height of exclusivity. This itinerary perfectly pairs with Meno a Kwena, based on the Boteti River in Makgadikgadi Pans.

Natural Selection are offering a paired trip: six nights for the price of four at Mokolwane when combined with Meno a Kwena or Hyena Pan, including May, June, and September flood season months.

Yellow Zebra are offering six nights in Botswana with Natural Selection’s camps, including two nights at Meno a Kwena and four nights at Mokolwane, including international flights, internal flights and transfers, all meals, selected alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, scheduled safari activities and daily laundry. Prices start at £5,302 per person, based on two adults sharing.

Avid wildlife watchers may remember the series Wild Babies on Netflix, which was based in Sabi Sands and featured the Mala Mala reserve, around which this itinerary is based. Guests can make the most of exclusive low camp and vehicle density, combined with extremely high guiding standards, twinning three nights in the Sabi Sands with three nights in Timbavati. At Mala Mala Game Reserve, guests have a 95% chance of seeing lion, and a 98% chance of seeing leopard, while staying at Mala Mala Sable, one of only three camps across the 15,000 hectare reserve. &Beyond Ngala Tented Camp is within Ngala Private Game Reserve, which has exclusive traversing rights within 14,700 hectares, and is home to an extremely rare and low population of White Lions, known as the Birmingham Pride.

This six-night itinerary in South Africa includes three nights at Mala Mala Sable and three nights at AndBeyond Ngala Tented Camp. It also includes international flights, internal flights and transfers, all meals, selected alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, scheduled safari activities, and daily laundry. Prices start at £8,149 per person, based on two adults sharing.

This itinerary combines Plantation Lodge at Ngorongoro Crater and Wayo Serengeti Green Camp, a camp that moves between two locations depending on the season, and one which facilitated The Serengeti IMAX as well as Nomads of the Serengeti, which was hosted by Wayo’s very own Jean Du Plessis. Not only this, Ngorongoro Crater is known for hosting the highest density of lions in Africa, making it perfect for those inspired by the scenes they’ve witnessed on Big Cats 24/7. At the same time, Wayo follows the wildebeest migration herds for something a little different, attracting high populations of predators across the Northern and Southern Serengeti, depending on the season.

Yellow Zebra offers six nights in Tanzania, including two nights at Plantation Lodge and four nights at Wayo Serengeti Green. Prices include international flights, internal flights and transfers, all meals, selected alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, scheduled safari activities, and daily laundry. Based on two adults sharing, prices start at £5,356 per person.

The Laikipia region in Northern Kenya is renowned for five black leopards who roam the region, so it is the perfect destination for viewers who are keen to spot those ever elusive leopards, even rarer than those seen on the series. The camp that has reported the most frequent sightings is Laikipia Wilderness, known to be the birthplace of some of the top guides in Africa, meaning guests can make the most of the best guiding when tracking these rare sightings. This itinerary also includes Governors Main in the Masai Mara, home to several wildlife filmmakers over the years, including acting as the base for Big Cat Tales and Big Cat Diary, and the hugely popular Dynasties on BBC Earth. 

Spend six nights in Kenya, including three nights at Laikipia Wilderness and three nights at Governors Main, including international flights, internal flights, and transfers, all meals, selected alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, scheduled safari activities, and daily laundry. Prices start at £6,089 per person, based on two adults sharing.

Feeling inspired by BBC’s Big Cat’s 24/7? Our team of safari experts are ready to help you plan your own Big Cats experience. To start your journey, fill out the contact form here, and let us bring you closer to the wild.

*These itineraries were priced on the published date*