Southern Africa offers sheer beauty and an exceptional diversity of wildlife habitats, featuring epic Big Five safari in parks such as Botswana’s Okavango Delta and South Africa’s Kruger, as well as sand dunes, deserts, and waterfalls.
To complete the picture, this region boasts world-class cities such as Cape Town, with bars and restaurants to rival the hotspots of New York and London, and some of the highest standards of accommodation in Africa. Southern Africa is an incredibly popular destination, and with that in mind, here are some additional highlights and experiences that might appeal:
Southern Africa’s big game safari is focused on a number of areas – South Africa’s Kruger National Park (including the Sabi Sands and Timbavati), Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and the wild areas of Zambia’s Luangwa Valley or Lower Zambezi and Zimbabwe’s Hwange or Mana Pools.
Which destination you choose for your safari is often determined by whether this is your first safari (in which case we’d suggest the Kruger and/or potentially the Okavango Delta) or it’s for a more experienced safari hand (for this, we suggest heading for the wilderness areas in either Zambia or Zimbabwe).
Cape Town is Safari Africa’s most interesting city. Due to the top-quality restaurants and bars, amazing landscapes, and some seriously good boutique hotels, it’s very difficult for anyone to travel to Southern Africa and not visit Cape Town.
The country’s Winelands, featuring exquisite estates and incredible eateries, are very enticing too.
This is the world’s largest waterfall. In full flood from roughly March to June, the Falls are spectacular all year round.
You can choose to get as immersed in this famous tourist site as you want, by staying so close you can see the Falls’ spray or by heading out to one of the great little camps hidden upstream, on the sleepy banks of the River Zambezi. Choose the latter option, and you’ll be perfectly placed to explore the river.
Quite unlike any other destination we sell, Namibia is a land of unique scenery that plays host to some of the finest photographic opportunities for landscapes in Africa.
For a Southern Africa trip, we usually wouldn’t recommend Namibia’s big game safari, simply because your experience in the Kruger or Okavango Delta, for example, will be much better. However, either the sand dunes of Sossusvlei or the Skeleton Coast provides an excellent add-on
For clients looking to spend time on the beach during their holiday in Africa, Mozambique is the dream destination. Home to a number of Africa’s most beautiful beaches, this incredible destination is well off the beaten track. The downside is the sheer expense of getting to and staying on Mozambique’s offshore islands, but the effort and ultimately the expense are well worth it. Mauritius offers a more affordable alternative, in the shape of a gorgeous large resort-centred destination offering high-standard and impeccably serviced hotels.
Many of the staff members at YZ come from Southern Africa. The best way to start researching your trip is to speak to them and let them guide you through all the options available for a pan-Southern Africa safari. You can contact the YZ experts here.
"Among our herd are professional guides who have worked across the entire region and camp managers who have run some of the finest properties in Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa itself."
