Looking for safari holidays? Check out these top destinations and useful packing tips

The idea of a safari normally scares people – it brings to mind weeks spent in deserts with minimal facilities and sounds opposite to the relaxing, luxurious holiday most people desire, and it certainly doesn’t look too family friendly. This idea, though, is wrong. While there are safari holidays in which you can spend days in vast deserts and jungles, there are safari holidays suited to everyone. Safaris can certainly be the epitome of adventure, excitement, and exploration, but they can also be romantic, opulent, educative and relaxing. All you need to do is pick the right safari destination – and not all of them are in Africa – and work in close collaboration with a genuine company who will help you plan a safari holiday that is right for what you want.

Safari Holidays in Kenya

Kenya is the ultimate destination for those looking to experience Africa at it’s best. From lush greenery and picturesque beaches with cerulean oceans too wide open plains and stampeding elephants, Kenya has a little bit of everything. The precious national wildlife parks and the vibrant color of the country will make you feel as though you’re living in a documentary, and with the help of local expert tour guides, you’ll learn as if you were too. With varying lengths, methods of transport, accommodation and focuses available, a Safari through Kenya is easier and more suited to you than you may have believed.

Kenya in Luxury

While yes, Kenya is most renowned for its incredible wildlife and picturesque landscapes, you do not have to experience it trekking across the country and sleeping in tents if you don’t want to. Many tour companies offer services for those who are looking for a little more luxury in their safari holidays, with services ranging from flying from destination to destination as a way to maximize time spent observing the country to simply booking the most opulent accommodation available. These hotels offer the most incredible views across the plains or the landscape and are often as luxurious as those offered in Europe or America. Many have on-site spas and other facilities, making them a hard to turn down option for those who want a bit of downtime between the wildlife watching.

These tours are not cheap, but are well worth the extra penny – allowing you to skip all the hard work and just reap the benefits of Kenya and it’s incredible ecosystem. Hidden retreats and romantic destinations under the uninterrupted stars also makes Kenya a fantastic place for those looking to celebrate a special occasion such as a honeymoon or anniversary. Many tour companies delight at the opportunity to contribute to making these events as special as they can be, and are more than willing to help search for the perfect destinations, accommodations, and activities to help you celebrate in style.

A safari holiday with your Family

The wildlife and beautiful landscapes of Kenya are not something anyone should have to miss out on experiencing just because they have children, and so many tour companies across the country offer personalized tours for families. Often in the comfort of a private vehicle with a private guide, your family can explore Kenya and all it has to offer without worrying about the logistics or the safety of their children. A great opportunity also to educate and inspire kids, Kenya is home to some of the children’s favorite animals – from elephants to cheetahs to flamingos – and seeing them up close in their natural habitat is sure to thrill not only the kids but the whole family.

For those worried the holiday tailored to a family will be less exciting or revealing, the tours are almost virtually the same for the vast majority of companies. However, transport and accommodation has been adjusted to suit those with young children. These tours still provide some of the best opportunities, from hot air ballooning to watching the great migration to guided bush walks ending at pristine beaches. Kenya is not at all unsafe for children, and many of the locals are excited and delighted by tourist children and are welcoming because of their presence. However, should you believe the tour is not wild enough for your family, and you are looking to challenge yourselves, accommodation, and transport can be altered to make the safari holiday more adventurous, sleeping in tents and trekking across the landscapes?

Kenyan Wildlife

There is no doubt that the exciting opportunity to witness some of the world’s most incredible wildlife in action is what draws most people to Kenya. Whether your interests lie in tracking the largest cats on the planet or studying the incredible variety of bugs that dig in the soil, Kenya is the perfect place for you to visit. It’s wildlife parks hold the key to coming up close and personal with the animals you’ve only ever before seen behind zoo bars, and the expert guides are your key to learning about and safely admiring the wildlife.

Many safaris will travel through the national wildlife parks, stopping and spending time at each one, but some safaris holidays focus on a particular park, an individual animal and it’s appearances in the wild, or on the marine life that lies off the Kenyan coast. Nowhere else in the world can you experience such natural wonders like those that occur in Kenya, making it an unmissable stop for all families looking to encourage their children’s interests, wildlife enthusiasts, and photographers? Many photography-focused tours operate throughout the country also, from beginner to expert level, often with an experienced profession guide to assist you in taking the perfect wildlife shots, from birds in flight to leopards on the prowl.

Where can I go on a Kenyan Safari?

As before stated, most tour companies that operate throughout the country are more than happy to tailor-make an itinerary that best suits your desires – so actually, you can go anywhere you’d like. However, there is a few popular tourist safari holiday destination that often catches the eye of potential safari-goers.

Aberdare

One of the most famous, large and diverse national wildlife parks in Kenya is called Aberdare, a 160km high range, where wild game and big cats lurk in the lush greenery that lines the park. This park features a variety of exotic wildlife, including baboons, waterbuck, bongos and the endangered black rhino. Just north of the capital Nairobi, the park is a great destination for all travelers, with my English-speaking tour guides who are experts in their respective fields. It is also a breath-taking patch of landscape, with rugged mountains, colorful plants and exotic bamboo lining a multitude of rivers, it is exciting, and a tour through it makes you feel as if you’ve stepped directly into the uncharted African wilderness.

Tasavo-West

Famous for its breathtaking scenery, this park is rich in wildlife, particularly rhino, and features many good roads and trekking routes. There is rock climbing programs run in this park, allowing you to scale the incredible mountain-side in the sunlight and seeing the most beautiful sights the country has to offer, in what is often called some of the best rock climbing in the world. As well as this, there are standard wildlife-sighting tours that operate throughout the park, giving you the opportunity to experience the Cape buffalo, elephants, hippos, giraffes and if you’re lucky a Masai lion. The park is also home to the Mzima Springs, a series of natural springs which are home to some of the largest gatherings of hippos and Nile crocodiles in the country.

Masai Mara

Located in the southwest of Kenya, this national park is dedicated to the protection and viewing of the local wildlife, from giraffes to lions to smaller frogs and turtles. Often called the world’s best big game viewing the site, the park also hosts the Wildebeest migration for certain parts of the year, a phenomenon that many people could only ever imagine seeing in person. Only the luckiest travelers to Kenya will get to see this migration and the planning of your safari holiday in Kenya with your tour operator must be perfect for you to have this opportunity.

The park also houses on-site accommodation, ranging from tent-like to ultimate luxury, making it a perfect place to stay for a few days while you unwind amongst the incredible ecosystem and restore your connection with the environment. The park also offers the opportunity to complete volunteer work, meaning you may have the chance to come into personal contact with some of the beautiful wildlife while taking care of them.

An iconic African destination, Kenya is a perfect destination for any traveler to Europe, offering everything on the scale from opulent to adventurous and everything from bird-watching to great cat tracking. Spend your safari holiday in Kenya how you’d like to, with the people you’d love to experience these phenomenal sights with, and share the memories with them for the rest of your life.

What other places are perfect for safari holidays?

Safari Holidays in Africa

There are a plethora of destinations on the African continent for your Safari holiday, all of which are very rich, varied and vibrant countries. Almost all of them have major cities in which all modern facilities and amenities are available, most of which are just like your hometown. There are luxury hotels, restaurants, and spas across the country, much like what you’d expect to see to great tourist destinations in Europe or Asia, contrary to the vision that many people have of Africa as stark and lacking in relaxing opulent tourist destinations.

These countries across the African continent are also pristine, not yet ruined by large-scale international tourism, and the wildlife and ecosystem that exists here are incredibly beautiful on a scale that most people will never see in their countries. On a safari holiday in Africa, you can experience this beautiful environment up close and first hand – from playing with monkeys to watching big cats hunt – all the while accompanied by an expert tour guide, from whom you can learn and to whom your safety is the priority.

Safari Holidays in Australia

Safari holiday tours are also available throughout the countries of Australia and New Zealand, which are renowned for their breathtaking geological formations and vibrant, friendly wildlife. There are many natural wonders across these two countries, as well as rich cultures of the indigenous people that often still exist separately to the modern towns and cities. From circling Uluru in the centre of Australia, learning about the sacred nature of the location to the indigenous people, to crossing the famed snow capped mountains and learning the traditional dance – the Haka – of New Zealand, these two countries and their small Islands are a perfect destination for those looking to experience some cultural and environmental wonders.

Safari Holidays in Asia

In addition to these Safari holiday destinations, there are many safari holidays that operate throughout Asia. The continent has a wide variety of destinations, wildlife, and landscapes, ranging from desert to lush rainforest and from luxury transport to hiking in the rain. Whatever your taste in Safari, Asia will be able to offer you the experience of a lifetime. The continent is also famed for its wide variety of foods, from street food vendors to incredible, exquisite restaurants, and a safari holiday through Asia can offer you the chance to experience any and all of these options with many tour companies offering safari holidays that are focused on the food of the nations.

The wildlife of Asia is also a factor that draws many people in, with many countries boasting pristine ecosystems home to some of the world’s most incredible animals. On a safari through Asia, you will be able to come up close and personal with these animals, and often have the opportunity to meet some of the world’s most fearsome ones in more tourist-based areas such as zoos.

Asia is also renowned for its religious variety, boasting religions and groups from across the world. Throughout Asia, you will find Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism, and Taoism, amongst much more. This makes it a fantastic Safari holiday destination for those interested in learning more about or experiencing these religions and they way them intertwine and coexist across this beautiful continent. Many of the countries are also highly spiritual, and often people will go one safaris through the country in search of self-discovery or self-transformation, brought on by the closeness to the environment and exposure to the variety of people throughout Asia.

All these safari holidays can be found here on this website.

8 Packing Tips for Your African Safari Holiday Adventure

Preparing luggage for an African safari holiday can be challenging. Since for most tourists, Africa is exotic, mysterious and unknown. They tend to make mistakes while packing for a trip – simply because it’s hard for them to imagine what it will be like. Well-organized luggage is always essential, but even more so in the case of safaris. You’ll find yourself in harsh weather conditions, surrounded by wild nature, so you should be ready to face it. Here’s a list of 8 packing trips for your African safari holidays, based on the advice of experienced travelers.

1. Travel light

Packing light is a basic rule for most cautious travelers. It concerns all sorts of trips, from city breaks to around the world journeys. For safari holidays, it’s even more important to keep your luggage as small as possible. You’ll not only have to carry it on the plane, but also fit it in the vehicle you’ll travel by later on. Skip all the unnecessary stuff. If you’re wondering whether you’ll need an extra shirt or not – don’t take it. You can always use laundry services if you run out of clean clothes. Instead of taking traditional books, consider getting an e-book reader. Pack only small toiletries; you won’t use a liter of shampoo for several days anyway. In case it’s difficult for you to resist the temptation of packing many things, get a small backpack – it’ll be just impossible to stuff it with items you don’t need.

2. Don’t forget about basic things

In the chaos of choosing insect repellents, camera gear, and waterproof clothes, you might forget about the most necessary things. Remember to take your phone, all essential documents, money, travel insurance, etc. It won’t be a tragedy if you forget to take the fifth pair of socks or a moisturizer, but missing your passport or visas can result in serious problems.

3. Go for earth tones

You’ve probably seen photos of people on their safari holidays. Have you noticed they all wear neutral colors, such as brown, beige or olive? It’s not without reason. Many animals are color-blind, so luckily you won’t annoy a lion by wearing a red jacket. You won’t fit in the environment, though, and you can simply… spoil the views. Besides, bright clothes will easily get dirty in the dust and dirt. It’s also good to know that tsetse flies are one of the few animals that pay attention to what humans wear. They’re especially attracted to dark blue and black, so to avoid unpleasant encounters with those biting and disease-carrying flies, don’t wear these colors. 

4. Remember it’s neither a beach party…

In the imagination of many people, Africa is a sizzling continent where the sun never goes down. It’s totally wrong. Temperatures there can get very extreme. It might be incredibly hot during the day and freezing at night. That’s why long sleeved shirts are much of a better choice than tops and bikinis. You can take some light clothes to wear them at your lodge or camp, but for game drives, you should rather wear long sleeves. Moreover, fitting trousers and jackets can also protect you from dirt and mosquito bites. If you’re afraid your lodge won’t be warm enough, take some good socks and pajamas.

5. … nor a business meeting

You won’t impress Tigers with a suit. Elegant clothes can take a lot of space in your luggage only to turn out totally useless after all. Unless you’re planning fancy parties between game drives, you won’t need shiny dresses, jewelers, and ties. Most of the events organized by tour operators don’t have strict dressing codes, and it’s fine to wear a casual outfit for dinner. Of course, it’d be nice to have something else than just safari-style clothes, but this “something else” can be just a simple shirt or skirt, not necessarily an elegant piece.

6. Comfy shoes are a must

That’s another wise, universal, unalterable rule: you should always take comfortable shoes for a trip. Closed shoes in a neutral color (you don’t want this lovely pair of white snickers to get all covered with dust) will do just fine. Unless you’re going to walk a lot, you won’t need heavy boots. Lightweight shoes will be more comfortable and easier to fit in your luggage.

7. Think of your safety

It’s always good to have a small first aid kid with you. It’s neither expensive nor heavy and can do an excellent job in case of an emergency. In addition to the usual items first aid kids include (such as needles, bandages, hand sanitizers, painkillers, antiseptic creams, basic antibiotics, anti-diarrhea medicines, etc.), you should have a good mosquito repellent and a malaria prophylaxis. You may also check with your tour guides and ask them whether some other medications are necessary.

8. Consider packing some useful gadgets

Amazed with all the magical landscapes and creatures, you’ll most likely want to take a lot of photos and videos. Make sure to have a camera with you. Binoculars can come in handy as well; with them, it’ll be easier for you to observe the wildlife. A flashlight is a must; head torch would be the best. Take plug converters, just in case your lodge won’t have them. If you want to go off-grid, get a portable charger so that you won’t have to worry about running out of battery on your phone or camera.

Have you already been to a safari holiday? Do you have some other tips to share? Let us know! Want to book safari holidays adventures, have a look at this website; they offer a huge amount of safari holidays.