Maybe it’s the David Attenborough effect or perhaps it's down to social media but the demand for safari has seen a significant rise in the past few years. It is a trip that tickles nearly everyone’s fancy from families to retired couples and there is an overwhelming amount of choice out there to suit all tastes and budgets. In summer 2024 I was lucky enough to experience first hand a trip taking in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia….a collection of countries that are easy to combine and that complement each other beautifully. I went with high expectations and boy did it live up to it!

Our trip began as many safaris do by landing into Johannesburg…the gateway to most safari destinations. Rather than staying in a soulless airport hotel, we took the opportunity to capture a little bit of history by staying at Sanctuary Mandela, a boutique luxury property that just happens to be the former residence of Nelson Mandela. A much appreciated upgrade to the very regal King Suite  cemented this as a very fitting start to a “bucket- list” trip (although I think my husband was ready to file for divorce when I woke him for the hundredth time up to declare “oh my God.. we are sleeping in Nelson Mandela’s house”). The next day we used a private guide to visit Constitution Hill, a fascinating and moving tribute to the Apartheid,  before heading to visit Soweto. In all honesty, I had worried about how comfortable I would be visiting the townships…on paper it has the potential to feel exploitative and voyeuristic but the reality was completely different. The suppliers I work with are incredibly passionate about their responsibilities to local communities and ethical travel so our bike tour was actually provided by Lebo’s Backpackers – a company founded by a young entrepreneur from his own house within Soweto. Most of the staff here are from the community and they really do take pleasure in talking to you, educating you and feeding you! We left with a much better understanding of the country’s history and a feeling of positivity about the initiatives and empowerment growing in the area.

Next up we hopped on a flight to Victoria Falls before taking the short drive to Botswana...a transition that was much easier than I expected. Botswana really is a truly special place to experience your first safari. We began our journey in Chobe National Park, home to the largest concentration of elephants in the world. Although you can stay in a traditional safari lodge here, it is the river that offers the best views of the animals as well as breathtaking sunsets so we opted to stay aboard The Chobe Princess – a small luxury houseboat sleeping no more than 14 -fittingly described as “a villa on water”. Our game drives aboard took place on small tender boats which headed out 3 times a day but it was the mornings that I found the most memorable. With no one else yet allowed in the park there was a real sense of exclusivity and connection to nature that we felt right to the core. On the first morning at sunset we docked at a bay where a herd of at least 40 elephants bathed, played and drank and the excited buzz of chatter that had previously filled the boat stopped as we all gazed in awe at the majesty of these animals who were completely relaxed and unphased by our presence. It was the first of many magical and unforgettable moments.

Over the course of the next 2 days, we experienced so much more than I could ever have dreamed of in our little boat: from close encounters with hippos - whose ability to disappear and then quickly reappear right next to you gets the heart pumping better than any amount of caffeine -  to being woken at 5am by a lion’s roar to enjoying my morning croissant docked less than 5 metres from sunbathing crocodiles. There simply isn’t space here to convey all that we encountered but suffice to say I would struggle to find another trip that packed so many incredible moments into just 2 nights. Before we knew it, it was time to leave and move on. Now in an ideal world we would have course travelled to the Okavango Delta to take in the biodiversity of its wetlands and a Mokoro (traditional canoe) safari but we have had to add that to our list for our next visit because Victoria Falls were waiting!