The Best Places to See African Wildlife on Safari

For many people, safari starts with one question: Where will I see the best wildlife?

It sounds simple enough. Africa. Animals. Done.

If you’re planning an African wildlife safari from the UK, the right destination depends on whether you want Big Five game drives, big cats, elephants, rhino, the Great Migration, gorillas, chimps or a more varied wildlife experience.

Different safari destinations are good for different things, and choosing the right one can completely change the trip.

This guide is designed to help you understand where to see Africa’s most iconic wildlife, how the main safari destinations compare and why the best safari is not always the one with the longest animal checklist.

If you’re planning your first safari, I’d recommend reading my Complete Beginner’s Guide to Going on Safari first. It explains how safaris work, what a typical day looks like and how to start narrowing down the right destination.

What Counts as Iconic African Wildlife?

When people think of African wildlife, they usually think of the famous headline animals:

• Lion, leopard + cheetah
• Elephant, rhino + hippo
• Buffalo + wildebeest
• Giraffe + zebra
• Crocodile
• Gorilla + chimpanzee
• African wild dog + hyena
• Birds of prey

Some of these are part of the Big Five. Some are not.

The Big Five are lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. The phrase originally came from big-game hunting and referred to the five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot. These days, thankfully, most safari travellers use it as a wildlife wish list instead.

The Big Five are only part of the safari story, but they are still one of the most searched-for wildlife topics. My Big Five Explained guide covers what the term means, where it came from and where you are most likely to see them.

But iconic wildlife is much bigger than the Big Five. A cheetah hunting across open plains, elephants gathering at a river, mountain gorillas feeding in the forest, wildebeest crossing the Mara River or wild dogs setting off on the move can be just as memorable. Sometimes more so.

Best Places to See Lions

Lions are often the animal people most want to see on safari.

They are dramatic, powerful, social and very good at lying around looking magnificent while doing absolutely nothing. The best lion destinations usually combine good prey numbers, open landscapes and experienced guiding.

Some of the best places to see lions include:

• Maasai Mara, Kenya
• Serengeti, Tanzania
• Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
• Kruger region, South Africa
• Sabi Sands and private reserves near Kruger, South Africa
• Chobe and Moremi, Botswana
• South Luangwa, Zambia

Best Places to See Leopards

Leopards are one of the most exciting animals to see on safari because they are elusive, beautiful and very good at making you question whether your eyes work properly.

Some of the best places to see leopards include:

• Sabi Sands, South Africa
• Private reserves near Kruger, South Africa
• Maasai Mara, Kenya
• Serengeti, Tanzania
• Moremi and Okavango Delta, Botswana
• South Luangwa, Zambia

If leopard sightings are high on your wish list, I’d usually look very seriously at private reserves around Kruger, especially Sabi Sands. The guiding is excellent, vehicle numbers are controlled and off-road driving may be possible where permitted, which can make a big difference.

My National Parks vs Private Game Reserves guide explains why private reserves can be especially good for certain wildlife sightings.

Best Places to See Elephants

Elephants are one of the great safari animals.

They are huge, intelligent, social and often surprisingly quiet. Watching a herd move through the bush, calves tucked safely among the adults, is one of those moments that makes everyone in the vehicle go quiet.

Some of the best places to see elephants include:

• Chobe National Park, Botswana
• Okavango Delta, Botswana
• Amboseli National Park, Kenya
• Tarangire National Park, Tanzania
• Kruger region, South Africa
• Etosha National Park, Namibia
• Damaraland, Namibia

If elephants are your priority, Botswana is exceptional. Chobe is famous for huge elephant herds along the river, while the Okavango Delta offers a completely different experience, with elephants moving through floodplains and channels. If elephants, wild dogs, water-based safaris and outstanding guiding appeal, my Botswana Safari Guide explains why the Okavango Delta, Chobe and Moremi are so special.

Kenya’s Amboseli is also iconic, especially for elephants with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background.

Namibia offers something different again, with desert-adapted elephants in areas such as Damaraland. These sightings can feel very special because the landscape is so harsh, dramatic and beautiful. My Namibia Safari Guide explains how it compares with more traditional safari destinations.

Best Places to See Rhino

Rhino sightings are incredibly special, partly because rhinos are not as common as they once were. Poaching has had a huge impact, and many reserves work extremely hard to protect rhino populations through ranger patrols, monitoring, security measures and, in some cases, carefully managed dehorning programmes.

Seeing a rhino in the wild is never something to take for granted.

Some of the best places to see rhino include:

• Private reserves near Kruger, South Africa
• Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa
• Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, South Africa
• Etosha National Park, Namibia
• Damaraland, Namibia
• Lewa and Ol Pejeta, Kenya
• Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

South Africa is often one of the strongest choices if seeing rhino is a priority, particularly if you combine safari with a private reserve. My South Africa Safari Guide explains where to go and how to combine safari with Cape Town or the Winelands.

Namibia can also be excellent for black rhino in the right areas, especially if you want a more adventurous safari with dramatic landscapes.

Rhino sightings are never guaranteed, but the right destination and reserve can give you a much better chance.

Best Places to See Cheetah

Cheetahs are built for speed, open space and looking effortlessly photogenic.

They are one of the most exciting animals to see on safari, especially if you’re lucky enough to watch one hunting. That said, even a resting cheetah on a termite mound scanning the plains can be a brilliant sighting.

Some of the best places to see cheetah include:

• Maasai Mara, Kenya
• Serengeti, Tanzania
• Southern Serengeti and Ndutu region, Tanzania
• Etosha and private reserves, Namibia
• Kalahari regions, Botswana
• Phinda and selected reserves, South Africa

Cheetahs tend to do well in more open landscapes where they can use their speed. Kenya and Tanzania are particularly strong, especially around the Maasai Mara and Serengeti. If big cats, classic open plains and the Maasai Mara are high on your wish list, my Kenya Safari Guide explains where to go, when to travel and how to build the right Kenya safari.

Namibia can also be excellent for cheetah, and the vast open plains make sightings feel very different from a more traditional bush safari.

Best Places to See Giraffe

Giraffes may not be part of the Big Five, but they are absolutely part of the safari dream — and the obvious answer to “where can you see giraffes?” is simply Africa.

They are graceful, odd, elegant and faintly ridiculous all at once. Watching a giraffe walk across the horizon is beautiful. Watching one bend down to drink looks like nature briefly forgot how joints should work.

Giraffes are, admittedly, one of the easier safari animals to spot — largely because they’ve made the bold decision to be about 18 feet tall. And while there are never any absolute guarantees with wildlife, I’d be very surprised if you didn’t see at least a giraffe or two on most classic safari itineraries.

Best Places to See African Wild Dogs

African wild dogs are one of the most thrilling animals to see on safari. They are rare, energetic, social and constantly on the move. If your guide hears there are wild dogs nearby, the mood in the vehicle changes very quickly.

Some of the best places to see African wild dogs include:

• Okavango Delta, Botswana
• Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
• Linyanti and Savuti, Botswana
• South Luangwa, Zambia
• Mana Pools, Zimbabwe
• Kruger region and private reserves, South Africa
• Laikipia, Kenya

Botswana is one of the best countries for wild dog sightings, particularly in the Okavango Delta and surrounding areas.

They are not guaranteed anywhere, but when you do see them, it can be one of the highlights of the whole trip. Many experienced safari travellers would put wild dogs right at the top of their wish list.

Best Places to See Hippos and Crocodiles

Hippos spend much of the day in water, grunting, yawning and generally looking like oversized bath toys with anger issues. Crocodiles, meanwhile, have perfected the art of doing absolutely nothing while still making everyone slightly nervous.

Some of the best places to see hippos and crocodiles include:

• Chobe River, Botswana
• Okavango Delta, Botswana
• Maasai Mara rivers, Kenya
• Serengeti rivers, Tanzania
• South Luangwa, Zambia
• Lower Zambezi, Zambia
• Lake St Lucia, South Africa
• Murchison Falls, Uganda

They are especially dramatic during the Great Migration river crossings, where crocodiles are part of the tension as wildebeest and zebra attempt to cross.

But you don’t need a river crossing to enjoy them. A river safari in Botswana or Zambia can give you excellent hippo and crocodile sightings from the water, which feels completely different from a game drive.

Best Places to See the Great Migration

The Great Migration is one of Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacles.

Huge herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle move in a continuous circular journey between Tanzania’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Maasai Mara, following rainfall and fresh grazing. The most famous moments are the river crossings, but the migration is not a single event. It moves throughout the year.

As a rough guide:

• January to March — calving season in the southern Serengeti and Ndutu region
• April to June — herds begin moving through the Serengeti
• July to October — river crossings and Maasai Mara season
• November to December — herds begin moving south again as the rains return

The best places to see the Great Migration include:

• Southern Serengeti and Ndutu, Tanzania
• Central Serengeti, Tanzania
• Western Serengeti and Grumeti region, Tanzania
• Northern Serengeti, Tanzania
• Maasai Mara, Kenya

My When Can You See the Great Migration? guide explains the timing, regions and different stages in more detail.

Best Places to See Mountain Gorillas

Mountain gorilla trekking is not a traditional safari in the same style as game drives across open plains, but it is one of Africa’s most iconic wildlife experiences.

Instead of sitting in a vehicle, you trek on foot through forest with expert guides and trackers. When you find a gorilla family, you usually spend a limited time with them, watching them feed, rest, groom and interact.

The best places to see mountain gorillas are:

• Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
• Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
• Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda
• Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Rwanda is often the most straightforward and high-end option, with excellent lodges and relatively easy logistics. Uganda can offer very good value by comparison and combines well with chimp trekking, traditional safari and other wildlife areas.

Gorilla permits are limited and can sell out, so this is something to plan early.

In 2006 I was lucky enough to visit Rwanda and Uganda. I remember being given the pre-trek briefing before gorilla tracking and being told, quite rightly, that these are wild animals. They could be anywhere. We might be walking through thick forest for several hours before finding them, and once we did, we’d have our allocated hour with the gorillas before heading back.

So, naturally, we all psyched ourselves up for a proper jungle trek.

In reality, we walked down through a village, climbed over a wall just behind it, and there they were. Gorillas. Right behind the village. No six-hour expedition, no dramatic machete-through-the-jungle moment, just a very short walk and one of the most extraordinary wildlife encounters you can have.

Once we’d found them, we followed the gorillas for a while with the guides, keeping the right distance and letting them move naturally. At one point, the whole troop changed direction and came straight back up the path towards us, so we were told to crouch down and stay still.

They walked right past us, including an enormous silverback, close enough that you could almost have reached out and touched him. You absolutely wouldn’t, obviously, unless you had suddenly decided you no longer liked having arms.

As he passed, the silverback casually swiped one of the women in our group off the path and into a bush. Thankfully she was completely fine, and once the shock had passed, it became one of those slightly ridiculous but unforgettable travel stories.

Best Places to See Chimpanzees

Chimpanzee trekking is another incredible primate experience. It is usually faster-paced and noisier than gorilla trekking. Chimps move quickly, call loudly and spend more time in the trees, so the experience can feel energetic and slightly chaotic in the best possible way.

Some of the best places to see chimpanzees include:

• Kibale Forest, Uganda
• Budongo Forest, Uganda
• Kyambura Gorge, Uganda
• Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda
• Mahale Mountains, Tanzania
• Gombe Stream, Tanzania

Uganda is one of the strongest choices for chimp trekking, especially if you want to combine chimps, gorillas and classic safari in one trip.

Tanzania’s Mahale Mountains offers one of the most remote and special chimp experiences in Africa, but it requires more time, budget and planning.

Best Places for Birdlife

Even if you are not usually a bird person, safari has a way of changing that.

The birds are colourful, dramatic and often much easier to watch than mammals. Your guide will point one out, tell you something genuinely interesting, and suddenly you’re photographing your fourth lilac-breasted roller of the morning.

Some of the best birding safari destinations include:

• Okavango Delta, Botswana
• Chobe National Park, Botswana
• South Luangwa, Zambia
• Lake Nakuru, Kenya
• Amboseli, Kenya
• Serengeti and Tarangire, Tanzania
• Kruger region, South Africa
• Etosha National Park, Namibia
• Uganda and Rwanda for forest birdlife

Water-based safari areas such as the Okavango Delta and Chobe are particularly good for birdlife, especially fish eagles, kingfishers, herons, storks and bee-eaters. Birdlife can be especially good during green season, when migratory species arrive and landscapes look lush.

Best Safari Destinations by Wildlife Interest

Different destinations suit different wildlife priorities.

Wildlife priority	Best destinations to consider
Big Five	South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania
Lions	Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana
Leopards	South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania
Elephants	Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia
Rhino	South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania
Cheetah	Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana
Wild dogs	Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Great Migration	Tanzania, Kenya
Gorillas	Rwanda, Uganda
Chimpanzees	Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania
Desert-adapted wildlife	Namibia
Water-based safari	Botswana, Zambia
Birdlife	Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, Uganda

Is It Guaranteed You’ll See the Wildlife You Want?

No. And that is important.

A good itinerary improves your chances, but wildlife is still wildlife. Animals move, hide, sleep, hunt, ignore roads, avoid people, change patterns and generally refuse to perform on request.

You might see a leopard on your first game drive, then spend the next five days wondering whether that was beginner’s luck. You might wait for hours at a river crossing and nothing happens. You might have a quiet morning, then suddenly find elephants, lions and wild dogs before breakfast.

The key is planning around the best area, season, lodge and guiding for the wildlife you most want to see, while staying open to whatever the bush decides to show you. My Luxury Safari Lodges Explained guide shows how location, guiding, reserve access, camp style and inclusions can affect the whole safari experience.

When Is the Best Time to See African Wildlife?

The best time depends on the destination and the wildlife you want to see.

As a rough guide:

• South Africa — May to September for dry season wildlife viewing
• Kenya — July to October for the Great Migration in the Maasai Mara
• Tanzania — June to October for general wildlife, with January to March strong for calving season in the southern Serengeti
• Botswana — June to October for peak wildlife and Okavango Delta experiences
• Namibia — May to October for Etosha and dry season wildlife
• Uganda and Rwanda — gorilla and chimp trekking are possible year-round, though drier months can make trekking easier

Green season can also be excellent in many places, with lush scenery, newborn animals, migratory birds, dramatic skies and often better value.

My Best Time to Go on Safari guide explains dry season, green season, migration timing and how different destinations change month by month.

---

Common Wildlife Safari Mistakes

• Only focusing on the Big Five - The Big Five are iconic, but they are not the whole safari.
• Choosing the wrong destination - Not every safari destination is equally good for every animal.
• Not allowing enough nights - Wildlife sightings take time. Two nights gives you very little margin. Four or five nights in the right area usually gives you a much better chance of varied sightings.
• Staying in the wrong area - Being “in the Serengeti” or “near Kruger” is not enough. Location matters. Camp position, reserve rules and seasonal movement can make a huge difference.
• Ignoring guiding quality - A brilliant guide can transform a safari. They know how to read tracks, understand animal behaviour and position the vehicle.
• Expecting guarantees – This is a big one. Safari is not a zoo.

My Advice

Start with the wildlife you most want to see, but don’t let it become a tick-box exercise. The best safari is not just about the animal list. It is about the destination, season, lodge, guide, pace, landscape, comfort level and how all of it fits together. 

Tell me what you’d love to see — lions, leopards, elephants, rhino, the Great Migration, gorillas, wild dogs or simply “as much wildlife as possible” — and I’ll help build the right safari around you.

Ready to start planning?

Get in touch and I’ll help create a tailor-made African safari holiday with the right destination, lodges, guides and itinerary for the wildlife experience you’re hoping for.

Continue Planning Your Safari

If you’re still researching safari holidays, these guides will help:

• Complete Beginner’s Guide to Going on Safari – ideal if this is your first safari and you want to understand how safari actually works.
• Complete Luxury African Safari Guide – compare the best safari destinations, lodge styles, costs, wildlife and itinerary ideas.
• The Big Five Explained – what the Big Five are, where to see them and why they matter.
• When Can You See the Great Migration? – a practical guide to migration timing, calving season, river crossings and choosing the right area.
• South Africa Safari Guide – a deeper look at Kruger, private reserves, malaria-free options and Cape Town combinations.
• Kenya Safari Guide – everything you need to know about the Maasai Mara, Great Migration and luxury Kenya safaris.
• Tanzania Safari Guide – Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Northern Circuit safaris and Zanzibar combinations.
• Botswana Safari Guide – Okavango Delta, Chobe, Moremi and exclusive fly-in safari ideas.
• Namibia Safari Guide – Etosha, Sossusvlei, Damaraland and self-drive safari adventures.
• Best Time to Go on Safari – month-by-month advice on safari seasons, wildlife viewing and when to travel.
• How Much Does an African Safari Cost? – realistic budgets, what’s included, tipping, spending money and where your money goes.
• National Parks vs Private Game Reserves – understand the difference between public parks, private reserves, conservancies and concessions.
• Luxury Safari Lodges Explained – compare luxury safari lodges, tented camps, mobile camps and exclusive-use safari accommodation.

Back to Matt Hills TC Homepage