South Africa's Top Safari Choices

South Africa's Top Safari Choices

Choosing the right safari can often be a daunting and perilous process, so our experts have saved you the leg work and stress to present a round up of South Africa’s top safari choices.

Best Luxury Safari: Jock Safari Lodge, Kruger National Park 

South Africa does luxury safari as well as anywhere, and no one does it better than the outstanding team at Jock Safari Lodge. Choose between two exceptional properties – Main Jock and Fitzpatrick’s at Jock, and be guaranteed to experience the very best that the prolific Kruger has to offer – exclusive game drives and wilderness walks, superlative service, a spa retreat, and wonderful accommodation featuring private plunge pools and daybeds.

Best Marine Safari: Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Gansbaai 

Go offshore and explore South Africa’s extraordinary marine life whilst staying at the unique Grootbos Private Nature Reserve. On dry land, this luxury hillside reserve, which overlooks Walker Bay, offers floral safaris, nature walks and horse-riding, but boat trips out on the ocean are where the action really is – with the world’s finest whale-watching, close encounters with seals, dolphins & penguins, and shark cage dives all possible.

Best Train Safari: The Blue Train

Travel in style to the Kruger National Park and enjoy a safari with a difference aboard the spectacularly comfortable five-star Blue Train. Sunrise and sunset game drives as well as a special boma dinner are offered into South Africa’s most famous wildlife park before guests retreat to spend two luxurious nights on the train, where a specially-made bed, ensuite bath or shower room and the services of a dedicated butler all await.

Best Family Safari: Gondwana Family Lodge, Western Cape 

Were you starting to doubt that a malaria-free, luxury safari lodge, geared totally towards the family, could really exist? Well it does. Located on the magnificent Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, Gondwana Family Lodge ticks every single family box – interconnecting rooms, a child-friendly swimming pool, indoor and outdoor play areas and an innovative Kids on Safari programme. Bring your children, and one day they will thank you.

Best Value-for-Money Safari: Amakhala Woodbury Lodge, Eastern Cape 

Stay firmly on budget with a superb VFM  safari at the outstandingly affordable Woodbury Lodge, where the only big charges will come from the elephants! Hidden away on the Amakhala Game Reserve, the secluded thatched rooms all have large decks with views across the plains, and game drives during the day and at night are supplemented by escorted bush walks, allowing you to really experience the high life for a low price.

Best Desert Safari: Tswalu Kalahari, Northern Cape

Dismissing the notion that desert is nothing but arid landscape and endless sands, Tswalu Kalahari is a unique property in a unique location, (covering more than 100,000 hectares), which offers a unique range of activities. Particularly good are the game drives, dune picnics, horse-riding and stargazing, but for many the standout highlights are viewing the semi-habituated meerkats, or spending a night under the vast African skies on an astonishing sleep-out.