“Breakfast with the Meerkats” was one of the many twists on the typical safari experience offered at the awesome Tswalu Lodge in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert. You arrive at the Meerkat den around dawn, sit on a blanket, have some snacks and coffee, and wait for the families to get going about their day, popping out of holes all around you. It’s a change from the typical predator-focused game drives, and our guide explained that kids especially like it, because it reminds them of Timon, the meerkat in Disney’s original Lion King movie. When you talk to safari guides, it turns out that a lot of tourists, especially those with kids, are inspired by the Lion King.
Today the big budget, non-animated remake hits screens all over the country and is expected to be a blockbuster. It’s my hope that seeing actual lions and other majestic animals on the screen, rather than cartoon versions, will inspire even more people to take a wildlife vacation to Africa. I’m not just a fan, I believe this is about the best vacation of any kind you can go on, the biggest prize in the so called “Bucket List.”
Here’s the thing: different people like different things, and there are lots of kinds of vacations. I love skiing and take a few ski trips each year, but if you don’t ski, that’s not for you. Likewise, lots of people take annual cruises, but those aren’t really my thing. Others love museums, the beach or spas, some go camping and some prefer urban escapes. But I can’t think of anyone I know who wouldn’t love a safari, though many don’t realize or consider it. I’ve spoken to those who thought they wouldn’t care for safari, but then were blown away and so glad to be proven wrong. But most people wait too long and put off this dream vacation - don’t.
If you’ve gone on a safari you are probably already sold and don’t need to read anymore, but if you haven’t, it’s hard to explain just how awesome a trip this is. And no, it is not like going to the zoo. The thing about being in the wild is that it is wild, and animals behave like they are supposed to, not like prisoners sitting around awaiting their next meal. To travel into the natural parts of Africa is to travel into the heart of Mother Nature in all its raw beauty. At the very least it is amazing, and at the most, life changing.
Many people describe going on safari as a once in a lifetime experience, but that’s just wrong, and selling yourself short. Yes, it is an experience you need to do at least once in your lifetime, but in this case, more is better. I’m personally limited by the fact that it’s a long and typically expensive trip, but if I had the freedom, just like skiing, or for some people cruises, I would go on safari every year. Even repeating the same place doesn’t get old, because the good lodges are fantastic and no one dislikes a great hotel, while the experience is always different because it is nature and it is ever changing. Every time you leave your room something new and shocking can happen and often does. At some lodges you don’t even have to leave your room - elephants might walk up and drink from your private pool.
Whenever you talk to someone about a safari their eyes light up and they tell you about “that moment,” the unscripted and unexpected wow factor. I’ve seen many of these, including really rare animals like pangolins and honey badgers, but this most memorable moment is my example of why you shouldn’t wait until you are no longer active to go, and why you should go over and over again.
Most lodges do morning and afternoon game drives, but most also offer an optional daytime walk. To my shock, not many people do these - I always do. Yes, it is often really hot, and the animals tend to shelter during midday, so you often don’t see anything spectacular, but at the very least you get exercise in a beautiful landscape. I was at Ulusaba, a luxury lodge in South Africa that is part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Limited Edition hotel collection. The first day of the trip I did the midday walk and so did several other guests. We did not see much but bugs and plants. The next day only a few others turned out for the midday heat and same story. The third day, only one other guest bothered to make the effort with me.
On our walk we encountered a newborn giraffe and her mom. The rangers had seen the pregnant giraffe, but believed we were the first humans to see it - and the first it had ever seen. At the rangers’ unnecessary urging we stood still, and with the mother watching carefully, the newborn came over and checked us out, just a few feet away, staring and sniffing as if she was the one taking the safari and we were the wildlife. There’s just no forgetting that, and it is the kind of over the top experience you can only have if you put yourself out there and go on safari. You still probably won’t, but you might. Or you might see something even more fantastic. The rangers go every day, for years, and you still hear them say, “I’ve never seen that before.”
But there are also many different places to go. For first timers it is usually either classic East Africa (Kenya and/or Tanzania) or South Africa. Next time, go to the other one. Then try Botswana, or maybe gorilla trekking in Rwanda. Avid safari goers often move onto places like Namibia, while combining safari with a visit to the stunning Victoria Falls (Zambia and Zimbabwe) is a natural pairing. These are big countries, and you can go back to South Africa - I’ve been four times - and visit different regions. For instance, most people skip the Kalahari, off the standard tourist route, but it’s one of the best possible places you can go to see lions and rhinos, in a dramatically different ecosystem.
On top of all that, it’s not just Africa - you can add tigers to your list (India), polar bears (Canada and Alaska), and everything from jaguars to sloths to grizzlies to snow leopards. But when we talk wildlife safaris, Africa is the epicenter, where it all begins, just because of the sheer number of ultra-desirable animals you can see in one stop: lions, leopards, cheetah, zebra, elephants, rhinos, giraffes. crocodiles, and just about every kind of antelope you can imagine. And meerkats.
Safaris can be complicated trips, but they do not have to be. I’ve written at great length here for Forbes (and for many other publications), about specific lodges, destinations and outfitters, and below are links to those stories. But the most important thing is simply to go. Having been to Africa many times and to many of the finest lodges, it’s easy for me to be a safari snob and say “you have to do this,” or “you have to go here,” but the reality is there is no such thing as a bad safari - it goes from good to better to great to world class, and you should do it as well as your budget and schedule allows, but most of all, just do it.
According to Travel & Leisure, the typically all-inclusive price for an African safari is $800-$1000 per person, per night, and that is nothing to sneeze at. But in their round up of tips for saving big, from going off season to less obvious destinations to smaller, less famous camps, they give several good examples of how to get it way down, to $200 or less per night - for quality trips.
One of the easiest and best turnkey ways to save money is with South African Airways vacations. SAA is perennially rated the continent’s best carrier, I’ve flown them and they are better than the U.S. airlines, and because you have to get there anyway, packaging the air with the trip can save you big, and also makes it seemless one stop shopping with transfers and everything included. SAA also has nonstops from the U.S., which is rare. I just took a peak and they are currently advertising two levels of 9-day trips with air, safari and urban sightseeing (Cape Town is one of the world’s great cities) for $2,400 and $3,200 respectively - with round trip flights.
You can also do one stop shopping through the bigger brands of luxury safari lodge operators, with multiple locations, sometimes in several countries. These are not cheap, but they are top shelf, from food and drink to often over the top accommodations, but most of all, they’re in great places to see wildlife and have the best guides. The finest include Singita, andBeyond, Belmond, Elewana, and Virgin Limited Edition.
But if you want the simplest shortcut to the absolutely perfect African safari - anywhere on the continent, but always with the best guides, lodges and logistics at each price point, the answer is simple: call Micato Safaris, 9-time winner of World’s Number One Safari Company by Travel & Leisure (and tons of other big industry awards). There are a lot of good high end safari tour operators, from venerable Abercrombie & Kent to National Geographic Expeditions (especially for photo buffs or those who want to travel with scientific or academic experts), and Thompson Safaris, and I have heard good things about all of them (I’ve gone with A&K but not on safari).
I have personally traveled with many of the world’s most awarded luxury travel companies in all fields, from skiing to biking to escorted specialty tours, and Micato is the best I have been with, period, regardless of the kind of trip. I know this is no fluke, because I’ve traveled to Africa and India with them six times, and none of those trips could have been better. Besides knowledge, experience, highly skilled longtime staffers and great customer service, what Micato has - for over half a century - is clout and relationships, and I’ve seen this personally with top hotels, attractions, restaurants and even royalty falling over themselves to assist guests above and beyond, which in turn means better rooms, better experiences and VIP access. The best doesn’t come cheap, and half the company’s tours are private and bespoke, but they also have competitively priced regularly scheduled group trips, and I’ve done this too - it’s still awesome.
But my bottom-line advice is this: go see the Lion King if you want to, but go to Africa on safari no matter what.
Here are some more helpful links at Forbes:
South Africa - The Ultimate Bucket List Destination
Best Safari Lodges at South Africa’s Kruger National Park
The Best Safari Lodge You Never Heard Of
Cape Town, South Africa’s Jewel City
Plan Your Perfect Dream Safari
Africa's Best Kept Secret: An Ultra-Luxury, Ultra-Eco Safari Lodge
Is This Safari Lodge The World’s Best Rental Home?
