Wildlife Holidays

Why wildlife holidays work best as multi-centre trips

A safari or wildlife trip on its own is rarely what clients actually want by the end of it. The pattern we see again and again is this: three or four days in a tented camp, genuinely life-changing, and then a gradual re-emergence into wanting a beach, a city, a different kind of beauty. The best wildlife holidays are built to honour both impulses. East Africa to Zanzibar. The Masai Mara to the Kenyan coast. South Africa safari to Cape Town. Borneo orangutans to the islands of Sabah.

We plan wildlife holidays as multi-centre itineraries by default, because single-destination wildlife trips almost always feel incomplete. The exception is a dedicated deep safari of four or five nights in a single outstanding conservancy. Even then, most clients add a coastal leg.

East Africa: the original multi-centre wildlife circuit

Kenya and Tanzania between them offer the most recognisable wildlife experience in the world. The Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania are effectively one ecosystem split by a border. The Great Migration crosses between them seasonally, which means the best time to see it depends on where exactly you want to be.

The Mara is at its most dramatic from July to October, when the river crossings peak. The Serengeti has a longer season and more spatial variety. Amboseli in Kenya, with its Kilimanjaro backdrop and large elephant herds, adds a completely different visual register. Combining two of these with a coastal leg in Zanzibar or at Diani Beach on the Kenyan coast is the itinerary that sells most consistently for us. Twelve to fourteen nights is the minimum to do it properly.

For Uganda and Rwanda, the wildlife is entirely different: mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi or Volcanoes National Park is one of the most singular experiences available to a British traveller. It pairs naturally with a Tanzania or Kenya safari, though gorilla permits require booking many months in advance.

Southern Africa: safari and the city done properly

South Africa is the most versatile wildlife destination we sell. The Kruger National Park and its surrounding private reserves, including Sabi Sands, Timbavati and Thornybush, hold the full Big Five and operate some of the finest private lodges on the continent. Sabi Sands runs two game drives a day in open vehicles with expert trackers, and the lion and leopard sightings are the most consistent in Africa.

What makes South Africa distinctive as a safari destination is Cape Town. A safari in the bush followed by four or five nights in one of the most spectacular cities in the world, on a coast that produces serious Pinot Noir and Chenin Blanc, with whale watching from shore in season, is a combination that suits almost any client. We use it consistently as an introductory safari destination.

Botswana and Zimbabwe extend the circuit. Chobe in Botswana has the largest elephant population on the continent. The Okavango Delta is one of the very few places where you track game on foot, by mokoro canoe and by vehicle in the same day. Victoria Falls rounds out a southern Africa circuit for clients who want genuine breadth.

Southeast Asia and the Americas: wildlife beyond Africa

Borneo is the most underbooked wildlife destination we sell. The Kinabatangan River in Sabah offers pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey, orangutan and hornbill sightings from a river boat, at a fraction of the cost of an African safari. It pairs naturally with a beach leg in the Philippines or diving at Lankayan.

Costa Rica is the Americas wildlife answer: cloud forest, rainforest, Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and a density of species that makes every day eventful. We typically route clients through Monteverde cloud forest, Arenal volcano and the Osa Peninsula, with Manuel Antonio as a beach finale. Two weeks covers the best of it.

The Galapagos Islands sit in a category of their own. Giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and sea lions with no fear of humans. A Galapagos cruise of seven or eight nights, combined with Ecuador or Peru on either side, is the most complete South America wildlife circuit.

How long a wildlife holiday needs

The minimum for a meaningful safari is three nights in a quality camp, ideally four. Below that the jet lag is a material part of the experience and you leave before the rhythm of early mornings and game drives has settled. Five or six nights in the bush, combined with three or four nights on a beach or in a city, is the structure that works best for most clients.

Long-haul wildlife trips need at least ten nights to justify the journey. Twelve to fourteen is the sweet spot for East Africa. Southern Africa circuits that include Cape Town, Kruger and Victoria Falls need two weeks to breathe.

Who wildlife holidays are right for

First-timers to Africa consistently describe it as the trip they wish they had done sooner. There is a wide price range from midrange permanent tented camps to ultra-luxury private concessions, and we match the level to the client. Families travel on safari more often than most people realise, and several lodges in Kenya and South Africa specifically cater for children.

Why book your wildlife holiday with The Internet Traveller

We hold direct relationships with the camps and lodges we use, which matters for permit allocation, vehicle priority and room upgrades. Our consultants have tracked lions on foot in South Africa, canoed the Okavango and watched the river crossings on the Mara. That experience is part of what you are booking.

Every wildlife itinerary we build is ATOL protected and ABTA bonded. We handle the gorilla permit applications, the internal flight bookings and the sequencing of game drives and coastal flights. The brief we work from is yours.