Hermanus Whales: The Marine Big 5
Hermanus on South Africa’s Western Cape is widely considered the best land-based whale watching destination in the world. Southern right whales come into Walker Bay every year between June and December to breed and calve – close enough to the cliff path that you can hear them breathe. No boat required.
Community Projects: Iby’Iwacu Village
Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village sits at the edge of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and employs the people who used to poach the gorillas as cultural guides, performers, and hosts. It is one of the most direct and honest examples of conservation-through-community in Africa – and a genuinely enjoyable two hours before or after a gorilla trek.
Kaokoland: The Final Frontier
Kaokoland is the remote northwestern corner of Namibia where the GPS stops being reliable, the tracks disappear into riverbeds, and desert-adapted elephants walk routes that haven’t changed in centuries. It is one of the last genuinely wild places in southern Africa – and Hoanib Valley Camp is the base that makes it accessible without making it easy.
Marine Big 5: The Ocean Safari
Everyone knows the land Big 5. Mozambique’s Marine Big 5 – whales, whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, and turtles – operates on the same logic and delivers encounters that are, in several cases, impossible to replicate anywhere else in the Indian Ocean. The Mozambique ocean safari is one of the most underbuilt itinerary concepts in Africa.
Hemingway’s Kenya: Chyulu Hills
The Chyulu Hills are a range of young volcanic mountains in southern Kenya, draped in mist, covered in green highland forest, and sitting with a direct view of Kilimanjaro on a clear morning. Hemingway called them the Green Hills of Africa. They still look exactly like that.
Elephant Interaction: Meeting the Herd
In the Okavango Delta, two camps offer something that almost nowhere else in Africa can: a genuine, ethical, up-close encounter with habituated elephant herds. Abu Camp and Stanley’s Camp have been doing this for decades. The experience of walking alongside an elephant – close enough to touch – is one of the most affecting things a traveler can do in Botswana.
Gonarezhou: The Place of Elephants
Gonarezhou National Park is Zimbabwe’s second largest park, home to some of the biggest-tusked elephants left in Africa, and visited by almost nobody. The Chilojo Cliffs turn red at sunset in a landscape that looks nothing like the rest of southern Africa. This is what off the beaten path Zimbabwe actually means – not “slightly less crowded,” but genuinely, completely alone.
Remote Camps: The Bushcamp Company
The Bushcamp Company operates six small, remote camps in South Luangwa National Park with no mains electricity, bucket showers under the trees, and a maximum of 12 guests per camp. The guides are among the best in Africa. The walking safaris between camps are the best way to experience the Luangwa Valley.
Batwa Pygmies: The Forest Keepers
The Batwa people lived inside the forests of southwestern Uganda for thousands of years, alongside the mountain gorillas, without destroying either. Then the national parks arrived and evicted them. The Batwa Trail is how their culture survives today – and one of the most quietly powerful experiences you can have in Uganda.
Chimp Trekking: Mahale Mountains
Mahale Mountains National Park sits on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania, accessible only by light aircraft and boat, with no roads and no vehicles inside the park. The chimpanzees here are among the most habituated in Africa. The lodge is extraordinary.