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Wildlife places are selected for quantity and variety of animals, certainty and ease of viewing and splendour of environment.
Hire a guide or travel with a tour if possible as they will know where and when to find the elusive critters, when and how to protect you where necessary, and keep you comfortable in the process.
Safaris are expensive and will usually be in organised groups. If available, try a tented camp for the full wildlife safari monty
Big game, big desert, big dunes: Etosha National Park, Namibia
The great arid scrubland and salt pan of Etosha contains a massive concentration of wildlife, particularly huge herds of zebra, various antelope and wildebeest, but no shortage of elephants, giraffe or birdlife either. Predators are tricky to find and depend on luck and persistence.
There are three inexpensive, walled restcamps in Etosha, each with their own waterhole attracting animals. Namutoni is less successful, Halali's hole attracts a lot of elephants and giraffes, while Okaukuejo is the hands down winner, with superb huts and a wonderful waterhole with endless action, occasionally even getting lion kills.
Drive-yourself safaris visiting other waterholes are excellent, with varied, stunning scenery. Cars can be rented in the unattractive capital, Windhoek, about 5 hours drive away.
Cape Cross, on the Skeleton Coast also offers 100,000 seals that you can get close to if you can stand the smell, the monstrous red dunes at Sossusvlei are totally amazing and climbable - up to 600m high, and Swakopmund town is pretty and relaxed. You can 2WD drive to all.
Best June-Sept, OK May, October, otherwise incredibly hot.
Big game safari: Masai Mara National Park, Kenya
Massive amount of wildlife in a huge savannah. Although it may have too many tourists and it's not self-drive, it's probably the most animal accessible game reserve. Stay in a tented camp for the real safari experience. Very best July-Oct at [3 week] wildebeeste migration; this varies so check it. Good weather December - March. Avoid April-June [big rains].
Some say that recently too many jeeps are getting careless and scaring off animals, and Samburu National Park is now better - less busy and more romantic, though not the same quantity and variety of animals.
Marine life: The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
15 actively volcanic islands that constitute a 'living laboratory' of mainly marine animals - sea lions, seals, iguanas, turtles, sharks [you can snorkel with them too] giant tortoises, penguins and more blue footed boobies than you can shake a stick at.
A bleak and blasted landscape but the local inhabitants are totally unaffected by human presence and easy to approach and photograph. Strangely it was the unassuming Galapagos finches that triggered Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
Best Jan-March. Avoid July/Aug [busy, expensive, windy, rough], and September - November [when the waters are coldest, roughest and services are reduced]. Best to stay on a boat [smaller ones are better unless you get seasick] that will move between islands at night.
7 nights at least needed. For the very seasick prone there are some land hotels at Puerto Ayora in Isla Santa Cruz, though wildlife viewing will be restricted.
Big game safari:
a] Serengeti, Tanzania: The world's most famous big game park and great variety of animals, though jeeps often have to follow specific tracks, whereas they can go anywhere in the Masai Mara. The general infrastructure is not as good as Kenya's.
Very best in June - early July before/beginning of wildebeest [more than 2 million] and zebra migration which lasts 3 weeks [check the timing with tour operators]. Good also December- February. Avoid March-May [heavy rains].
b] Ngorongoro Crater [Conservation Area], Tanzania: Huge concentration of prey and predators, spectacular scenery and no migration. Better than Serengetti but relatively confined so tourist vehicles jockeying for pole position can be a pain. Best June-October, December-February. Avoid March-May [rains].
c] Selous Game Reserve, South Tanzania: If you want to have a walking with animals experience rather than riding one, try this monster game park. Best June-October or January-February for bird watching. Avoid March-May [rains].
Gorilla safari: Rwanda, Parc National de Volcans and Uganda, Mgahinga National Park [same volcano as Democratic Republic of Congo's [previously Zaire] Virunga] or Bwindi National Park [the worst option as vegetation is thickest here]. Mountain gorilla safaris. Not easy, heavy climbing and only one hour viewing, but if you get close you won't forget it. Best in January, February, June, July.
Kahuzi-Biega Parc [plains gorillas & other wildlife] and Virunga National Park [mountain gorillas], DRC [Zaire], both currently closed due to civil war. n.b take a rain poncho, very fast film or digital camera [at least asa 400, 800 or even 1600?], a fast lens [2.8] if possible and NO flash!
Lemurs, plus plus: Berenty Reserve, Madagascar: 80% of the plant and animal species are unique on this huge tropical island. Berenty is where you'll get closest to more than 30 kinds of lemurs including the scary aye-aye, chameleons, tortoises and more. Also not far away are exotic plants of every description - baobab trees for example, funky graves/tombs and weirdly eroded rock formations. Best May-June, September-November. Avoid December-March [rains, hurricanes].
Wildlife and plants in various national parks, Costa Rica: This tiny peaceful tropical country has dedicated about 15% of its land to national parks containing a vast variety of wildlife - especially birds [850 species]- and over 12,000 species of flowering plants. In addition the country offers tourists volcanoes, hot springs, beaches and adrenalin activities. There are around 70 nature parks.
Generally Costa Rica is best from December-April. Avoid May-November [rains], tho' May and November may not be too wet and will be much less crowded.
Self-drive wildlife safari: Kruger National Park, South Africa: A massive reserve, the size of Wales, offering all the usual wildlife. Apart from the size, what makes Kruger different from most other safari parks is that you can self-drive and have a big choice of places to stay inside the park, from comfortable tented camps to luxury lodges.
Animals are habituated to cars so a fair number can be seen beside roads, though you won't see massive wildlife groups that you do in neighbouring Namibia's Etosha, or on East Africa's savannah. Beware busy South African holidays and book your rooms in advance.
The private lodges are superb experiences if you can afford them - beautifully designed and run, but ironically, because there's less traffic in their private game areas. The wildlife is less habituated to vehicles so the private, guided game safaris are likely to be less successful than just self driving on public roads!You can also walk in the park with an armed guard if you so choose.
Best June-September, the dry season, when animals are more visible due to shorter grass and malaria is less/not a problem. OK May-October.
Bare necessities: If you enjoy the unspoilt outdoors and want to wander in wonder among forests of snowy peaks, glassy fjords, crystal lakes and rivers jumping with salmon-fishing bears, then a summer trip to Alaska [far north USA] could be the place for you.
At this time there are also plenty of moose, deer, wolves, whales and marine lifeforms.
The weather in this part of the world is erratic but the months for bear-fishing-watching are July-September. Early September provides best weather, best prices and least trouble booking things.
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