Going on a African Safari is an incredible experience. For a lot of us, this means traveling pretty darn far and having a lot of locations, within the African continent, to choose from. We know the struggle and this post will walk you through our findings and ultimate pick.

Our safari options
How many days did we visit
Mosetlha Bush Camp - Where we stayed and why

Young elephants playing close to a waterhole

Our safari options

Africa is a big continent and there are many options to go on a game drive. We specifically wanted to see the Big 5 (that’s lions, leopards, rhinoceros, elephants, and Cape buffalos) plus African elephants, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, etc… We narrowed down our search to Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. This is not to say that you can’t go elsewhere like Botswana, Zimbabwe or Mozambique (to name a few) but Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa had other attractions we wanted to see. We ultimately chose to do a Safari in South Africa, here’s why:

No Malaria - some parts of South Africa have no Malaria (same with Botswana); we didn’t want to take Malaria medication if we didn’t need to. For those with children this is worth noting because children can’t take malaria medication as we understand it.
In Tanzania and Kenya we were going to miss the wildebeest migrations , which happen in Nov/Dec. We definitely want to go back to see this event, and we’ll take the Malaria medication then.
Bonus: we saved the cost of the visa for US citizens; which is $51 for Kenya and $100 for Tanzania (as of June 2019). Visas don’t influence whether we visit a place unless they are 1) very hard to get or 2) very expensive. In this case, this cost was not a decision making factor, but we thought the savings were worth noting on this post.

Leopard sleeping after eating the leftovers of a Hyena kill

How many days did we visit and why

We chose to do just a 2 day/1 night Safari in South Africa, at the Madikwe Game Reserve. Safaris are not cheap, even if you are going to otherwise affordable country. In hindsight, 3 days/2 nights would have been less rushed but we were incredibly fortunate to be able to see all big 5 in such a short time frame. Back at the lodge, after our first game drive, other guests commented that we had been very lucky to see all Big 5 in, literally, the first few hours we’d been at the reserve. More on the cost and details below.

When deciding how many days will be best for you, just bear in mind that although more days increases your chances of viewing more animals, it does not mean you will. Going with the mindset that any viewing any of the wildlife is truly a gift will afford you a much more pleasant experience and save you some serious disappointment.

Mosetlha Bush Camp

We finally settled on Mosetlha Bush Camp in the Madikwe Game Reserve, for a few awesome reasons:

They fit our budget, yay! - they weren’t cheap but we felt that for the experience they were very affordable. We paid approximately 370USD for 1 night stay that included lunch and dinner on the day of check in, and breakfast the next day (water was free but other drinks were not included), plus 2 game drives (one in the afternoon and one in the morning). Additionally, we paid 35USD for park fees and 30USD for tips. So, total was around 500USD for our 2 day adventure. Considering our daily budget right now is 120USD, the 250USD we spent per day was more than double, but it was definitely worth it. Also, many of the other lodges were closer to the 800USD range (for the same length stay) albeit the accommodations were more luxurious, but we actually preferred a closer-to-nature experience.
Madikwe is a large game reserve, at 75 000 hectares, we liked that this wasn’t just some ‘big zoo’. Not only that, Madikwe game drivers communicate with each other so that when an animal is sited it won’t get overwhelmed by jeeps. They way they do this is by communicating by radio the location and assigning each other a queue number so that when one jeep leaves, the next one can approach. Additionally, all profits are reinvested into the local community.

Hornbill hanging out in the camp - Madikwe Reserve

The camp is very eco-friendly, everything from the water management, to eco-toilets and true-5-minute showers, to using solar panels for the very limited appliances or battery charging for us photo-crazed tourists. Also, the camp is not closed, so wildlife can literally walk right through.

Cabins are super comfy - we thought maybe we’d be cold, but at night you are given a hot water bag and we closed the canvas window coverings; this was more than enough for us. Also, in June there were no mosquitoes, but during mosquito season they also provide mosquito nets.
The dining area was one of our favorites, you get to interact with other guests and most people share their game drive experiences.

I hope you enjoyed our experience of how we picked our first African Safari. If you have any questions or tips of your own, please leave them in the comments below.