Comfort camping safaris are journeys ranging between a few days to longer, staying almost exclusively in Africa’s best national parks and wildlife reserves or their adjoining private concessions. Usually operating in the dry season, they are mobile safaris, moving from camp to camp via 4X4, canoe or on foot.

You won’t need to set up tents or cook, and you still enjoy the comforts of a more established lodge but without the more luxurious touches like a swimming pool or Wi-Fi. On a comfort camping safari you still sit down to excellent food and cold drinks and there are hot-water showers and simple but adequate toilet facilities.

You don’t need to be especially fit or fearless for a camping safari but many of our tours involve walking and canoeing, and you will be under canvas in big game country. We recommend them for couples and single travellers looking for an authentic, experienced-focussed safari with more than a basic layer of comfort and convenience.

We also recommend exclusively booking a camping safari for a multigenerational family or group of friends travelling together. This way, you can build the safari around the interests and timetable of your group. Note however that camps are unfenced and open to wildlife; most operators take children only over the age of six. Ask us about individual suitability for families.

These safaris travel between campsites and conduct game drives in specially modified 4X4 vehicles. Raised high off the ground and with open sides, they provide an ideal platform for wildlife sightings and photography. Small group size means everyone gets a window seat.

Your guide serves as both driver and game drive host; the day revolves around two drives – an early morning drive that returns in the mid-morning, and an afternoon drive that returns after sunset. On certain vehicle-based tours there may also be the chance to go on short walks and water excursions with your guide.

Combining land and water environments gives you the broadest range of wildlife experiences. Our canoe/walking safaris explore wild stretches of the Zambezi River and ephemeral Kalahari waterways in Botswana. It is an experience for the adventurous: there are hippos and crocodiles in the rivers and you’ll be on foot in big game country and sleeping under mosquito nets on riverbanks.

But the reward is a safari of unforgettable moments – encounters with elephants, campfire conversation under a dazzling night sky and the fascinating company of expert, armed guides. The canoeing is easy – you float down with the current and the walking terrain is flat and open.

As Africa’s dry season wears on, animals concentrate in increasing numbers around permanent water. Vegetation dies back and the skies are clear: ideal conditions for walking.

On foot in the Kruger or South Luangwa is one of Africa’s most exhilarating safari experiences. Armed guides and trackers lead the way, sharing their knowledge of the landscape with you. Encounters with animals like giraffe, elephant, buffalo and antelope are common and there are always signs – if not sightings of – the big predators.

The walking terrain is mostly flat and open and doesn’t require a high degree of fitness; you’ll be accommodated in tented bush camps or fly-camps – even simpler camps set up as you go.