Karina was born in Germany but has lived in South Africa since she was five years old. Her family moved to the country expecting to stay for just three years but fell in love with South Africa so deeply that they made it their permanent home! Growing up, Karina spent her holidays exploring the game reserves of South Africa and its neighbours – Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe – which has left her with a great passion for Africa’s natural beauty and wildlife.
She completed a Travel and Tourism course after school and since then has only worked in the travel industry, accumulating some 30 years of experience in the business. For her, there is no greater experience than exploring the African wilderness. (Picture: Karina and her daughter Nicole).
My favourite destination is Botswana’s Chobe National Park and specifically the Chobe Riverfront in the late dry season. The sheer number of elephants in this park at this time is truly phenomenal and must be experienced by nature-lovers once in their lives! You can go on game drives but my favourite activity here is a sunset boat cruise on the Chobe River. Herd upon herd of elephants come down to the water to drink and interact; the baby elephants are especially wonderful to watch.
The Chobe River is the most popular region of the Chobe Park and has great game viewing. I have had the privilege to visit this region with my children and I can thoroughly recommend it as a safari destination for families.
Despite all my years enjoying game drives across Africa, the cheetah had always eluded me. Until I took my daughter with me on a trip to Sabi Sands near the Kruger Park in South Africa. On our first morning game drive we came across a cheetah mom with her two juvenile cubs sitting on an anthill, like they were just waiting for me. We stopped close by and watched them for a while. It was awe-inspiring and my bucket list was complete!
To see a cheetah in Sabi Sands relies a little bit on luck. There are only about 170 cheetah in the greater Kruger region which includes both Sabi Sands and the Timbavati but they can be seen fairly easily in destinations like Namibia’s Etosha National Park and in Botswana’s Kalahari reserves.
My favourite activity on safari are the game drives. I never tire of these; every one of them offers a new experience or a new sighting. In some private reserves, game drive vehicles are allowed to go off road in search of exceptional sightings while their afternoon game drives may also continue after dark with a specially filtered spotlight. These can be super-exciting as you get to see nocturnal animals and maybe predators like lions and leopards on the move.
Game drives are led by expert guides who bring the drama of the African bush straight to your seat: the raised and open-sided vehicles are ideal for photography and you’ll enjoy drinks and snacks too.
