Discover the thrills of walking safaris in South Africa, getting face to face with Africa's wildlife on foot.
Walking safaris in South Africa are an incredibly
thrilling experience. Here you are on foot in the midst of the African bushveld and its wildlife.
Close up encounters with elephants, rhino's, buffalos, zebras giraffes, lions and a variety of other
predators and antelope species awaiting you behind every bush and around every bend. Your senses
become immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the bushveld around you.
Talking about walking safaris, it might be interesting to note that the word
safari comes from the Swahili language spoken by the people around the African great lakes. It
is of Arab origin, meaning "journey on foot" and that is what safaris In Africa's historical
times were all about. Explorers and discoverers, slave traders and tribes on the war path, large
bodies of people plodding through the African wilderness for months on end, covering vast
distances.
Safaris on foot are for the more adventurous who want to get as close to
nature as possible. Many game reserves and also national parks such as the Kruger National Park
in South Africa offer bush walks under the guidance of armed rangers, often in between game
drives. They last for up to 4 hours. Bushveld hiking is one of the best ways to explore Africa's
wonderful wildlife and scenery. The highly trained rangers will use all their skills to ensure
that no unnecessary risks are taken.
Some of the private game reserves and national parks including the Kruger
National Park, offer walking safaris on a larger scale. Armed rangers and trackers accompany
groups of usually no more than eight on an exploration of the African bush lasting on average
from 3 to 6 days. At night you will sleep in a basic bush accommodation in the form of a tent or
a simple hut.
Walking safaris in South Africa are an extraordinary and exciting alternative
to guided game drive, self-drive and fly-in safaris. Just imagine yourself walking in the African
wilderness in the middle of nowhere, miles from any signs of civilization, getting face to face on
foot with black and white rhino, elephants, giraffes, zebras and a variety of predators and
numerous antelopes.
Between experiencing Africa's wildlife and scenery on foot or from a noisy
safari vehicle lies a world of difference. Indeed, on a walking safari you will cover a lot less
territory, but then, the feeling of becoming one with the bush around you is so extraordinary and
so different. The beating of your heart, the sharpening of your senses, the alertness to every
sound as you edge closer to a Rhino, Elephant or even a Lion is an experience that will stay with
you forever.
Find the walking safari in South Africa that
suits your interests and preferences.
Compare: over 450 safari tours, over 500 specialized safari tour operators,
over 50 national parks and game reserves and more than 200 user reviews.
There are different types of walking safaris,
which can be distinguished as follows:
Classic Walking Safaris
Called classic because this type of walking safari is a close representation of the original
safaris of the early days. Under the guidance of well experienced rangers their duration can be
anything from 3 days upwards. There are no prepared campsites and no toilet facilities.
Participants have to be completely self-sufficient, backpacking their own tent, food, water
and clothes, setting up camp at a different location in the raw bushveld each night. You can't
get much closer to the immense beauty of the African wilds than this and moving from place to
place, sleeping in different settings it feels like a "journey", a true safari.
Mobile Camp Walking Safaris
These are comparable to the Classic Walking Safaris. The main difference is that the mobile
type of walking safari is of a more comfortable nature. Participants walk form camp to camp under
the guidance of experienced game rangers, backed up by a support team.
The camps can be in the form of temporary tented camps which are broken down and set up by the
support team each morning and night, but they can also be more permanent camps at different
locations. Amenities include sleeping, toilet and shower facilities. Meals and beverages
(non-alcoholic) are also provided.
Short Day-Walks
These are relatively short 2 to 3 hour game walks conducted mostly in the early mornings and
late afternoons under the guidance of experienced game rangers. These game walks are offered by
most safari lodges and National Park rest camps as an activity next to their regular game
drives.
They are usually held in the nearby area surrounding the camp or lodge, offering a great and
affordable opportunity to give the idea of a walking safari a try and to see how it compares to
a game drive.
Permanent Camp Walking Safaris
This type of walking safari is conducted from a permanent base camp or lodge. Participants
stay at the camp for a period of 2 or more days. Experienced rangers will take them on 3 - 4 hour
game walks into the bush each morning and afternoon.
They will return to the same camp or lodge each time and at the end of the day they can enjoy
a proper bed with shower and toilet facilities. Simple but wholesome meals are usually provided
together with water tea and coffee. Anything else you might have to bring yourself depending on
arrangements and circumstances.
Picture Gallery
Group of safari participants on a mobile walking safari, a reminiscence of
the safaris of the early days when travelers into the African interior had to plod through its
wilderness day after day for months on end to reach their destinations. There was no other way.
Today we do all this for reasons of pleasure and tourism like exploring Africa's nature, wildlife,
beautiful scenery, different cultures etc. On a walking safari you are doing all this on your feet
at grass roots level like the group of people in this picture who are crossing a river bed through
shallow water.
Meeting the giants of the African savanna on foot, is a breathtaking
experience. The first question that may come to your mind is, how dangerous is this and how safe
is a walking a safari. If you take the necessary precautions and have somebody who has intimate
knowledge of the behavior of animals in the wild as your guide, this type of safari can be quite
safe. A lot depends on the knowledge, skills and experience of your guide who should be armed in
case of an emergency. In general the animals will avoid contact with humans and will in most cases
just disappear. Keep your distance and avoid anything that could make them feel cornered or
threatened, because it is then that they will become aggressive. That also applies to the
Elephants in this picture.
Meeting the giants of the African savanna on foot, is a breathtaking
experience. The first question that may come to your mind is, how dangerous is this and how safe
is a walking a safari. If you take the necessary precautions and have somebody who has intimate
knowledge of the behavior of animals in the wild as your guide, this type of safari can be quite
safe. A lot depends on the knowledge, skills and experience of your guide who should be armed in
case of an emergency. In general the animals will avoid contact with humans and will in most cases
just disappear. Keep your distance and avoid anything that could make them feel cornered or
threatened, because it is then that they will become aggressive. That also applies to the
Elephants in this picture.
Morning bush walk in the region around Boulders Bush Lodge in the Kruger
National Park, South Africa. The number of people on a bush walk is usually limited to around
eight participants and two armed rangers. The rangers are highly skilled and experienced with an
intimate knowledge of the plant and wildlife you are exploring. If you obey the rules and follow
their instructions, your walking safari will be as safe as a game drive in a vehicle. The animals
in the bush will avoid contact with humans as much as possible. The skill and experience of your
ranger guides will make the difference, ensuring that you will see a variety of wildlife including
animals such as Elephants, Buffalo's and Lions without any mishaps happening.
Morning bush walk in the region around Boulders Bush Lodge in the Kruger
National Park, South Africa. The number of people on a bush walk is usually limited to around
eight participants and two armed rangers. The rangers are highly skilled and experienced with an
intimate knowledge of the plant and wildlife you are exploring. If you obey the rules and follow
their instructions, your walking safari will be as safe as a game drive in a vehicle. The animals
in the bush will avoid contact with humans as much as possible. The skill and experience of your
ranger guides will make the difference, ensuring that you will see a variety of wildlife including
animals such as Elephants, Buffalo's and Lions without any mishaps happening.
Eye to eye with a pair of White Rhino's, and on foot, a blood-tingling
experience. Rhinos are well known for their poor eyesight, it is almost impossible for them to
identify anything beyond a distance of 30 meters. Therefore their sense of sight is not of much
use to them in their day-to-day life. They rely on their sense of hearing and especially their
sense of smell. So if you encounter a Rhino and are more than 30 meters away from it, you can be
quite safe provided that you are downwind, are not making any noise and remain motionless. Even
more so when it is a white Rhino as shown in this picture. It is more even-tempered and less
likely to charge than its more aggressive counterpart the Black Rhino.
Eye to eye with a pair of White Rhino's, and on foot, a blood-tingling
experience. Rhinos are well known for their poor eyesight, it is almost impossible for them to
identify anything beyond a distance of 30 meters. Therefore their sense of sight is not of much
use to them in their day-to-day life. They rely on their sense of hearing and especially their
sense of smell. So if you encounter a Rhino and are more than 30 meters away from it, you can be
quite safe provided that you are downwind, are not making any noise and remain motionless. Even
more so when it is a white Rhino as shown in this picture. It is more even-tempered and less
likely to charge than its more aggressive counterpart the Black Rhino.
Video Gallery
Short video about a walking safari in Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe,
showing some breathtaking face to face elephant encounters. As one of Southern Africa's top
game-viewing areas, Mana Pools is situated in northern Zimbabwe. The Park is home to 2,500 square
kilometers of Zambezi River flood plain and river frontage that turns into a wide stretch of lakes
and pools after each rain season, attracting large numbers of animals in search of water.
The following video is also about a walking safari party running to into a big
Elephant bull. But this time it becomes a real confrontation when the massive bull gets
irritated and advances on them with a mock charge.
Colin Patrick, One of the accompanying rangers tells the story as follows:
The reason for the Bull advancing on us became later evident when we were told by the
clients that one member of the group had tried to run down the river bank and another had moved
position, we were not aware of this during the encounter as we where approx 4 - 5 meters in front
of the clients and were concentrating on the Elephant actions, both clients where held still by
other members of the group as per our pre trail briefing, this can be seen in the clip where the
Elephant reacts to the persons moving across and in front of the camera. At this stage it is
important for the guides to concentrate on the potential threat and deter a situation, which we
did. The Elephant then backed up and moved off. We continued our walk after the excitement within
the clients had returned to normal, I reiterated at this point to the clients on the importance
of not moving or generating noise during such an encounter such as had occurred. The Elephant
was not provoked or harmed in any way.
Short video of Robin Pope safaris, a well known safari tour operator in Zambia.
It shows a typical mobile walking safari where you move to a different location each day,
including the setting up of the camp and the tents with beds and bathrooms, as well as the
preparation of the meals.
Video about a walking safari experience in the region around Tanda Tula Safari
Camp. Tanda Tula is a luxury tented safari camp situated in the heart of the world
renowned Timbavati Private Nature reserve, which in turn is situated adjoining the Kruger
National Park in South Africa.
This video is also about a walking safari experience, but this one is in the
region around the Track and Trail River Camp in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. With the
Luangwa river as its life-blood attracting a large diversity of wildlife, the Park is well known
for its walking safaris, where they in fact originated.
