The World’S Most Iconic Safari Experiences – And The Cut-Price Alternatives

From dining with giraffes to sharing your pool with a thirsty elephant, Africa is full of unique (and utterly Instagrammable) wildlife encounters, most of which cost a small fortune. But there are ways to enjoy these experiences on a (relative) budget. Here’s how.

Eating breakfast with giraffes

The blow-out: Every influencer worth their salt has posted photos of themselves sharing breakfast with Giraffe manor’s resident herd of Rothschild’s giraffes – which poke their heads through open windows looking for specially-formulated pellets to eat. 

A visit to this impressive colonial mansion-turned-breeding centre, a wood-panelled fantasy of roll-top baths and glistening gramophones on the edge of Kenya’s Nairobi National Park, has exploded in price since it became Insta-famous, with a night’s stay starting from £850pp.

Tracking the wildebeest migration

The blow-out: Every year more than two million wildebeests, zebras and gazelles trek 1,800 miles from Tanzania’s northern grasslands to Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. The greatest spectacles of all are the river crossings, when the wanderers are forced to dodge hungry crocs in their never-ending quest for new pastures.

To witness it comes at a hefty price, with an all-inclusive six nights in the Masai Mara during the peak of the river crossings (July-October) costing £8,000pp with Mahlatini Luxury Travel. 

Witnessing a lion on the hunt

The blow-out: Contrary to what David Attenborough may have led you to believe, it’s incredibly difficult to see lions hunting. To boost your chances, the travel company Expert Africa asks its guests to record the animals they see each day, and where – before publishing the findings on its website. 

That being said, the best place to see lions isn’t necessarily the best place to see lions hunt, says Chris McIntyre, the managing director of Expert Africa. For this, you need to go somewhere “where you’re allowed to drive off-road, to follow a pride hunting”, which many of the most well-stocked reserves, like the Serengeti, do not allow. You also need to also go to a park that allows safaris at “dusk and dawn, and into the early evening,” as that’s when predators are most active.

McIntyre suggests Botswana’s Lebala Camp, which employs guides who are “very good at tracking lions and the other large predators across the bush – maximising your chances of finding them and of following a hunt.” Expert Africa has an eight-night all-inclusive safari that visits Lebala from £8,120pp.