Safari Made Simple

On the trail of giraffes in South Africa.

Frank Herholdt/Getty Images

For most people, an African safari is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But the options available — which countries to visit? What time of year? Which outfitter to use? — are as wide-open as the continent itself. It's a long way to fly for a mistake, so here we offer a guide to the perfect safari.

FOR SEEING IT ALL

From the dry brush of the Kalahari Desert, in the southwest, to the wetlands of the Okavango Delta and the savannah of Chobe National Park, in the north, landlocked Botswana has it all, plus tremendous herds of game to match. Since the country also borders Zambia and Zimbabwe near the Zambezi River, no Botswana safari is complete without a trip to Victoria Falls, that thunderous wonder of the world. Wilderness Safaris has no fewer than twenty camps in Botswana; one of the most lavish is the nine-tent Mombo (from $1,350 a person, double; wilderness-safaris.com), on an island in the Okavango. The best Botswana trips involve flitting among camps in a number of different biospheres, which means the country is the ideal destination for hiring a pilot-guide to fly you from camp to camp in a propeller plane and land in the veld if you spy any interesting action below (see wilderness-safaris.com for pilot-guide recommendations).

FOR HONEYMOONERS

Nothing sharpens the senses more than utter isolation, the feeling that it's just the two of you alone in the African wild. Jack's Camp (from $1,000 a person, double; 011-27-11-447-1605; unchartedafrica.com) is a 1940s-style camp set among the palms and grasslands of the often dry landscape that is Botswana's Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Its ten tents, featuring beds with chambray cotton sheets and Persian rugs, are the pinnacle of refinement. Yet whether you're on a walk with Bushmen trackers or taking an outdoor shower and relishing the warm Kalahari breeze on your skin, you'll think you've stepped into a forgotten world.

FOR THE KIDS

The average age of American safari-goers has dropped significantly in the past decade, and many of them want to bring young children along. In South Africa and other southern parts of the continent, this is not as easy as you'd hope. Game drives in open vehicles are not for infants, and neither are malarial areas. The luxury-safari company Singita (singita.com) has a no-child-under-ten policy that applies unless a family books an entire lodge. CC Africa (ccafrica.com), meanwhile, lets children of any age stay at its lodges, though only kids six and up can go on game drives. For an alternative, look for small camps owned by people who have children themselves. Although the Mara and Serengeti are more remote than other spots in Africa, these eastern regions are traditionally child-friendly. Naibor (from $550 a person, double; 800-642-2861; shompole.com), a plush new camp with nine pale canvas tents in Kenya's sweeping southern Mara, allows children under eight on request; the wonderful Masai staff will entertain them in a gorgeous central mess tent while you are out. (Note: Before planning a trip to Kenya, log on to travel.state.gov for up-to-date advisories and travel warnings.)

FOR THE EXTENDED FAMILY

Since September 11, more people are going on multigenerational holidays, and a spate of exclusive for-hire lodges have opened across the continent to cater to these groups. CC Africa's Phinda Getty House (from $6,040; 888-882-3742; phinda.com), in South Africa's Phinda Game Reserve, is the private four-room bushveld home of conservationist and oil heir Tara Getty and his wife, Jessica, who live in it nine weeks a year and rent it out the rest of the time. The lodge comes with a chef, a butler and game guides and can sleep a family of eight. Make sure Grandpa gets the master bedroom, so he can gaze at photos of scion J.P. Getty II on the wall. Larger groups can spread out at Sasakwa (from $1,500 a person, double; 011-27-21-683-3424; singita.com), the flagship lodge of billionaire Paul Tudor Jones's 350,000-acre Singita Grumeti Reserves, which sits atop a ridgeline overlooking the sweeping plains of Tanzania's western Serengeti. It accommodates twenty-eight guests in six stand-alone stone cottages and one villa, each with a private plunge pool, and has been exclusively hired out by the likes of Ted Turner. Be sure to plan any multigenerational trip at least two years in advance, because exclusive-hire properties book up fast.

FOR A QUICK FIX

If it's your first time in Africa, you may want to test the waters before committing to ten days in the bush. South Africa's Kruger National Park and the adjacent Sabi Sand Game Reserve, each a mere one-hour charter flight from Johannesburg, have some of the most stylish lodges on Earth, and the wildlife is so abundant, you're virtually guaranteed to see most of the Big Five in just three days. Singita's Hollywood-in-the-bush aesthetic is sleekest at its Kruger property Lebombo (from $1,145 a person, double; 011-27-21-683-3424; singita.com): the fifteen glass and blond-wood suites are reminiscent of New York lofts. The fabled Londolozi has five uniquely designed properties in Sabi, among them Tree Camp (from $1,010 a person, double; 011-27-11-280-6655; londolozi.co.za), six air-conditioned suites with private cascading plunge pools in a thick grove of trees on the Sand River. Spend a long weekend here, then head for the beaches and wineries near Cape Town.

THREE MORE SAFARI TIPS

Choose the Right Travel Agent

If you're seeking help from an agent, there's no substitute for an African specialist, someone who knows the parks, migration patterns and climate of the major safari destinations as well as guides on the ground there. These agents can arrange visas and inoculations and book everything from private guides to hot-air balloon rides. Four of the best are Marcia Gordon, of F.M. Allen (212-737-4374; fmallen.com); Maggie Maranga, of Protravel International (212-409-9583; protravelinc.com); Ellison Poe, of Poe Travel (800-727-1960; poetravel.com); and Cherri Briggs, of Explore (888-596-6377; exploreafrica.net). The top agents can also book a private guide to accompany you. "I recommend one if your whole family is traveling," Gordon says. "You develop a special bond with guides, and kids love them." Expect to pay an average of $400 extra a day and up to $1,000 for an expert, like elephant-research scientist Iain Douglas-Hamilton.

Stay Safe and Healthy

All safaris have an element of danger, but you shouldn't take unnecessary risks. Request a guide who carries a rifle. If you'll be traveling in malarial areas, ask your doctor for prophylaxis, such as Malarone; use mosquito netting at night; and be aware that there are more mosquitoes in wet seasons and at low altitudes. When traveling with children, malaria-free areas, like South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve (Madikwe Safari Lodge, 888-882-3742; ccafrica.com) and the private 247,000-acre desert-chic Tswalu Kalahari Reserve (800-735-2478; tswalu.com), both in the dry veld near Botswana's Kalahari, are ideal.

Go Green

With more than ninety camps and lodges between them, blue-chip eco-safari companies Wilderness Safaris and CC Africa are renowned for their light ecological footprint and their support of local communities. Increasingly, operators and agents are adding community-awareness programs to their itineraries. "Our clients go on a tour of an AIDS orphanage outside Nairobi at the end of a Kenya trip," says Dennis Pinto of upscale outfitter Micato Safaris (800-645-2861; micato.com). "Incredibly, despite all the luxury they've experienced beforehand, they invariably consider it the highlight."