Top 10 Places in Africa For The Best Wildlife Photography

Passion towards wildlife, a good camera, and South Africa as your backdrop is all you need to look like a professional photographer. Though there are a lot of technicalities to be a professional photographer. Trust me the photos you click randomly around some places make you feel and look like you a pro photographer to people around you. Here are the top 8 African destinations for best wildlife photography.

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

The iconic Maasai Mara National Park deserves No. 1 spot because of its remarkable population of predators and of course “The Great Migration” that occurs every year between the months of July and October. Thousands of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle make their animal visit to the Maasai Mara from Serengeti following the green grasses that pop up after the rains in Maasai Mara. If you are really lucky you will be able to capture scenes of a Mara River Crossing

Best time to snap: July to October

The Kalahari Desert, Botswana

With a very light background full of the rust-coloured valley, Sand dunes, and scrubland the frames you get here are picture-perfect. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is home to giraffes, elephants, wild buffalos, hyenas, and yellow mongooses to name a few. The shots you take here will be unique in nature due to the natural setup 

Best time to snap: December to January / April to October

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Known for its size and magnificence ‘Kruger National Park’ is Africa’s second-largest park. Home to high populations of Big 5 (Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Leopard, and Buffalo) in South Africa. Kruger National Park has a number of exquisite rivers that will be perfectly in sync with the natural landscape of the area. This destination is perfect for wildlife lovers and is filled with great history and beautiful views. 

Best time to snap: March to September

Rain forests in Atsinanana, Madagascar

This is one perfect place for rainforest shots and for capturing tropical hues. With over six national parks to choose from and each one has its own unique biodiversity, Madagascar is a photographer’s paradise. Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is one of the popular parks with dense and damp forests. You will be able to spot the lemur species when you stroll through the forests.

 Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

You will get some of the best shots with our closest relative in this park, Yes Volcanoes National Park is a haven to more than 400 mountain gorillas with rainforest background mixed with bamboo trees everywhere. It is also home to more than 180 species of birds and a lot of other unique wildlife like golden monkey, black-fronted duiker, three-horned chameleon. 
You will get some of the best shots with our closest relative in this park, Yes Volcanoes National Park is a haven to more than 400 mountain gorillas with rainforest background mixed with bamboo trees everywhere. It is also home to more than 180 species of birds and a lot of other unique wildlife like golden monkey, black-fronted duiker, three-horned chameleon. 

Best time to snap: mid-December to early February / June to September

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

The Serengeti translates to ‘endless plains’ which is exactly the way to describe the national park. It spreads across 1.5 million hectares of plains and is home to a variety of wildlife including the very famous Big 5 and is renowned for the great annual migration of more than 1.5 million wildebeest. This will be one perfect opportunity for you to capture the crossings of the wildebeest across rivers and predators trying to grab them. Lots to capture and lot to experience. Make sure your cameras have enough space because you can’t control yourself from pressing the click button

Best time to snap: July to March

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Okavango Delta is a perfect place for nature lovers and it greets every traveler with spectacular landscape and beauty. Take a trip to Makoro on the world’s largest inland river delta and enjoy the calming isolation while to snap. Wildlife encounters here are unique as you can see the gigantic beasts up so close.

Best time to snap: May to September

Amboseli National Park

If you are an elephant lover make sure to visit this park as this national park has the highest concentrations of elephants compared to other National Parks in all of South Africa. Also if you have not seen Lions on top of trees please visit this park. Less than 5% of observations this happens and you have a good chance in Amboseli National park to see this as lions here tend to climb up trees

Best time to snap: June – September

Lake Manyara National Park

All the people who wondered where Tarzan film was shot you got the answer right here! Yes, a very famous movie was shot here in this park. Lake Manyara National Park is an unspoiled paradise of the groundwater forest fed underground springs. As Amboseli National Park Lions, Lake Manyara’s lions also tend to climb trees very often and is undoubtedly one of the most iconic attractions in the park.

Best Time to Snap: July to October

We hope this got you excited to snap some amazing photographs. Visit Pickyourtrail and choose the best South Africa Vacation Package according to your preferences and further customize it the way you want. Also, when you are back from the vacation make sure to share some of your amazing shots with us. We will be waiting until then!!