My First South Africa and Botswana Safari Changed How I Plan Safaris Today

What my first safari taught me about choosing a camp

In September 2010, my parents surprised Dan and me with a safari through South Africa and Botswana. It was my first trip to Africa, and more than 15 years later I'm still telling stories from it.

We watched lionesses hunt. We saw lion cubs. We fell asleep to hippos and lost count of the elephants.

But when I look back on that trip as a travel advisor, the thing that stays with me is how much the fit matters. The best safari is the one built around the people taking it. I learned that on this trip (well, my parents learned it first).

We started in Cape Town, and I'd do it again

We spent 3 nights at The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, drove out to the Cape of Good Hope and spent time in the Winelands before we ever saw the bush.

For a first trip to Africa, I think that's the right way to start. You've just flown halfway around the world. Cape Town gives you a few nights to sleep, eat well and drink some very good wine before the early game drives begin.

It has Europe with Cape Town… and then you get the wild part.

I still build this in for a lot of my first-time safari clients. You don't have to land in Africa and climb straight into a safari vehicle.

The guides I still remember

Our first camp was Tanda Tula in the Timbavati. I knew our guide, Scotch, was special before we even got to camp.

On the drive from the airstrip, a bird flew past and my mom said she loved it. Scotch told her the exact page and number to find it in the field guide. Off the top of his head.

We were floored.

Then at MalaMala in the Sabi Sand, we had Benz. Short for Mercedes-Benz, because (we were told) he was that good. With Benz, we watched 2 lionesses stalk an impala and make the kill. It was hard to watch. Emotional, uncomfortable… and real. That's nature doing exactly what it does whether anyone's watching or not.

15 years later, Scotch and Benz are 2 of the people I remember most from the whole trip.

This is why I push back when people choose a safari camp from the pictures. A gorgeous suite and a plunge pool are lovely. But camp prices are based on the GUIDES' expertise, and the guide is what you're really paying for. A great guide explains what you're looking at. An average one drives you from sighting to sighting.

The camp we loved and my parents didn't

In Botswana we stayed at Tubu Tree in the Okavango Delta, and Dan and I loved it. Small and adventurous, with raised tents and walking and water activities. Wide open, no fences.

One night Dan woke up to a bull elephant rubbing against the tree right next to our tent. Somehow I slept through the whole thing.

My parents had a very different trip.

The steps up to the raised tents were hard for them. And the walking and water activities Dan and I were excited about weren't what they came for. They wanted a comfortable seat in the vehicle and their eyes on the animals.

That's completely fair. We were different travelers on the same trip.

So we moved on to King's Pool in the Linyanti, which suited my parents much better. They got the comfort they wanted, and we were all still out in the wild.

I think about Tubu Tree all the time. It's the reason I don't believe there's one "best safari camp." The camp that's perfect for an active couple can be the wrong camp for their parents, even on the same itinerary. That's the heart of planning multi-gen travel (and multi-gen is our jam).

Baboons, hippos and a full moon

At King's Pool we had a beautiful suite with a private plunge pool over the river. And some of my favorite memories there had nothing to do with any of it.

One night, under a full moon, a troop of baboons settled in above our tent and carried on for what felt like the entire night. They peed on our tent. Meanwhile, we could hear the hippos down in the river.

Ridiculous. Funny. I'll never forget it.

That's safari. You're a guest in the animals' home, and the moments you could never plan are the ones you end up telling for years.

Luxury on safari is personal, too. For one person, it's a small tented camp you fly into on a little plane, with days spent walking or out on the water. For another, it's fewer steps, easy game drives and a plunge pool waiting at the end of the day. Whichever one fits YOU is the luxurious one.

What that trip still teaches me

I've been a travel advisor for 31 years, and that first safari still shapes the questions I ask.

When I look at a camp, I want to know about the guiding, how accessible it is, what activities they offer, the pace, the location and how it fits into the rest of the trip. That matters most when there's a grandparent and a teenager on the same safari.

That trip also sold me on pairing South Africa with Botswana. In one journey we had Cape Town, the Winelands, private reserves in South Africa and the big open wilderness of Botswana. I still pair them for clients all the time.

Would I pick the same camps today?

Maybe. But I'd never recommend a camp just because I loved it in 2010.

Camps renovate. Management changes. Activities change. A camp that was perfect 15 years ago can feel completely different now.

When I plan a safari today, I look at recent client feedback, who's guiding, the location, what the wildlife is doing that season, accessibility and how each camp fits into the whole itinerary.

The name of the camp matters. The fit matters more.

Where to start with your first safari

Start with you, and we'll get to the camps after. Here are the questions I'll ask you:

How active do you want to be?

Are stairs or long walks a concern?

How do you feel about small planes?

Do you want an intimate camp, or a lodge with more amenities?

Is it all about the wildlife, or do you want walking, boating or canoeing too?

What else do you want on this trip? Cape Town? The Winelands? Somewhere else entirely?

You don't need to know the answers before we talk. That's my job.

So tell me: what do you picture when you think about your first safari?