This map of Southern Africa shows some of the most popular tourist areas in Southern Africa including the Greater Kruger National Park, Cape Town and the Garden Route in South Africa; Botswana's Okavango Delta, Chobe and Moremi Game Reserves; Namibia's Etosha National Park; Victoria Falls, which can be visited from the Zimbabwean or Zambian side, and more. Smaller and lesser-known game reserves are not highlighted with markers on this Southern Africa map.

Madikwe Game Reserve
Madikwe Game Reserve Feature Game drive

Madikwe is one of South Africa's popular Big 5 safari destinations for those looking for a malaria-free safari. It's especially family friendly as there's no need for malarial prophylactics. Most lodges in Madikwe Game Reserve welcome children and offer specially designed child-friendly programmes to keep the little ones busy and to help them really enjoy their safari experience, too.

Moremi Game Reserve
Feature Game drive Moremi Game Reserve Botswana Sanctuary Chiefs Camp

Moremi Game Reserve is one of Botswana's best Big Five wildlife destinations. The lodges in the Moremi Game Reserve typically offer a combination of 4x4 game drives and boat trips on the waterways of the Okavango Delta. Excellent land- and water-based game viewing and its close proximity to Maun make Moremi Game Reserve a wonderful Southern African safari destination.

Cape Town
Cape Town Travel Guide

Cape Town is South Africa's oldest and most beautiful city and the top travel destination in Africa. Built on the slopes of Table Mountain, the city offers something for everyone, from beautiful views and beaches to world-class cuisine and inspiring culture. Cape Town is a must-see destination for anyone travelling to South Africa.

Kruger National Park
Feature Kruger National Park South Africa Simon Vegter

The Greater Kruger National Park is South Africa's premier safari destination: it's the largest wildlife conservancy in Africa, set in one of the most accessible yet unspoilt wilderness areas in South Africa. It encompasses the Kruger National Park and a number of adjoining private reserves which share unfenced boundaries with the park; including Sabi Sand, Timbavati, Klaserie and Balule Game Reserves, which are home to a wide variety of private game lodges, each with its own brand of style and luxury.

Panorama Route
00 Feature Travel Guide Panorama Route South Africa

One of South Africa's most scenic areas, the Panorama Route refers to the escarpment in Mpumalanga Province, where the Drakensberg mountains separate the Highveld from the Lowveld to the east. Studded with numerous waterfalls, spectacular viewpoints and geographical phenomena and a breathtaking canyon, it's easy to see why it's such a popular tourist destination.

Okavango Delta
Feature Pairing Southern African Destinations Okavango Delta Wynand Uys

There are few wild places on Earth that offer the same unique combination of spectacular wildlife, beautiful scenery, palm-fringed waterways, remote islands and vast unspoilt wilderness as Botswana's Okavango Delta. The Okavango swamps are formed by the annual flooding of the Okavango River, which opens into a vast life-giving oasis in Botswana's desert. The delta attracts huge numbers of wildlife due to the permanent water available here.

Victoria Falls
Feature Africa Travel Guide Victoria Falls - Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls is the most spectacular sight anywhere in Africa. One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, this huge curtain waterfall lies on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, where the mighty Zambezi River plunges 108 metres down into a narrow gorge, creating a waterfall that is a mile wide. A visit to Southern Africa is not complete without a trip to Victoria Falls. The falls can be visited from the Zambian or from the Zimbabwean side. The town on the Zambian side is called Livingstone, and the town on the Zimbabwean side is also called Victoria Falls. Both locations are safe, popular tourist destinations with good infrastructure and a variety of accommodation options.

Garden Route
Feature The Garden Route Stormsriver Bridge Tsitsikamma

The Garden Route is the coastal area between Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. It is known for its beautiful scenery, mountains, rivers, lakes, forests and beaches. A number of interesting, laid-back coastal towns add character to the Garden Route, including Knysna, Wilderness, Plettenberg Bay, Nature's Valley, Sedgefield and, of course, George with its regional airport.

Etosha National Park
Two cheetahs in Etosha National Park, Namibia

Etosha National Park is Namibia's top game-viewing destination and is rated as one of the best safari destinations in Africa. Covering some 22,270 square kilometres of dramatic landscapes in northern Namibia, Etosha is home to a rich diversity of wildlife and birds, despite its stark appearance. The open terrain and sparse vegetation are ideal for spotting animals, especially when they congregate at watering holes during the winter months from June to August. The unique Etosha Pan stretches out over about a quarter of the park in an endless dry expanse where mirages rise in the heat. When the rains come, the barren desert transforms into shimmering, shallow lakes.

Hwange National Park
Feature Hwange National Park Zimbabwe Christine Donaldson I Unsplash

Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe's largest and most popular game reserve; arguably the best safari destination in Zimbabwe. There is a wide variety of habitats and vegetation types, including dry Kalahari-type bushveld, mopane shrubland, acacia savanna, huge open grasslands, vast wetlands and teak forests. This diversity attracts a variety of wildlife, making Hwange an excellent choice for an African safari. It's also close to Victoria Falls and the two destinations can easily be combined in one safari itinerary.

Mana Pools National Park
Mana Pools Zimbabwe Lions Kavinga Safari Camp

Mana Pools in northern Zimbabwe is one of the few wilderness areas where it's possible to explore on foot (either guided or on your own) or by canoe. Roads are few and far between so game driving is by 4x4. It's a pristine, unspoilt paradise, with abundant game, spectacular scenery and an incredible variety of birds.

Lake Kariba
Feature Lake Kariba Zimbabwe Sunset cruise on the lake Bumi Hills Safari Lodge

Straddling a portion of the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, Lake Kariba is the world's largest man-made lake. Its creation provided perfect conditions for wildlife in Matusadona National Park, located on a section of its shore on the Zimbabwean side, to thrive. Game viewing along Lake Kariba's shoreline can be done by houseboat, canoe or boat, and from inside Matusadona on foot; preferably with an expert guide. The roads are rough and gruelling and 4x4 vehicles are required.

South Luangwa National Park
Feature South Luangwa National Park Walking safari Kaingo Camp

A sweeping, fertile valley sculpted by the Luangwa River, South Luangwa National Park is best known for its diverse and wealthy wildlife and the superb quality of its guides. It's a great destination for walking safaris and one of the best places to see leopards in the wild. South Luangwa National Park is definitely high up there on the list of favourites among true safari enthusiasts.

Sossusvlei
Feature Sossusvlei Dunes Namib Desert Namibia Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge

Sossusvlei epitomises the exquisite desert experience of Namibia, with its endless sea of dunes. The blazing ochre Sossusvlei dunes rise up to over 320 m tall, making them some of the world's highest sand forms. These forever-shifting dunes, constantly reshaped by the wind into sandy valleys, slopes and peaks, form the ancient Namib Desert. The reds, oranges, yellows and caramel browns of the dunes and the bleached whites and washed-out pastel shades of the pans continuously transform with the turning seasons and the play of light which makes the desert landscapes glow at dusk and dawn.

Phinda Game Reserve
Phinda Game Reserve - KwaZulu Natal - South Africa

Phinda Private Game Reserve is not far from the well-known iSimangaliso/Greater St Lucia Wetland Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Phinda offers you abundant wildlife, courtesy of its incredibly diverse habitats. There, a handful of private lodges share excellent game sightings in a 23,000-hectare wilderness. Within easy distance of the warm Indian Ocean and its pristine beaches, Phinda makes for an ideal "bush and beach" safari destination.

Lower Zambezi National Park
Canoe Game Viewing in Lower Zambezi National Park

Lower Zambezi National Park is found in a vast valley created by a huge rift in the Earth's crust through which the mighty Zambezi River flows. The mineral-rich deposits from ancient volcanoes deposited here over millennia have created a lush, tropical paradise for a large assortment of vegetation and wildlife, mirrored on its opposite banks by Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.

Matusadona National Park
Africa Travel Guide - Matusadona National Park - Zimbabwe

Matusadona National Park, located in the heart of Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley on the shores of Lake Kariba, offers some of the country's most rewarding game viewing opportunities and is often best explored on foot. Walking safaris are the perfect way to investigate the ruggedness of Matusadona's wilderness which ranges from shoreline grassland and mopane woodland to mountain acacia woodland on the escarpment.

Greater Addo National Park
Addo Elephant Park South Africa Kuzuko Lodge

Greater Addo and the nearby private game reserves are among the most popular malaria-free safari destinations in South Africa.

You may also want to look at
Southern Africa Safari
15 Day Southern Africa Signature Safari
15 days
From
$4,060
£3,201
€3,742
R78,400
pp sharing

Our 15-Day Southern Africa Signature Safari is what we consider to be an ideal safari itinerary on a mid-range budget to see the best of Southern Africa within a limited time frame. Take in some of Southern Africa's top destinations – the spectacular Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe; Chobe National Park in Botswana; picturesque Cape Town and the Garden Route; the Kruger National Park and the famous Sabi Sand Game Reserve in South Africa.

Aerial View Victoria Falls
12 Day Victoria Falls, Cape Town & Kruger Safari
12 days
From
$2,318
£1,827
€2,136
R44,750
pp sharing

Combine these three top travel destinations in Southern Africa on this popular 12-day trip idea: Victoria Falls, Cape Town and the Kruger National Park. You can swap the order of destinations around, change the duration and choose accommodation according to your budget and wish list. Cape Town is regularly voted one of the best destinations in the world, Victoria Falls is one of the world's most breathtaking natural wonders and Kruger Park is the top safari destination in South Africa.

Share