With such a huge choice of jaw-dropping reserves on offer, it isn't easy to work out which African safari will turn out to be the trip of a lifetime.
From the protected Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the wild Kalahari Desert in Botswana, here's our pick of the eight best national parks Africa has to offer.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Serengeti National Park is Africa exactly as you've always pictured it: an untouched, rippling savannah landscape dotted with flat-topped acacias and vast, roaming herds.
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The Serengeti is the setting for the Great Migration (usually June to July and January to February), widely considered the greatest natural spectacle on Earth, when more than two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle chase the rains.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site offers the same phenomenal predator sightings you'd expect from neighbouring Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya (part of the same ecosystem), but a lion or cheetah chase in the Serengeti can often be watched without another vehicle in sight.
Some visitors may feel let down by the great stretches of plains you have to cross between sightings, yet feeling like nothing more than a speck in the vastness of Africa is part of the appeal.
For beginners: First-time safari-goers should think about starting their Tanzanian adventure with a day or two in the Ngorongoro Crater, where the Big Five (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard) can often be spotted in a single morning drive. After that, you can sit back and enjoy the thrill of the Serengeti as a bonus.
For the experienced: Set aside more time for the Serengeti to really soak it in, and head into the less-visited areas near the Namiri Plains or around the Grumeti River. An often-overlooked alternative to the Serengeti is Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve, which offers world-class sightings of lions and painted dogs (also known as wild dogs).
Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda
Kidepo Valley National Park may just be the most beautiful park in all of Africa.
With the sweeping plains of the Kidepo and Narus valleys shadowed by the brooding mountain scenery of Mount Morungole (the sacred peak of the mysterious Ik people), this park draws you in on its landscapes alone.
Add incredible wildlife encounters and a tiny number of visitors, and you have a clear winner.
Kidepo's ravenous lions hunt the roaming herds of more than 4,000 buffalo (the park's total population is said to be around 13,000), and you'll often see herds of elephants moving majestically across the valleys.
The park's isolation puts many people off, but the 12-hour road trip from Kampala, Uganda's capital (or a fairly pricey private charter flight), is a small price to pay to discover one of Africa's true hidden gems.
For beginners: If the trek out to Kidepo doesn't appeal, Murchison Falls National Park is hard to beat for the sheer drama of the falls themselves and the easy wildlife viewing from cruise boats.
For the experienced: Even for those who've seen everything else Africa has to offer, Uganda may be the best place on the planet to watch primates. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is a life-changing experience, and chimpanzees can be tracked on foot in Kaniyo Pabidi.
Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
Hwange National Park is arguably the most underrated wildlife reserve in Africa.
Zimbabwe's largest national park (nearly the size of Hawaii) is believed to be home to a greater variety of mammals (108 species) than any other national park in the world.
It holds the highest concentration of large land animals anywhere on the planet, yet sees so few tourists that its enormous elephant population (roughly 46,000) outnumbers foreign visitors by nearly 200 to one.
Hwange is also prime predator country, with "superprides" of more than 20 lions (strong enough to hunt even young elephants), along with hyenas, leopards and enchanting painted dogs.
For beginners: Pair it with a lakeside break on Lake Kariba or an introductory safari in Zambezi National Park, which, despite its small size, offers close-up views of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, hippos, crocodiles and even lions right beside the legendary Victoria Falls.
For the experienced: Mana Pools National Park stands out for its incredible density of wildlife, and canoeing and walking trails (guided or not) deliver an adrenaline rush even for the most dedicated wilderness thrill-seekers.
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Often overshadowed in visitors' imaginations by the famous Masai Mara, Samburu National Reserve offers a wilder side of the Kenyan safari.
The Samburu people (frequently confused with their southern cousins, the Maasai) offer just as colourful a cultural draw in what was once Kenya's Northern Frontier District, but only a handful of villages see many visitors, and the Samburu sense of hospitality remains legendary.
Beyond the top-tier wildlife sightings that pull most visitors to southern Kenya, Samburu National Reserve is also home to a striking "second division" that local guides call the "Samburu Special Five" (made up of the beisa oryx, reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Somali ostrich and the elegant gerenuk antelope).
For beginners: Masai Mara National Reserve, sometimes called "the greatest natural asset on Earth," is a must-visit for any wildlife lover.
Rather than basing yourself in a camp in the middle of the (unfenced) park, it's worth considering a stay in a private concession, which can offer experiences such as walking safaris and night drives with the same wildlife, but with a level of exclusivity that's rarely found in the heart of the world-famous Mara.
For the experienced: The 150-kilometre Mathews Range is virtually unknown, but these jungle-clad "islands in the sky" have been described as a "biological bonanza," a place where you can walk in the presence of lions, buffalo and the world's highest concentration of melanistic black panthers.
Kalahari Desert, Botswana
Traditionally known to the San Bushmen as Kgalagadi, the Great Thirst Land, the Kalahari Desert is Africa at its most fiercely wild.
The 52,800-square-kilometre Central Kalahari Game Reserve is hard to reach, and because it's so arid, the wildlife is more scattered here than in the region's other big parks.
Even so, this is a land of pure adventure, and coming across herds of stately gemsbok on the shimmering mirages of Deception Valley, or camping to the guttural roar of a local lion pride near Tau Pan (which means Lion Pan), is guaranteed to stir a sense of privilege.
The reserve has no facilities at all, and you'll need a tour operator experienced in leading a 4x4 convoy to access the region.
Still, the logistical hassles are reliably repaid, many times over, with the adventure of a lifetime.
For beginners: To grasp the diversity of Africa, nothing beats a two-part safari that pairs the shimmering pans of the Kalahari with the wetland wildlife of the Okavango. Moremi Game Reserve is probably the most convenient safari option (with plenty of wildlife to match) in the delta.
For the experienced: The Northern Tuli Game Reserve is one of Southern Africa's unsung treasures. Here you'll find mountain biking, walking trails and even horseback riding through stunning landscapes of mopane and fever-tree forests, sightings of elephant herds up to 400 strong and, quite possibly, the finest leopard viewing in the world.
South Luangwa National Park and Kafue National Park, Zambia
South Luangwa National Park (Zambia's wildlife flagship) is a firm favourite among many devoted safari lovers thanks to its uncrowded wilderness combined with a stunning concentration of wild animals.
Meanwhile, the giant Kafue National Park, twice the size, draws safari connoisseurs with phenomenal lion and leopard sightings, along with an incredible variety of antelope species, many of them rarely seen anywhere else.
Aside from the rhino, the Big Five are relatively common here. Lions and cheetahs often hunt on the Busanga Plains, while leopards and painted dogs can be spotted from a boat on the Lufupa River.
Zambia (along with Zimbabwe) is famous for some of the best guides in the business, and walking safaris and night drives are experiences you can enjoy here that are rarely on offer in the national parks of other regions.
For beginners: Even in Africa, good things sometimes come in small packages. Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park (one of Zambia's smallest) is more of a sanctuary than a park, but it's home to the Big Five and plenty more. Visitors can even walk among white rhinos.
For the experienced: Lower Zambezi National Park serves up breathtaking views of hippos and enormous crocodiles from the vantage point of a canoe on the mighty Zambezi River.
Etosha National Park, Namibia
Although Namibia trails its neighbours in wildlife density, it offers superb sightings of desert species, as well as perhaps the best chance to see the region's iconic cheetahs in action.
Etosha National Park is undoubtedly the star of the country's wildlife line-up, but the dry season (July to September) can get crowded here as the animals gather closer to the waterholes.
Accessible camps and well-maintained roads and trails make this park one of the best options for a self-drive safari, and floodlit waterholes (such as Okaukuejo in the southwest) provide an unusual chance to watch lions, hyenas and even black rhinos at night.
For beginners: Skeleton Coast National Park is named after the many shipwrecks that form a lacework of tangled iron along an eerie 500-kilometre stretch of wind-blown desert dunes. More than a classic wildlife park, the Skeleton Coast offers a unique chance to see huge colonies of up to 100,000 Cape fur seals, as well as herds of migrating desert animals.
For the experienced: The Zambezi Region (formerly known as the Caprivi Strip) forms a wildlife crossroads for Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, but it's a demanding safari that's best undertaken in a 4x4 convoy.
Kruger National Park, South Africa
The giant Kruger National Park (roughly the size of Israel or Wales) is big enough to offer something for everyone.
With diverse wildlife, including the Big Five (an estimated 1,500 lions, though rhinos are critically endangered), Kruger's excellent road network means most areas are accessible even in two-wheel-drive vehicles.
This vast park, often criticised for being "tame wilderness" because of its tarred roads and good infrastructure, stretches 414 kilometres from Crocodile Bridge in the south to the Pafuri Gate in the north; for extra wilderness appeal, it's worth heading further along the less-visited trails of the north.
For beginners: For the independent traveller with a rental car, Kruger is probably the cheapest and most accessible of all Africa's great parks. Sabi Sand Game Reserve shares a 50-kilometre unfenced border with Kruger National Park and stands out for incredible wildlife sightings (as well as, arguably, the best leopard viewing in the world).
For the experienced: The private Phinda Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal offers some of the finest cheetah sightings, enormous leopards, the rare chance to see both black and white rhinos, and a bird list running to more than 400 species.
