If you want a bit of a thrill on safari, choose from my ten favourites:

1. The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth; My introduction to African safari started in a hot air balloon over the wildebeest migration from Tanzania’s Serengeti over the river into Kenya’s Masai Mara. The balloon company was co-owned a friend of father’s in London and I had no idea that they had planned for me to visit the Masai Mara on my first visit to Africa and stay with the balloon pilots. They were so welcoming that I stayed for the duration of the three-month wildebeest migration. Now you can understand why I became a safari fanatic! My first ever published travel article was about hot air ballooning over the migration. Read it here. 

2. Look in the eye of a Leopard; the best place to do this is in the Greater Kruger area in the private reserves bordering Kruger National Park. You can see some reviews of South Africa lodges in leopard country here.

3. Sleepout in a Treehouse or Starbed; many safari lodges offer this romantic yet exciting sleeping option of a treehouse or sleeping platform under the stars. I’ve been to several including Makanyane, Kapama, Lion Sands, Jaci’s, Delta Camp. There are others dotted around east and southern Africa, such as, Rukomechi, Ngala, Loisaba, Little Kulala, Nkwichi, Tinyaleti, Tswalu, Victoria Fall Safari Lodge, Xigera Baobab, The Hide and Jao.

4. Canoe the Zambezi; Read my article here, where I experience moments of fear and hilarity as I canoed the famous Zambezi, dodging hippos and living to tell the tale.

5. White Water Rafting at Victoria Falls; no time to feel scared before the next rapid arrives! Being lightweight and gung-ho, I was bumped out of the rubber duck at virtually every rapid to tumble through a washing machine of white water. It’s got to be done once (but once was enough for me)!

6. Shark Cage Diving; get up close and personal with the apex predators of the ocean in Cape Town waters. Chris Fallows of Apex Shark Expeditions departing from Simon’s Town in False Bay is my go-to great white shark expert and what he doesn’t know about these creatures isn’t worth knowing! I interviewed him – take a look at my portfolio website and  his take on Great White Sharks.

7. Walking the Desert Sands of Sossusvlei; go barefoot to the top of the highest sand dunes in the world in the Namibian desert. It’s not hazardous (unless you get lost or meet an angry Oryx), but climbing these enormous orange dunes makes you feel on top of the world. And of course they are so far from anywhere that you’ve had quite an expedition to get here. Read my hilarious story ‘Don’t Follow Me Into the Namibia Sand Dunes – find it here.

8. Gorillas of Uganda & Rwanda; fill your heart with joy just by being with these close cousins – less than 1,000 left in the wild. Read more about this jungle trekking experience and make a point of planning this trip before there are none left to see.

9. Mokoro through the Okavango; a silent and beautiful way of floating past elephant and grazing antelopes. You don’t have to do the paddling…leave that to the poler who knows how to avoid crocs, hippos and wading elephants. Read my article about ethical Botswana safari here.

10. Walking Safari in the South Luangwa; with the most highly awarded safari guides in Africa this is the best place in Africa to walk amongst game. I admit I haven’t been to the South Luangwa yet, so still have one of my Top 10 Safari Thrills to still do, and I plan to remedy that very soon!

This is bucket list stuff, so share the post and tell everyone which of these Top Ten Safari Thrills you are going to do before you die!

 Written by Safari Tart Carrie Hampton.