Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana
51 800km2
This reserve is a sanctuary for migratory herds of zebra, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, springbok and eland. It is also home to a dwindling number of San hunter-getherers.

Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia
49 687km2
The Sossusvlei dunes in this park are among the highest in the world, reaching a height of up to 305m. Springbok, gemsbok, ostrich and strange subtly adapted plants, such as the leafless Nara bush, manage to survive in the park's extremely dry climate.

Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo
36 560km2
Situated in the Congo Basin between Kinshasa and Kisangani, this equatorial forest region contains pygmy chimpanzee, elephant and various types of antelope.

Gemsbok National Park, Botswana
26 000km2
This semidesert scrublanf is home to antelope and various predatores. It is also an excellent place to catch sight of raptors, such as tawny, martial and blackbreasted snake eagle, plae chanting goshawk, lanner falcon, greater kestrel, pygmy falcon, and various vultures and owls.

Kafue National Park, Zambia
22 400km2
An undulating landscape of miombo woodland, savanna and teak forest supports huge herds of buffalo, the rest of the Big Five, sable antelope, kudu, lechwe and puku.

Etosha National Park, Namibia
22 270km2
This ancient dry lake, the few water holes of which just manage to support wildlife in the dry season, bursts into life in the brief rainy season when thousands of flamingos arrive at the pan to breed.

Tsavo National Park, Kenya
20 812km2
Kenya's largest national park, divided into the East and West sections, is situated on high lying thornbush grassland east of Mount Kilimanjaro. It boasts a huge variety of birds and animals, including elephant, rhino, hippo, and different types of antelope.

Kruger National Park, South Africa
19 485km2
Tarred roads and good facilities make a massive variety of species easily accessible to people travelling by car: some 147 mammals, 114 reptiles, 500 birds, 49 fish, 34 amphibians and 200 butterflies.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
14 763km2
Perhaps the world's most famous game reserve, it is also the scene of the annual migration of up to two million animals, mainly wildebeest, in search of greener pastures. The grass here is rich in phosphorus which, absorbed into the females milk, strengthens the bones of the young animals that are born here.