Elephant Safaris

Huge and powerful, African elephants are masters of all they survey. They are also long-lived and highly intelligent, and many travelers find that the time spent getting to know the elephants is a highlight of any safari.

Traditionally the best place to sample an elephant-backed safari is Abu Camp in Botswana, where your days are spent getting to know the character and nature of your own particular elephant while exploring the bush at a gentle, lumbering pace. Abu Camp has a minimum-stay requirement and is "reassuringly" expensive, so it may be that a less intensive experience is more suitable. At Victoria Falls it is possible to take an elephant-back safari from Livingstone, where you're likely to interact with other elephants as well as wild game.  Elephant rides are also becoming available in South Africa.

There are other ways to get to know African elephants rather than riding on their backs. In Botswana, you can meet them as individuals through day-long bush walks, while in Kenya it is possible to learn the habits of elephants in the wild by participating in elephant research projects.

Time spent with the world's greatest land mammals is always rewarding. Their legendary intelligence and complex behavior, even now, is barely understood: quite apart from being excellent companions, they repay any level of engagement.