Our Journal

A fantastic time of year to be on Safari – why because the weather is great and the game viewing is the best!

Combining Southern and East Africa is the ultimate, however one needs time. Time is a luxury, with time comes the greatest of experiences and getting the very best out of each destination.

Mala Mala – our favorite game viewing destination in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Rattrays camp has a beautiful colonial style atmosphere and décor. No children under 16 lends itself to a mature, calm feeling, located on the Sand River – the action never stops! Game drives at Mala Mala are totally thrilling, driving off road, big game sightings, up close! Really close, always surprisingly close for our guests! These are the best guides who know where to find all the animals. 

Dry season brings so many elephants down to the sand river, giraffe wander past all day, and the nyala are constantly in the gardens around the rooms.

This is high intensity game viewing. Leopard heaven, perfect habitat, and they trust the vehicles. We have numerous leopard sightings over our 4-night stay. Young male in a tree avoiding hyenas who chased him up there. A female and her two 4-month-old cubs, so special, a magic moment. Seeing cubs is on everyone’s hit list, however they aren’t always around, it’s the best, but not only did we spend an afternoon with 2 leopard cubs and their mom. We watched as two lionesses and their six tiny cubs, woke up for the afternoon and headed into the sunset. So cute, heart wrenching. What a moment, lion cubs and a sunset!

A male leopard in a tree, and posing beautifully, African Wild Dogs for a brief moment, Mala Mala has it all. It’s all about the wildlife, but there is also a gym, a spa and delicious food, favorite meal of the stay – barbeque night!

At Safari Architects it’s about attention to detail, it’s about the extraordinary network of local guides on the ground, the best of the best, who always look after us, it’s about relationships, and this is what takes your experience to the very highest level. Combining the very best guides with a private vehicle, exclusive, the freedom to tailor the timings and days, what we are looking for and how we do it. Private guided and hosted, with the very best on the ground guides, and a private vehicle is the ultimate and only way to do a safari best.

Botswana here we come, a very favorite destination! Water wonderland, 2025 has brought huge amounts of water and the Okavango Delta is full and looking better than ever. The life is extraordinary, the sunsets are the best, crisp clear mornings, in the Delta, to me, you can’t beat it. In Botswana we spend time on the water in traditional canoes, and meet a big hippo, we won’t forget him! On Duba Island, we spend the day with a single lioness and her 3 offspring. She is an incredible hunter and in the space of a few hours makes 2 kills, while we observe, lioness at full speed through the water. The circle and cycle of life playing out in front of us. It is raw and powerful. Emotions are up and down, adrenalin is up. An incredible day of game viewing spent with this family, it felt like we were part of them. A day on safari where we also encounter a big bull rhino sleeping, hundreds of Lechwe and warthogs, elephants, kudus and then get entertained by Baboons at the rooms.

Next day we spend on the water, hippos at eye level, hundreds of photos, it is so beautiful, fishing for the Tiger fish! And a moment with an elephant bull in the last golden light of the day as he crosses a water channel in the Okavango Delta.

Botswana should be on every safari itinerary, it is diverse, it is wild. Oh yes, I forget about the lions moving through camp at night, and the sounds, hippos honking and baboons barking, the thrill of safari. We fly low over the Okavango delta, a scenic flight, early morning, sun rising. Its travel day and we are off to the Serengeti to see the great migration.

Waking up in the wilds of Okavango Delta and flying privately in the incredible Pilatus 24, spacious, super-fast, silent inside. This machine takes us from Southern to East Africa and just after lunch time we are in the Serengeti, in the jeep and on the search for the herds of the great migration!

You won’t believe it. We leave the airstrip off our private aircraft, and we drive straight into the great migration crossing the Mara River. It’s totally unbelievable, a first for me. But that’s how we roll at Safari Architects, we put ourselves in the best places at the best times. We see 2 crossings on our first afternoon, this is not usual, but its great! Crocodiles take down 3 wildebeest, another gets away. Natures greatest wildlife spectacle, the chaos is playing out in front of us.

Nyasi camp is glamping at its best, an immersive experience, one all our guests rate extremely highly. For the sounds, the smells, the family style meals, the simplicity.

The great migration is truly mind boggling and quite hard to comprehend. We see thousands and thousands of wildebeest each day. And all that goes along with this movement of ungulates. Vultures, hyenas, leopards and more. The Northern Serengeti in July and August is off the charts.

Floating over the migration with the sunrise, truly spectacular, the light, the silence, the floating feeling. What a way to start a day! You can’t miss out on this one! A hot-air balloon ride over the great migration. From the hot water heated by fire and the canvas accommodation it’s off to Singita. To fine dining, spa treatments, the gym and swimming pools. Wine cellars, snack fridges, and electronic blinds and windows. Faru Faru. Luxury.

Grumeti reserve is golden grass, endless oceans of grass. The Zebra are migrating into the area following fires and rains, thousands crossing the Grumeti river. The noise was the most astounding. Grumeti reserve also has more lions than any other place I know in Africa. Cubs, so young, never seen so young! Big males, moms. We immerse ourselves in Lion society and spend so much time with the cubs, playing. but can’t get enough. We relax, slow down the pace, take it all in, endless views, wilderness, peace. Magic game drives and relaxation. Cheetah, Elephants, Ostriches and lots and lots and lots of Zebra.

How do we end off this itinerary. How else? Its Gorilla trekking time, Rwanda here we come, and the gorgeous Kwitonda lodge in Volcanoes national Park.

Rwanda is a unique country. The political history, economic growth, varied and quite extraordinary development policies, and the intense and serious focus on eco-tourism, makes this an unmissable destination on our Safaris.

Gorilla trekking – its physically challenging – but not too much! At all! – It’s a true adventure, in the mountainous forest, trekking to find the endangered mountain Gorilla. It’s a true experience, which is without a doubt one of the best anyone could do in Africa, it’s the perfect ending to a Safari. One needs to be 15 years and older, and physically in good shape. And can also book private treks for more freedom in timing and the ability to dictate just how challenging the trek will be.

Singita Kwitonda has a snow skiing lodge feel, indoor fires, cozy spaces for spending time together, but it comes with two towering extinct volcanoes, forest buffaloes and the adventure of gorilla trekking. A magical place. The time flies by. The adventure is over.

Sunsets, moments never to be forgotten, pondering on rocky outcrops in Mala Mala, getting muddy in Volcanoes National Park, boat rides in the Okavango Delta, floating over the great migration.

Dreams and memories. Forever.

“This trip has been magical”   JT.