3 African Safaris: Public Parks vs. Private Game Reserves — What I Learned

Disclaimer: I am not a safari expert, wildlife professional, or experienced safari guide. This article is based entirely on my personal experiences, observations, and opinions from three African safaris: Etosha National Park in Namibia, Kruger National Park in South Africa, and Chobe National Park in Botswana. Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed, and every safari can be completely different.

I have now been on three African safaris, and each one has taught me something different.

My first safari was in Etosha National Park, Namibia, in June 2024. Almost two years later, in February 2026, I went on safaris in both Kruger National Park in South Africa and Chobe National Park in Botswana.

Across the three parks, I have seen an incredible variety of wildlife — elephants, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, impalas, lions and leopards, among many others.

But there is one thing I understand much better now than I did before my first safari:

Not all safaris are the same.

And when you watch spectacular safari videos online, where a jeep suddenly stops in front of a pride of lions or a leopard walks just a few metres from the vehicle, it is important to understand what kind of safari you are actually watching.

Public National Park Safari vs. Private Game Reserve Safari

Before my first safari, I assumed that going on safari simply meant getting into a jeep, driving around a national park and looking for animals.

And, in a way, that is exactly what it is.

But there is a major difference between a safari in a public national park and a safari in a private game reserve, especially when the latter is part of a luxury safari lodge experience.

This difference became very clear to me after watching many safari videos on YouTube.

I have watched videos where the guide drives into the bush and, almost immediately, there is a pride of lions directly in front of the vehicle. A little later, there is a leopard. The vehicle gets very close, there are no other jeeps around, and the guests can spend a long time watching the animal.

After my own experiences, I realised that this is not necessarily because the YouTuber is extraordinarily lucky while I am extraordinarily unlucky.

The type of safari makes a huge difference.

My experience: the public national parks

My three safaris were much closer to what I would describe as a regular or traditional national-park safari.

You enter a large national park, drive along permitted roads for hours and look for wildlife. Nothing is guaranteed.

The guides and rangers repeatedly make this very clear. One of the first things you are told is essentially: You are in the wild. Nothing is set up, and nobody can guarantee which animals you will see.

And this is an important part of the experience.

You might drive for a long time without seeing much at all. Then suddenly you see a herd of elephants crossing the road, a giraffe standing in the distance or dozens of impalas appearing from the bush.

And if you are lucky enough to find a lion or leopard, there may already be several other vehicles there. This was something I experienced myself.

We did see lions and leopards, but they were often far away — sometimes around 50-100 metres from the vehicle ( with one exception in Chobe NP where the guide went off-road and we saw 7 lionesses really up close ). Normally, the guide would not simply drive across the landscape and position the vehicle right next to the animal.

There are rules about where vehicles can go, and in many areas you have to remain on designated roads. So seeing a wild cat is exciting, but getting a spectacular close-up view is much more difficult.

Private game reserves are a different experience

Private game reserves operate differently.

Guests often stay in luxurious safari lodges located inside the reserve, and the experience is much more exclusive. Often, animals can be seen on the grounds of the lodge, so guests are not allowed to move around freely and must be accompanied by a member of staff. This is an important safety measure, as the animals are wild.

When the safari starts, there are generally fewer vehicles, and guides can have more freedom regarding where they drive.

Often vehicles are allowed to go off-road when following wildlife and this makes a huge difference.

If a lion is spotted 50 metres away, a guide in a private reserve may be able to leave the road and position the vehicle much closer to the animal.

In a public national park, this may simply not be allowed.

A ranger once explained the difference to me using an analogy that really stayed with me. He compared the private-reserve experience to something resembling an open-air zoo — not because the animals are literally captive, but because the environment is more controlled from a visitor's perspective, guides know the territory extremely well, and wildlife sightings can be much more predictable. I think this is an important distinction to understand.

It doesn't mean that a private reserve safari is "fake" or that the animals aren't wild. It simply means that the conditions for viewing wildlife are very different, and the chances of seeing wild cats are significantly higher. The animals live within the private reserve, which is usually much smaller than a public national park, and the rangers know the area very well and know where the animals are likely to be found.

And, of course, you pay for that difference. A luxury private-reserve safari can cost dramatically more than a regular national-park safari.

Why Are the Animals So Much Closer on Some Safaris?

There are several reasons why the wildlife encounters can look completely different.

1. Fewer vehicles

In a public national park, when a leopard is spotted, the news can spread quickly.

Suddenly several safari vehicles arrive.

Everyone wants to see the same animal, and there may be only a limited amount of time to watch it before the guide needs to move on or the situation becomes too crowded.

In a private reserve, there may be far fewer vehicles in the area.

That means you can sometimes spend a much longer time observing an animal without a dozen other jeeps surrounding you.

2. Off-road driving

This is another major difference. During my three safaris, guides generally stayed on the designated roads.

Chobe was the exception.

There, our vehicle went off-road because we were trying to see seven lionesses that were hiding in a large bush.

That was an exciting experience, but it also made me realise how much easier it can be to find predators when a guide is allowed to leave the road and follow animals. If we hadn't gone off-road we wouldn't have seen the seven lionesses.

On a private safari, off-road driving can be an important part of the experience.

Instead of stopping 100 metres away because there is a road between you and the animal, the guide may be able to drive directly towards it.

This is one of the reasons those spectacular close-up safari photographs and videos are possible.

Does That Mean You Won't See Lions or Leopards on a Regular Safari?

Absolutely not. We saw a few times both lions and leopards plus a cheetah during our safaris. But seeing them and seeing them up close are two different things. And personally, I think it is better to understand this before booking a safari.

If your dream is to photograph a leopard sitting just a few metres from your jeep, you may want to consider a private game reserve. If you are happy with the excitement of searching for wildlife in a huge natural environment, a national-park safari can be an amazing experience.

In fact, there is something very special about not knowing what you are going to see.

You can drive for an hour and see almost nothing — and then suddenly there are elephants crossing the road.

That unpredictability is part of the adventure.

Why Don't Predators Attack People in Safari Vehicles?

One question that crossed my mind many times before and during my safaris was: Why don't predators attack us when we are sitting so close to them? After all, they can surely smell and hear us, and they know that humans are inside the vehicle.

The explanation is fascinating. Wild animals do not attack safari vehicles because they view the car and the people inside as one single, large, and unfamiliar object rather than individual prey. Because the vehicle is loud, smells like gas, and does not move like an animal, the predators ignore it to save their energy. A stationary safari vehicle with several humans sitting together doesn't resemble the behaviour of normal prey. Besides, hunting is very hard work. Wild animals will not waste power on a giant metal truck.

Safari vehicles are also familiar and non-threatening to many animals that regularly encounter them. Animals see cars every single day. They learn cars do not hurt them or give them food.

So, as long as people remain seated and quiet, the animal usually has no reason to see them as something to attack.

But this doesn't mean that the animals don't notice us or that attacks never happen. They are still wild animals, and their behaviour can change unexpectedly.

Wild animals can react aggressively if they feel threatened, frightened or are protecting their young. I have even seen footage of a mother elephant charging a safari vehicle because she was trying to protect her baby. This is a good reminder that, no matter how accustomed animals may be to safari vehicles, they remain wild and unpredictable.

This is why the guide's instructions are so important. When you are sitting just a few metres from a wild animal, staying calm, quiet and inside the vehicle isn't just good advice — it is an essential part of staying safe.

Don't Underestimate the Importance of Your Camera

There is another thing I learned from my safaris that is easy to overlook when looking at spectacular wildlife photographs online:

The camera equipment makes a huge difference.

When you see a photograph of a lion or leopard that appears to be just a few metres away, it doesn't necessarily mean that the photographer was actually that close to the animal.

In many cases, the animal may have been 50, 100 or even more metres away, but the photographer was using a professional camera with a powerful telephoto lens and was able to zoom in and capture a detailed close-up.

This is particularly important to understand if you are going on a regular national-park safari, where vehicles generally have to remain on designated roads and wildlife can be quite far away.

During my safaris, we often saw lions and leopards at a considerable distance. With the naked eye, you could clearly see the animal, but getting a good photograph was a completely different matter.

A phone camera with a standard lens may produce a photograph where the lion looks like a tiny dot in the landscape.

A camera with a good zoom lens can transform exactly the same sighting into a beautiful wildlife portrait.

So, if photography is important to you, investing in a good zoom is one of the best things you can do before going on safari.

What Wildlife Did We See?

Despite the differences between the parks, one thing was common to all three of my safaris:

We saw plenty of wildlife.

Elephants were probably the most consistently visible animals.

We also saw: zebras, giraffes, impalas, various antelope species, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, numerous birds, monkeys and a large herd of buffalo right on the road in front of our jeep.

The experience is not necessarily about ticking animals off a list. Sometimes watching a large herd of elephants slowly moving through the landscape is just as memorable as seeing a lion.

And there were many moments when the landscape itself was just as impressive as the animals. I was especially drawn to the dry landscape of Etosha national park in Namibia.

The Importance of Getting Up Very Early

If you are planning a safari, be prepared for very early mornings.

On our safaris, we regularly woke up around 4:00 AM so that we could be at the park entrance around 5:00 AM.

Why so early?

Because the early morning and late afternoon are generally among the best times to look for predators. Animals are more active when temperatures are cooler, while the middle of the day can be extremely hot.

But there is another side to those early starts: It can be very cold.

And this was something I definitely underestimated before my first safari.

Etosha in June: Cold Mornings and a Dry Landscape

My safari in Etosha National Park, Namibia, was in June 2024, during the dry season.

The landscape looked completely different from what I experienced later in Kruger and Chobe.

Etosha was very dry and much less green, but this perfectly matched the overall landscape of Namibia. For me, this was one of the most spectacular things about the country and what makes Namibia so unique. The vast, dry landscapes are so otherworldly that at times you almost feel like you are on Mars.

The temperatures were also a surprise.

When you leave at around 5 AM in an open safari vehicle, it can feel absolutely freezing.

During my Etosha safari, morning temperatures were only around 2–3°C above zero.

Yes — an African safari can actually be very cold!

The safari operators provided blankets, which definitely helped, but sitting in an open vehicle for hours while driving through the park at that temperature was still a very chilly experience.

Later during the day, temperatures increased considerably and it became much more comfortable.

So if you are visiting Etosha during the dry winter months, do not assume that Africa automatically means hot weather. Bring warm layers and jackets.

The dry conditions in Etosha also influence how wildlife is observed. Because water is scarce, animals are attracted to the remaining water sources.

During our safari, we visited different waterholes, where animals came to drink.

This can make wildlife viewing particularly rewarding during the dry season.

There is something fascinating about sitting quietly beside a waterhole and waiting to see which animals will appear.

But there are also limitations.

During my visit, off-road driving was not permitted, so the safari experience was very different from what you might see in a private reserve.

Unfortunately, we also did not see any rhinos. And that is another important lesson about safari: You cannot order your wildlife sightings.

You can do everything right and still miss a particular animal.

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Kruger and Chobe in February: A Completely Different World

My experiences in Kruger National Park and Chobe National Park in February 2026 were very different.

This was during the rainy season, and the landscape was lush, green and full of vegetation. After seeing the dry landscape of Etosha, the contrast was remarkable.

The green vegetation also changed the wildlife-viewing experience.

Animals could be hidden behind bushes and vegetation, and sometimes you could hear or see something without getting a clear view.

This is another reason why safari sightings depend so much on season, weather, vegetation and location.

There is no single "best" safari season for everyone.

The dry season may make animals easier to spot around water sources, while the rainy season can transform the landscape into a spectacular green environment and bring its own advantages. Based on my personal experience, however, the season didn't seem to make a significant difference in terms of how many animals I saw. All three of my safaris offered plenty of wildlife sightings, despite taking place in very different seasons and landscapes.

In my opinion, one of the biggest factors affecting the safari experience is not necessarily the season, but the type of safari and, particularly, whether the guides are allowed to go off-road.

What Should You Wear on Safari?

One of the things you will often hear before going on safari is that you should wear neutral, earthy colours such as beige, khaki, brown and green.

I noticed, however, that not everyone followed this so-called safari dress code.

People were wearing all kinds of colours on our safaris.

So I wouldn't become overly stressed about having a perfectly coordinated safari wardrobe.

That said, practical clothing is much more important.

For early morning game drives, layers are essential, especially during the cooler months.

You can start the morning wrapped in a jacket and blanket and later find yourself taking everything off as temperatures rise.

Comfortable shoes, sun protection and a hat are also much more useful than trying to look like you stepped out of a safari catalogue.

What Should You Do When an Animal Is Very Close?

This is probably one of the most important things I learned.

If an animal comes very close to the vehicle, stay calm and quiet. Do not make sudden movements, shout, or lean out of the vehicle to get a better photo. Do not make eye contact with the animal. Always follow your guide's instructions.

Remember that you are in their environment.

Even animals that appear completely relaxed around safari vehicles are still wild animals.

The best thing you can do is remain quiet and observe.

So, Which Type of Safari Is Better?

After three safaris, I don't think there is one correct answer. It depends on what you are looking for.

A regular national-park safari may be better for you if:

You want a more affordable safari experience

You enjoy the unpredictability of wildlife

You don't mind spending time searching for animals

You want to experience a huge national park

You understand that wildlife sightings are never guaranteed

You are happy seeing animals from a greater distance

A private game-reserve safari may be better if:

Your priority is close-up wildlife viewing

You particularly want to see lions, leopards or other predators

You want a more exclusive experience with fewer vehicles

You want guides to be able to go off-road

You prefer a luxury lodge experience

Budget is less of a concern

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing either option. They are simply different types of safari experiences.

Another Option: Going on a Self-Drive Safari

There is another way to experience a safari that I haven't personally tried but is very popular in some national parks: self-driving.

This is possible in some public national parks, including places such as Kruger and Etosha. You drive yourself along the designated roads, follow the park's rules and search for wildlife on your own. You are not allowed to simply leave the road and drive into the bush — off-road driving is generally prohibited for ordinary visitors.

This is a different type of experience where you are the one driving, looking for animals and deciding where to go. If you suddenly spot an elephant, giraffe or even a lion right beside the road, you have found it yourself rather than having a guide point it out to you.

There is also a psychological difference when you are inside a closed vehicle. When you see a wild animal very close to the car, you may feel more protected because you are inside the vehicle, and you can decide how much to open the windows.

On an open safari jeep, by contrast, you are sitting completely exposed, with open sides and nothing physically separating you from the wildlife.

When you are in a closed vehicle you are also much more protected from the cold, especially during those very early morning game drives when temperatures can be surprisingly low.

The disadvantage is that when you are driving yourself, you don't have the knowledge and experience of a professional ranger. You may drive past an animal without noticing it, or you may not know where to look. You also don't have someone who can identify tracks, listen for alarm calls or communicate with other guides about recent sightings.

But perhaps that is also part of the fun. When you finally spot an animal yourself, the feeling of discovery must be incredibly rewarding.

My Biggest Lesson After Three African Safaris

Perhaps the biggest lesson I have learned is that you should not compare your safari experience directly with what you see on YouTube without knowing what kind of safari you are watching.

When you see a video where a leopard walks directly past a safari vehicle, or where a pride of lions is sitting just metres from the jeep, it may look as though the guide simply got incredibly lucky.

Sometimes, of course, they did. Wildlife encounters can be extraordinary and unpredictable.

But very often, there are other factors behind those spectacular sightings: the private reserve, the smaller number of vehicles, the guide's knowledge of the territory, the ability to drive off-road, the tracking skills of the guides.

My three safaris were at different locations and seasons, but they were similar.

Sometimes we drove for quite a while without seeing much. Sometimes an animal was very far away and we looked through binoculars. Sometimes several vehicles gathered around a sighting.

And sometimes, we had an absolutely unforgettable encounter.

But perhaps that is what I like about the traditional safari experience.

You don't know what is waiting around the next corner.

You are not entering a place where someone can promise you a lion, a leopard or a cheetah at a particular time.

I also found myself asking a question: Would I actually want to be in an environment that feels more like an open-air zoo, where I know in advance that I am almost certain to see all the animals up close?

The answer is not so simple. Of course, I would love to see lions and leopards up close — who wouldn't? But at the same time, I don't want to lose the excitement and unpredictability that make a safari so special. I would rather drive through the wilderness, search for the animals and feel that moment of excitement when we finally find them, rather than know in advance where they are and have everything arranged for me.

For me, the search is part of the adventure, and finding the animal after hours of searching is the reward.

Final Thoughts

Three safaris have taught me that there is no single definition of an "African safari."

Your experience will depend on where you go, when you go, where you stay, what type of reserve you visit, how many vehicles are around you and what rules the guides have to follow.

And most importantly, it is worth adjusting your expectations before you go.

If you book an affordable safari in a national park, don't be disappointed if your leopard is 100 metres away.

You are still looking at a completely wild animal in its natural environment.

And if you decide to spend considerably more on a private luxury safari, understand that you are paying not only for beautiful accommodation, but also for a very different wildlife-viewing experience.

No matter how many safari videos you watch beforehand, you never really know what you are going to find when you enter the park at 5 AM, the sun is rising over the African landscape, and you start driving into the wilderness.

And that uncertainty is, in my opinion, one of the most magical parts of a safari.

For me, having experienced all three safaris, I would happily go again. I love Africa. My earliest memories of my life are from Libya and the Sahara Desert, where I lived with my family between the ages of two and four. Perhaps that is why Africa has always felt special to me and it will always have a special place in my heart.

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