Last month, I woke up to a lion’s roar so close it made my coffee cup rattle. That’s what real African camping feels like – no fences, no crowds, just you and wild Africa at its most raw. After 30 years of camping across the continent, these are the countries where you can still experience wildlife on nature’s terms.
1. Botswana – Where Elephants Are Your Neighbors
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife camping paradise. In Botswana’s Okavango Delta, you don’t visit the animals – they visit you. Your morning coffee might be interrupted by elephants splashing through nearby channels, and your campfire stories accompanied by hippo grunts. The Moremi Game Reserve lets you pitch your tent in unfenced public campgrounds where wildlife wanders freely. The real magic happens at dawn when the delta comes alive with a symphony of bird calls and animal movements.
Best Spots:
- Third Bridge Campsite – Famous for its resident leopards and midnight visits from honey badgers
- Xakanaxa Campsite – Overlooking lagoons full of hippos and ancient riverine forests
- Khwai Community Campsite – Where elephants frequently walk through camp and hyenas scout the perimeter
Pro Tip: Always book with a guide for your first Botswana camping trip. The wildlife here doesn’t mess around, and local knowledge is crucial for safety. May to September offers the best combination of good weather and concentrated wildlife around water sources. Pack a quality headlamp – you’ll need it for those nighttime trips to the bathroom when elephants are browsing nearby.
2. Namibia – Desert Lions and Starlit Skies
Imagine camping in a place so wild that desert-adapted lions still roam free. Namibia’s Skeleton Coast and Damaraland regions offer exactly that. The country’s liberal camping laws let you set up almost anywhere in designated areas, meaning you can fall asleep under the clearest skies in Africa while desert elephants pass by in the distance. The silence here is profound – broken only by the pad of animal feet on ancient desert sands.
Must-Try Locations:
- Palmwag Concession – Home to the largest free-roaming black rhino population and elusive desert lions
- Spitzkoppe – Where you might share your breakfast spot with a curious baboon or wake up to leopard tracks
- Brandberg Area – Ancient rock art meets modern adventure, with desert elephants as frequent visitors
Insider Secret: The best wildlife viewing happens at desert waterholes around sunrise and sunset. Set up camp nearby (but not too close) and watch the parade of animals coming to drink. Keep your tent’s rainfly off on clear nights – the stargazing is unreal.
3. Tanzania – The Serengeti Under Canvas
Picture this: you’re camping on the edge of the Serengeti plains, and a million wildebeest are migrating past your tent. Tanzania’s public campsites inside national parks put you right in the action. The Serengeti and Ngorongoro area offers designated camping zones where you can literally wake up to zebras grazing outside your tent. The soundtrack of the African night here is unforgettable – lions calling in the distance, zebras barking alarm calls, and the constant rustle of life in the grass.
Top Camping Areas:
- Seronera Public Campsite – Central Serengeti’s wildlife hub, where lions often patrol after dark
- Simba Campsite – Perched on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, with buffalo grazing through the camp
- Kijereshi Campsite – Perfect for witnessing the wildebeest migration and its attendant predators
Essential Knowledge: Book through a registered operator – they’ll provide armed rangers for nighttime security. The best wildlife encounters happen during the dry season (June to October) when animals concentrate around water sources. Don’t skip the morning game drive – predators are most active just before dawn.
4. Kenya – Masai Mara Magic
Kenya’s Masai Mara isn’t just about luxury lodges. Several community conservancies around the reserve allow wild camping, putting you in prime big cat territory. You’ll fall asleep to the sounds of the African bush and wake up to fresh lion tracks around your campsite. The combination of wide-open savannas and scattered acacia trees creates perfect wildlife viewing opportunities right from your campchair.
Prime Locations:
- Mara North Conservancy – Where lions and leopards roam freely, and cheetahs hunt on open plains
- Naboisho Conservancy – Famous for its high density of elephants and resident pride of lions
- Ol Kinyei Conservancy – Excellent for authentic wilderness camping with minimal tourist traffic
Local Wisdom: Partner with local Maasai guides. They know every animal’s favorite hangout spots and can read the bush like a book. Plus, their traditional knowledge adds an incredible cultural dimension to your wildlife experience. Consider camping near a vantage point – elevated areas offer better game viewing and fewer mosquitoes.
5. Zimbabwe – Adventure in Mana Pools
Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park takes wild camping to another level. Here, you can set up your tent along the Zambezi River, where elephants feed on fallen acacia pods and hippos grunt in the nearby pools. The lack of fences means wildlife moves freely through camping areas – you might even need to wait for an elephant to finish browsing before you can reach your tent. The ancient riverine forests create a cathedral-like atmosphere where wild dogs hunt and leopards lurk. What makes this park special is the walking safari opportunity – qualified guides can take you on foot to observe wildlife, giving you a completely different perspective on the ecosystem.
Best Camping Zones:
- Nyamepi Campsite – Where elephants regularly visit and hippos graze at night
- Chitake Springs – Famous for its dramatic predator encounters and dry-season wildlife concentrations
- Vundu Point – Perfect for river-based wildlife watching and up-close elephant encounters
- Long Pool – Where massive Nile crocodiles bask on sandbanks and fish eagles dive for prey
Essential Gear:
- Strong LED torch with a red light setting
- Bear spray (yes, it works on most predators)
- High-quality tent with extra guy ropes for stability
- Proper food storage containers – plastic boxes with secure lids
Critical Info: Visit during the dry season (May to October) when animals concentrate along the Zambezi River. Always maintain a neat camp – baboons and monkeys will take advantage of any food left out. Keep your tent zipped at all times – curious vervet monkeys love investigating open tents. Most importantly, never walk around camp at night without a guide – this is real wild Africa, not a safari park.
Wild Nights Await
You haven’t camped until you’ve heard a hyena laugh outside your tent at 3 AM. Africa’s wild spaces are vanishing fast, but these five countries still offer what we’re all searching for – pure, unfiltered wilderness. Just remember: out here, you’re not at the top of the food chain, and that’s exactly what makes it magical!
Hello Africa travellers!
Who am I? Well, the least you can say is that I am quite crazy about Africa, its nature, its climate, its culture, and more.
As a young woman in my twenties, I had already traveled to several African countries by traveling along in an overlander on my own and mostly camping ( or glamping ) and just fell in love with the diversity of it all.
So much, so that at the age of 26, I went back to university to study biology, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish because of health reasons (yes, I got sick from a tropical disease, oh cynicism). But this did not stop my dream of traveling back to Africa several times, and I still do.
My dream was back then to leave Europe and go study animal behavior, especially the elephants (sure, that’s every girl’s dream haha), but I am also very much intrigued by hyenas and other “ugly African animals“.
So, I “kind of” have a little bit of a scientific approach to my articles, when I write about African birds, for example. And most of all: the passion.
But life goes on, you move from one side of the country to the other, you get sick again and top it off with lower back problems, and before you know it, you are over 50 hahaha!
Now, I still travel to Africa, but take it a bit “easier” than the good old camping days, and stay in comfortable, yet affordable accommodations, together with my husband Wouter.
These are some of the countries I have traveled to: Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tunisia, and a little bit of Lesotho LOL .
While clearly not being African territory, but Spanish, I also visited Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and location-wise, I consider them “African”, because of their climate and nature, sue me :-p
The last trip I took was to South Africa in the year 2023, and it sure got the fevers for Africa back! From the Barberton mountains to the Drakensberg and the Southcoast, one month wasn’t enough at all to see the whole country, so we’ll be back! At ease and with a little bit more luxury than in my younger days haha!
I wish you happy travels!
Kind regards
Lizzy