Camps: Ol Donyo Wuas

Hosts & Guides:Chip and Sandy Cunningham

Highlights: The magnificent views of Mount Kilimanjaro from the huts.

Activities: Riding, game drives, bush walks, fly camping and bird shooting.

Accomodation: Guests stay in thatched-roof cottages on stilts with en suite showers and flush loos. Hot and cold running water is available at certain times. The mess has sofas in front of a log fire and an open-fronted hut provides the novel experience of a "loo with a view". Full cooked breakfasts, picnic lunches and elaborate dinner party-style suppers are all laid on.

Best Time: June to March. It`s worth noting that the wildebeest migration occurs sometime between July and November and the rains arrive in April and May.

Details: Full board (all-inclusive) for two people sharing costs $315 per night. A return flight from London to Nairobi on British Airways, which leave daily, cost from £565. You can charter a three seater single-engine Cessna 182 from Nairobi to Ol Donyo Wuas which costs $326 each way.

ZIMBABWE

Area: Mana Pools and Matusadona National Park, Lake Kariba.

Camps: John Stevens, one of Zimbabwe`s most experienced safari guides, is based at Mana Pools, Jenje (near Lake Kariba) and Hogwe, a wilderness camp in the communal lands.

Hosts & Guides:John Stevens and his staff are enthusiastic and accommodating, anticipating your every wish.

Highlights: The top-quality guiding: these safaris are all personalised and groups are never mixed with strangers.

Activities: Walking safaris; game drives by vehicle and canoe; tracking lion and rhino.

Accomodation: This homelike mobile bush camp with large tents and comfy beds is well thought out. The advantage of no electricity means there is no generator noise, enabling guests to revel in the peace of their surroundings. Substantial breakfasts and excellent picnics are provided, whilst dinner is cooked over an open fire. The lantern-lit showers are buckets of hot water hanging from trees whilst the screened loos give private views of the Jenje game trails or the Zabezi.

Best Time: May to Oct. However the good weather in May results in luscious foliage which reduces visibility. From August to October the weather is fine without such restrictions.

Details: Two sharing during the high season costs $750pp per night. Singles or couples wishing to join a group can book an open set safari. There are four flights a week from London to Harare. Economy Class return on British Airways costs £653 and a return from Harare to Kariba costs $80.

BOTSWANA

Area: Okavango Delta and Moremi Wildlife Reserve.

Camps: Ker & Downey camps at Shinde Island and Pom Pom (Okavango Delta); Machaba (Moremi Wildlife Reserve).

Hosts & Guides:All three camps are managed by Europeans or White Africans although the guiding is conducted by indigenous Africans, in line with government policy.

Highlights: Tents, which are like canvas hotel rooms, are well-furnished down to rush matting and rugs. Each camp has a large dining room, comfortable sitting areas, bar and pool.

Activities: Game drives by vehicle, mokoro boat or on foot; fishing for bream, catfish and fighting tiger fish.

Accomodation: Seven tents house 14 guests on permanent sites. The en suite bathrooms are equipped with showers, washbasins and flush lavatories and hot and cold running water. Although food is abundant, it`s unmemorable.

Best Time: March to mid December. It is possible to see most game in the summer between September and October and most colourful birds from mid August onwards.

Details: During the high season sharing one camp for 3 nights/4 days costs between $1,180 and $1,360. For 3 camps over 6 nights and 7 days costs from $2,370 to $2,730pp. Return flights from London to Johannesburg on British Airways/South African Airways/Virgin cost from £365pp and return flights from Johannesburg to Maun cost £275.

ZAMBIA

Area: Upper Zambezi river; Livingstone

Camps: Tongabezi Lodge and Sindabezi Island Camp on Zambezi. Livingstone Island Camp (lip of Victoria Falls).

Hosts & Guides:The Tongabezi team are all extremely experienced in the fields. There is a resident ornithologist, Bob Sternsted.

Highlights: The attention to detail. Guests can ask for anything from a Tongabezi wedding on Livingstone Island complete with African choir, to demanding a field telephone for room service.

Activities: Tongabezi Lodge has many, including game drives, microlight/light aircraft flights and trips to Victoria Falls

Accomodation: Tongabezi boasts luxury thatched houses and tented cottages with en suite bathrooms and a swimming pool, whilst Sindabezi Island is equipped with thatched cottages and Livingstone Island has three comfy tents. The food at Togabezi is sensational. You can choose from substantial breakfasts, lunches and dinners, exquisite picnics, traditional English afternoon tea, and canapés at drinks` time for those who can still find space.

Best Time: Togabezi Lodge and Sindabezi Island are open all year, whilst Livingstone Island only functions from June to Dec, depending on water levels.

Details: The Tongabezi Lodge luxury tent costs $260pp per night whilst the house costs $315pp per night. However there are many different packages on offer. British Airways flies four times a week from London to Lusaka (via Harare). A return fare, Economy class costs £653 and a flight from Lusaka to Livingstone return costs $369.

Area: South Luangwa National Park

Camps: Chinzombo Lodge, Kuyenda Bush Camp and Chamilandu Bush Camp

Hosts & Guides:Ask for Phil Berry, one of Zambia`s most experienced and respected guides, who spends most of his time at Kuyenda Bush Camp.

Highlights: Kuyenda is stunning - built and decorated entirely in natural materials - and Chamilandu is good for extensive bush walks.

Activities: Game drives by vehicle, walking safaris, night drives for leopard and portered tented walking safaris.

Accomodation: Chinzombo is equipped with eight cottages with electric light and power points. Alternatively you can stay in one of four grass rondavels, which house a maximum of six guests. The camp at Chamilandu is more rustic however and only caters for walking. There is good lodge food with English breakfasts, two-course lunches and three-course dinners.

Best Time: July to Oct. The rains come in late Oct and mid-April. Chinzombo is open from 1 April until 5 January whilst Kuiyenda and Chamilandu take guests from June until late October.

Details: In the dry season 7 nights sharing costs $1,680pp which includes 2 nights at Chinzombo Lodge and 5 nights at the two bush camps. Flights leave from London to Lusaka (via Harare) four times a week on British Airways. An Economy class return ticket costs £653 and a return flight from Lusaka to Mfuwe costs $280.

TANZANIA

Area: Selous Game Reserve

Camps: Sand Rivers Lodge and various fly camps in the northern Selous.

Hosts & Guides:The lodge is managed by Alex Edwards and Harriet Evans. Alex is also the main guide, with the support of a team of African and freelance European guides.

Highlights: The fly camps give guests the opportunity to sleep on bedding rolls beneath nets under the stars (tents are provided if it rains). It might seem a little too close to nature for comfort but staff take the work out of it.

Activities: Walking safaris from the fly camps in the wilderness region, tracking game drives by vehicle and boat and fishing.

Accomodation: The Sand Rivers Lodge consists of a main mess building which is surrounded by pretty, stone cottages with palm frond roofs and a swimming pool. Although they provide more luxurious en suite bathrooms with cold running water, the fly camps are equipped only with bucket showers and hole-in-the-ground loos. Guests are amply fed with English breakfasts, substantial salad-based lunches with puddings and three-course dinners.

Best Time: 1 June to 31 march. Between August and October the game congregates because water is scarce - it becomes particularly hot and humid in late December - but heavy rains arrive in April and May.

Details: Whilst sharing costs $360pp per night, going it alone is slightly more expensive at $410 a night. One night fly camping costs $410, or $470 for a single person per night. British Airways provides flights from London to Dar es Salaam three times a week, and an Economy class return costs £608. Return flights from Dar es Salaam to Kiba cost £176.