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10 Great National Parks in Africa

10 Great National Parks in Africa

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Here are 10 notable national parks in Africa — some more famous than others — worth seeing in a lifetime.

Sources: lonelyplanet.com, wikipedia.com, travel.cnn.com, audleytravel.com.

traveltoalgeria.weebly.com
traveltoalgeria.weebly.com

1. Ahaggar National Park, Algeria

We’ll start with the most desolate. Located in the southern part of Algeria and running along the Tropic of Cancer, this protected area boasts the Hoggar Mountain range and sand dunes. You are in the Sahara Desert. Trivia: In the early 1900s, French priest Charles de Foucauld built a hermitage high up in the Assekrem (the highest point), and lived among the local Tuareg population.

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

2. Kruger National Park, South Africa

South Africa’s most-visited national park, prized for its diversity of species and accessibility, covers more than 7,000 miles of protected area in the northeast tip of the country. Proclaimed by founder Paul Kruger in 1898 as a government wildlife park, its 147-plus species of mammal attract visitors from around the world. There are nine entrance gates to the park, and plenty of lodging and safari tour options.

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

3. Perinet Reserve, Madagascar

In Madagascar you won’t find savanna or desert, but rain forest. Also called the Analamalaotra Special Reserve, the Perinet Reserve is part of the greater Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. The entire park is about 155 square kilometers, and the rain forest hosts multiple species. Most popular is the indri (pictured above), a large lemur native to the island. It has a haunting communication call. Logging and deforestation have threatened this unique species,  but the park does a pretty great job of keeping them safe.

murchisonelephants

4. Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

I visited this park in 2011, and thought it looked like the setting for “The Lion King.” Turns out it’s where the illustrator came for his inspiration. So there you go! In Uganda’s Northwest corner near the Congo border, you’ll find this cascade pouring down into the break end of the Victoria Nile. In 1954, Ernest Hemingway drunkenly crashed a small plane here. The morning game drive is stunning; you’ll see four of the “big five” (lions, elephants, buffalo, and leopards) as well warthogs, crocs, hippos and other amazing species.

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

5. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania/Maasai Mara, Kenya

With more than 5,000 square miles of protected grasslands, savanna, and forests, the Serengeti has the “big five,” including rhinos. It also hosts gazelle, cheetah, baboons, giraffe, and impala. More than 3,000 lions live here — Africa’s largest concentration. The greatest migration occurs between the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in neighboring Kenya, with more than 2.5 million animals making a round-trip journey every year. The name Serengeti is derived from the local Maasai word, “siringet” — “the place where the land runs on forever.”

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

6. Okavango Delta, Botswana

One of the largest inland deltas in the world, the Okavango River catches all the rain water from Angola and the Kalahari in January, and the entire delta valley is flooded for four months, until the summertime when high temperatures evaporate the water. This is a constant yearly cycle, therefore safaris are offered via land and water. Gawk at the Nile crocs, cower away from the hippos, or marvel at the giraffes feeding along the road. Most of the large mammals leave during the winter, and migrate back to feed during the summer.

ecotoursbenin.com
ecotoursbenin.com

7. Parc National de la Pendjari, Benin

Many consider Parc National de la Pendjari in Benin the best national park in West Africa. Named after the local Pendjari River, it is part of the greater WAP Complex, which protects areas in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Hosting endangered species such as elephants, antelopes, and hippos, and known especially for its rich bird species, it is home to the pallid herrier and the African swallow-tailed kite. The lion population is considered one of West Africa’s largest, and the rare Northwest African cheetah lives here. Burkina Faso’s Arli National Park is adjacent and provides wonderful safaris and vistas.

commons.wikimedia.org
commons.wikimedia.org

8. Etosha National Park, Namibia

Named a game reserve in 1907 by the governor of German South West Africa, it was elevated to the status of national park in 1967. Part of South Africa until 1990, Namibia now plays host to Etosha National Park in its northwest region. It’s a sprawling, sensational wonderland covering roughly 8,600 square miles including the 1,900-square-mile Etosha Pan — a dry, endorheic salt pan (dry lakebed covered in salt and minerals, much like the Bonneville salt flats). The park is also home to also savanna, grasslands, and woodlands with elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas and more. The Namibia Wildlife Resorts handles all tourism.

guardian.com
guardian.com

9. Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

One word: Gorillas! This is where Dian Fossey, famed and doomed gorilla scientist and enthusiast, pitched her tent and made the friends of a lifetime. Established in Africa in 1925, the continent’s first national park holds in the bamboo forests of its upper slope 300 endangered mountain gorillas. Tourism is heavy but controlled here: less than 70 viewing or visitation permits are issued a day to see the gorillas. The lush rainforests and bamboo lead to five major volcanoes which can be trekked in guided tours. High altitudes and high adventures await.

lifestyle.ke.msn.com
lifestyle.ke.msn.com

10. Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

From the Virunga Mountains in the south to the Rwenzori Mountains in the north, this park spans 3,000 square miles. Also established in 1925, it shares the title with Volcanoes National Park as the first-ever national park of Africa. Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth Park also borders it. The most magnificent sight is the Lava Lake of the Nyiragongo Volcano, the most voluminous of its kind in the world. With stunning mountainscapes and a wonderful biodiversity, the park has seen a recent surge in tourism after it fell to poachers and armed militias during the Congo Civil War. There has been a recent oil threat to the park. The conservation group World Wildlife Fund is trying to stop U.K.-based SOCO International from exploring for oil.