When you think of Africa, the picture in your mind’s eye is quite likely a single acacia tree silhouetted on the savanna against a flame-red horizon, inching towards infinity. That classic image is almost certainly from the Maasai Mara.

Buffalo Springs National Reserve is popular with tourists because of its diverse and unique wildlife. Among the vegetation, which is mainly acacia woodland and bush-lands and river-line forests, there are plenty of elephants, the rare Reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra (cousins to Burshel Zebra), and Beisa Oryx.

Offering fantastic views of Kilimanjaro and a large population of African game, Mkomazi National Park is an often-overlooked Tanzanian gem with several species easier to see here than anywhere else in Tanzania.

The home of the legendary Great Wildebeest Migration, the name Serengeti has become synonymous with the African safari experience. The seemingly unending savannah plains of the park are home to Africa's most famous animals as well as a cast of lesser-known but no less interesting animals.

Lake Bogoria National Reserve is a beautiful place with the pink cloud of flamingoes and the geysers bubbling with the most spectacular hot water volcanic springs. Much more is the fascinating phenomenon of the hot springs, an indication that molten rock does not lie far below the earth's surface.

The Ruaha National Park is a fantastic place for those with a thirst for blood to see predators and prey interacting as they have for millennia.

As wild as Katavi but considerably more accessible, the Ruaha National Park is a fantastic place for those with a thirst for for blood to see predators and prey interacting as they have for millennia.