Chances are if you're heading to this region, you're heading for the most popular stop: South Africa. But there is a whole slew（大量） of other places like Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi that also have plenty to offer to travelers.

 

When is the best time to go? Generally during the cooler, drier months from around May to October, though parts of South Africa are pleasant all year round.

 

With an abundance of national parks and game reserves in Southern Africa, a safari should be at the top of any traveler's to-do list. The wide variety of terrains, savanna, desert, forest, wetland and highland provide an even wider variety of animals and places to encounter them.

 

The original safari hunters made a list of the toughest animals to hunt, the big five: lions, leopards, rhino, elephants, and Cape buffalo. Today's modern safari spotters might soon discover that while elephants and even lions are easy to catch sight of, many other animals, including the elusive leopard, are a little harder to find.

 

Sharpen your eyes and your odds with a few simple tips: go out at dawn and dusk when animals are most active; head for water where animals come to drink; make sure to look near and far, left and right, on tree branches and underfoot. With a bit of practice, you'll capture some amazing photographs.

 

Some of the best-known parks and game reserves in the region include South Africa's Kruger Park, Namibia's Etosha, Zambia's Luangwa National Parks, and Botswana's Moremi Wildlife Reserve in the heart of the Okavango Delta, stretching over 6,000 square miles, the largest inland delta in the world.

 

The Okavango River once fed into a large lake now vanished under the Kalahari Desert. When the seasonal floodwater surge over the land, they create a labyrinth of channels and thickets（茂密丛林） brimming with wildlife.

 

For more record-setting attractions, head west into the Namib Desert. One of the oldest deserts in the world, this thin strip of sand along the Namibian coast is home to some of the world's largest sand dunes. Undulating waves of sand stretch for up to 30 miles in length, reaching a thousand feet in height. The slopes hold the animals uniquely evolved for this alien landscape.

 

On the Zambezi River you can canoe or kayak(划皮船) along the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Just be careful when you hear the rumbling of water. Its name is Mosi-oa-Tunya, or the Smoke that Thunders, better known as Victoria Falls. At some 350 feet high and a mile wide, it's considered by some as the largest waterfall in the world.

 

The Zambezi River flows eastward into Mozambique and out to sea. Across the Mozambique Channel are Africa's Indian Ocean islands, including Comoros, the Seychelles, Mauritius, the French island of Réunion, and Madagascar. Each island competes for best tropical paradise, and it's easy to see why.

 

When you're ready to wind down, head to cosmopolitan Cape Town and pamper(纵容) yourself with some fine dining and samples of local wines.

 

Remember, Southern Africa is big, nearly the size of the continental United States. No matter where you plan to travel, city, plains, falls or desert, you're bound to have an unforgettable adventure.