One of the best ways to capture and savour an African safari experience is to travel with Wilderness Safaris. Founded in Botswana in 1983 by a couple of legendary game rangers, the company has always dedicated itself to sustainable tourism that conserves and preserves wildlife and nature, as well as uplifts local communities.

In the course of a long travel-writing career, I’ve visited many (maybe most) of its camps, but I’d like to share my favourites.

We are always looking for new hotels, lodges and destination management companies to partner with so that we can offer our clients the best deals, and are therefore pleased to announce that Red Carnation Hotels has become our latest partner.

I’d always wanted to visit Iceland since studying Old Norse at university. It was the language of the Vikings, of the famous Old Norse sagas, and of Norse strongman, settler and explorer Leif Erikson – son of Eric the Red – who rowed himself and his hardy crew to Newfoundland, Canada, around AD1 000.

The malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve is located on South Africa's northern border with Botswana, in a semi-arid area characterised by red sands, open grasslands and sparse bushveld.

The accommodation has been updated and new camps have been built since the 1920s when MalaMala Game Reserve first started out, but the teeming wildlife, thrilling game-drive experience and unparalleled views over the perennial Sand River haven’t changed.

Off the north-west coast of the world’s fourth-largest island, and certainly one of its most mysterious and diverse, lies the island of Nosy Be (pronounced “bay”). I knew a little about Madagascar before I visited because I’d watched lemurs and marvelled at giant baobab trees on the National Geographic channel, but the reality is breathtaking.