Wheelchair Accessible Safari | Luxury Safari as a Wheelchair User

The Serengeti does not know you are in a wheelchair.

The lion sitting forty metres from the Land Cruiser does not care. The elephant herd crossing the track ahead, the dust rising around their feet, the sound of their movement through the dry grass. None of it adjusts for you or withholds itself from you. It is simply there, in its entirety, available to you as it is available to every human being who makes it to this place.

Safari is one of the most accessible luxury experiences in the world for wheelchair users. That is not a well-managed statement. That is what the reality looks like once the planning is done.

Why Safari Works

The game drive vehicle is, at its most basic, a high vehicle with an open top. You ride it. The vehicle does the terrain. You do the watching. For wheelchair users, this is actually a more comfortable experience than it is for walking guests. There is no hiking. There are no standing viewpoints. There is no long walk from the camp to the river crossing. You sit in the vehicle. The wildlife comes to you, or the driver takes you to it. The experience is equal.

The camp is where the planning matters. The camp infrastructure, the paths between the tent and the main areas, the bathroom configuration in the accessible tent and the transfer from the game vehicle to your wheelchair. These are the elements that vary between camps and that determine the quality of the accessible experience.

The Destinations

Tanzania and Kenya: The Classic East African Safari

The Serengeti in Tanzania and the Maasai Mara in Kenya are where most people picture when they picture safari. The Serengeti’s largely flat, open savannah in the central and western corridors is among the most accessible safari terrain in Africa. Singita Grumeti in the Serengeti has led the accessible safari conversation in East Africa and developed the most comprehensive accessible provision of any camp in the region.

Botswana: The Safari for Wilderness Purists

Botswana’s safari experience is defined by the Okavango Delta and the Chobe National Park. andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas and the properties in the Abu Camp concession in the Okavango have led accessible provision in Botswana.

South Africa: The Most Accessible Entry Point

South Africa’s Sabi Sand game reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park is the most accessible safari destination for wheelchair users new to safari. Singita Boulders and Singita Ebony in the Sabi Sand are among the finest safari camps in the world and have been adapted for wheelchair users with genuine care.

Choosing a Camp

The questions that matter when choosing a safari camp: the path surface between the tent and the main areas; the game vehicle configuration and how wheelchair users board and disembark; the accessible bathroom and shower configuration; whether the main fire pit area is accessible; whether the swimming pool has a hoist.

What You Will Come Back With

Everyone who goes on safari comes back changed. This is a cliché that happens to be true. The scale of the Serengeti. The silence of the Okavango at dawn. The elephant moving through the camp at night, three metres from your tent, and the absolute clarity of the moment that is happening to you. These things do not reduce to description. They require presence. You can be present. The planning makes it so. Go.