Best safari and wildlife holidays for single travellers

Join like-minded travellers for a safari game drive through Botswana's Chobe National Park. Look out for herds of elephant roaming the dusty trails and have your binoculars ready to spot fish-eagle, jacana, kingfisher and heron at the Moremi Game Reserve. Work with fellow explorers to scan the waterways of the Okavango Delta in search of lion, leopard and rhino and see who can first lay their eyes on a semi-submerged crocodile in the murky shallows. 

If seeing a gorilla in the wild is on your bucket list, book onto our small group safari tour in Uganda. As a solo explorer, you'll benefit from the knowledge of an expert local guide as you hike through dewy vegetation, scale steep pathways and wade through muddy ravines in the dense jungle landscape. The atmosphere is almost electric as you make way in silence, and your heart thumps loudly in anticipation and excitement. Then, as if out of nowhere, there they are; a family of gorilla grazing on bamboo and playing in the trees. An astonishing sight that you'll treasure forever.  

Set sail on an ice ship for a once in a lifetime wildlife expedition through the remote polar region of the Arctic. Keep your eyes peeled for sightings of polar bear in the bleak white tundras and see if you can spot walrus basking on the icy beaches.  Join other passengers to head out in a small zodiac rib and get up close with seals sleeping on towering ice floes. Compare stories as you retire back to the warmth of the ship for dinner and get ready for another packed day of Arctic adventures tomorrow. 

From swimming with turtles in the aquamarine waters of Tortuga Bay to watching blue-footed boobies perform courtship dances on Santa Fe Island, a trip to the Galapagos Islands is a bucketlist must-do for any wildlife enthusiast. Single travellers will benefit from the expert knowledge of a small group leader who will show you all of the major highlights as well as many hidden gems. Get up close with iguanas sunbathing on the pristine beaches of the Tintoreras Islands, find giant tortoises roaming the highlands of Santa Cruz, and spot Galapagos penguins swimming amongst tropical mangroves. 

For the chance to spot the Big Five, singles can join a small group safari in the vast game reserves of South Africa and Eswatini. Hold your breath as you follow fresh sandy paw prints in search of lion, and keep your fingers crossed for a sighting of a leopard stalking its prey in the golden hinterland. Head to the thriving waterholes to see buffalo and elephant drinking and bathing, and search the fertile grasslands for rare black rhino.