Comparison of different Safari parks

Since we've been asked all the time by fellow travelers and guides which is the best Park for Safaris, we thought we'd write about it.  Of course this only reflects our personal opinion and is highly subjective. As in many things, timing / season is also a key consideration when it comes to choosng your Safari park. 
It was also interesting to see that some parks / countries seem to be more popular with specific nationalities which is most likely linked to their colonial past as well as visa rules: Kenya was very popular with Indians and Chinese, Tanzania mainly visited by Europeans and Americans, South Africa was very mixed and Namibia was full of Germans and some other Europeans and Americans but very few Asians. In fact, the locals often kept staring at Simona. Once Simona ordered Sushi in Swakopmund and a local sitting at the table next to us just could not hold it any longer. He got up and came over, staring at Simona and asking what weird stuff she was eating. When she explained to him what Sushi is, he could not believe that anyone would eat that and asked the waiter if it is really edible. Anyway, I am drifting off so back to safari parks:

Masai Mara - Kenya
Firstly, you must know that Masai Mara and Serengeti are forming one big area that is separated by the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The good thing is that animals can cross the border freely, which they do in the millions during the great migration. The great migration is one of the main reasons for you to go to Masai Mara. Depending on what time of the year you are going on Safari, most of the Zebras and Wildebeest will be in either in Serengeti or Masai Mara. We were there during July, when most of the migratory animals are in Masai Mara. The amount of Wildebeest we saw was unbelievable. This gets especially exciting when you see them crossing a river. Thousands and thousand of them will be lining up in front of the river, waiting for the first one to bring up the courage to cross the crocodile infested streams. Usually none of them actually brings up the courage, so the guys in the second row will start pushing the ones in the front row until they get pushed over the edge. This looks quite comical but once you see the giant crocodiles swimming in the river, you understand how serious this business actually is.
Masai Mara overall offers a good variety of animals and beautiful landscapes and this was probably our overall favorite park. So if you only want to visit one park and it is during summer, then go to Masai Mara.
You can read more about our Masai Mara experience here, here and here.

Serengeti - Tanzania
Serengeti is best known for its Lions and if you are German then you also know it for the documentary 'Serengeti shall not die' and for Bernhard Grzimek's efforts to preserve this special habitat. I wrote about it in a separate post called 'Serengeti - my perspective'.
We saw a lot of lions and the highlight for me was when they actually came into our camp. We stayed for two nights at Kati Kati camp, which is a bunch of luxury tents and one night, while we were having dinner, the guide told us that the lions were in our camp. I was instantly excited, got up and wanted to go to see them but the guide slowed me down. He became quite serious which worried me a bit. We continued our dinner until another, more adventurous guide, proclaimed that we shall all go into the car and we would drive close to where the lions are. They were about 20 meters from where we had dinner. Turns out they had found the camp's freshwater supply and helped themselves. Because it was dry season, the lions were very thirsty. The water tank was just next to the kitchen tent and the chef was standing 3 meters away from the lions. The lions didn't care about the chef or the food, they were only interested in the water. This was my absolute safari highlight but apart from that, you usually get to see the big 5 in Serengeti. Unfortunately, like in Masai Mara, we did not get to see any Rhinos.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area - Tanzania
Ngorongoro is a park that is basically inside a volcanic crater. It is much smaller than Masai Mara or Serengeti but it is said to be the best place to spot Rhinos. So we got very excited when we went there. We stayed in an absolutely fantastic hotel right at the rim of the volcano. you can read more about the hotel, the Sopa lodge here.
When it came to the actual Safari, we were really unlucky, as the weather turned bad. It was cold and misty, so most of the animals decided to either sleep or hide. We eventually saw a Rhino but it was so far away that we could only see it through our camera's telephoto lens. So while I think this park might be interesting when the weather is nice, it cannot compete with Masai Mara or Serengeti, as it is much much smaller.

Lake Manyara - Tanzania
Long story short, this park is quite disappointing after Serengeti and Masai Mara. Even the guide was not very interested in spending too much time there. We saw a lot of Elephants and birds and then, just when we were on our way to leave the park, a leopard crossed our path. Most of the time you only see them sleeping in trees, so for one to actually walk right in front of our cars, that's pretty rare and got us excited. 
When the guide brought us to our hotel, we were in for a surprise. Lake Manyara Serena Lodge was one of our absolute favorites in all of Africa. 

Pilanesberg National Park -  South Africa
When you hear Safari in South Africa, most people will immediately think of Kruger National Park. However, when we did our planning, we realized we would not have enough time to visit Kruger, so we started searching for parks that are closer to Johannesburg. We found out about Pilanesberg, which is only 2 hours drive from Johannesburg and was thus much more manageable for us. However, we did think of it more as a compromise - that is until we were there. Pilanesberg is a much smaller park and with all the previous safari experience under our belt, we decided to drive our own vehicle through the park. This was a new experience and I have to say, it is really nice to go at  your own speed.
At first, we did not see many animals and we had already given up our hope that we would ever see Rhinos but after about an hour, we saw mom and baby Rhino strolling down the mountain and eventually coming very close to our car (about 20 meters).

We found out throughout the day that Pilanesberg is perfect for seeing Rhinos. We ended up seeing over ten of them and some stood right next to our car. 

If you plan a one day Safari close to Johannesburg, then Pilanesberg really is the place to go.

Etosha - Namibia
Etosha is Namibia's most famous safari park. Again, we opted for self driving which can be easily done here due to the gravel roads that are maintained in good condition. 
The atmosphere is really different compared to the other parks. Etosha is very dry and a lot of trees and plants are covered in a white dust. This gives the whole scenery a special, almost eerie look. We saw plenty of animals, including Rhinos. The highlight for us was the Halali Lodge, where we spent the night. This lodge is right in the middle of the national park. Next to it is a watering hole, where you can see Elephants go for a drink during sunset. Watching them is an amazing experience. So if you go to Etosha, please  make sure you spend at least one night at Halali Lodge. 

Conclusion - so which one is the best?
It's difficult to pick only one park but if you would put a gun to my head, I would say Masai Mara.  I really enjoyed the variety of animals and the lush landscapes. However the absolute single highlight to me was the lions coming into our camp in Serengeti. 
Overall I would recommend to see more than one park and to mix guided tour and self-drive as both are very different experiences.